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Activated Magnetospheres of Magnetars

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High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP))

Abstract

Like the solar corona, the external magnetic field of magnetars is twisted by surface motions of the star. The twist energy is dissipated over time. We discuss the theory of this activity and its observational status. (1) Theory predicts that the magnetosphere tends to untwist in a peculiar way: a bundle of electric currents (the “j-bundle”) is formed with a sharp boundary, which shrinks toward the magnetic dipole axis. Recent observations of shrinking hot spots on magnetars are consistent with this behavior. (2) Continual discharge fills the j-bundle with e± plasma, maintaining a nonthermal corona around the neutron star. The corona outside a few stellar radii strongly interacts with the stellar radiation and forms a “radiatively locked” outflow with a high e± multiplicity. The locked plasma annihilates near the apexes of the closed magnetic field lines. (3) New radiative-transfer simulations suggest a simple mechanismthat shapes the observed X-ray spectrumfrom 0.1 keV to 1MeV: part of the thermal X-rays emitted by the neutron star are reflected from the outer corona and then upscattered by the inner relativistic outflow in the j-bundle, producing a beam of hard X-rays.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 538West 120th Street, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Andrei M. Beloborodov

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  1. Andrei M. Beloborodov
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Correspondence to Andrei M. Beloborodov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Ciències de l'Espai, CSIC Bellaterra, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain

    Diego F. Torres

  2. Inst. Ciències de l'Espai, CSIC Bellaterra, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain

    Nanda Rea

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Beloborodov, A.M. (2011). Activated Magnetospheres of Magnetars. In: Torres, D., Rea, N. (eds) High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17251-9_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-17251-9_24

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