Magnetic fields in neutron stars and models of thermal emission from magnetic neutron stars
1 : University of Southampton (Southampton, UK)
The excellent sensitivity of X-ray telescopes, such as Chandra and XMM-Newton, is ideal for the study of cooling, isolated neutron stars, which emit at these energies. In order to exploit the wealth of information contained in the data, a thorough knowledge of the radiative properties of neutron stars is necessary. A key factor affecting photon emission is magnetic fields, and neutron stars are known to have strong surface magnetic fields (B >~ 10^11 G). Here I describe our work on constructing magnetic atmosphere models of neutron stars and comparing model spectra to observations. I also discuss evolution and diversity of magnetic fields in the different classes of neutron stars.
| Subject : | : | oral |
| Topics | : | Session 4 - Magnetic fields in the ultimate stages of stellar evolution |
| PDF version | : |  PDF version |
