Photon absorption in a magnetized vacuum and formation of cyclotron-annihilation lines in γ-emission of neutron stars

Belyanin, Alexey; Kocharovsky, Vl. V.; Kukushkin, V. A.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.08.025

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Recently, Belyanin, Kocharovsky & Kocharovsky (2001) (see also Belyanin et al 2004) put forward a new method of the direct determination of the neutron star magnetic fields based on the observations of a cyclotron–annihilation line series in their MeV spectra starting with the energy of annihilation resonance lying at 1.022 MeV. These features may appear due to the quantum‐electrodynamic absorption of γ‐radiation in a vacuum with high magnetic field, thanks to the one–photon creation of the electron–positron pairs (Klepikov 1952; Toll 1952; Berestetskii, Lifshitz & Pitaevskii 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These features may appear due to the quantum‐electrodynamic absorption of γ‐radiation in a vacuum with high magnetic field, thanks to the one–photon creation of the electron–positron pairs (Klepikov 1952; Toll 1952; Berestetskii, Lifshitz & Pitaevskii 1982). According to Belyanin et al (2001, 2004), the magnetic field near a star surface may be determined by measuring the interval between these lines, and the polarization observations are very informative in this case.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coburn et al 2002). That is why in Belyanin et al (2001, 2004) the main attention was focused on the photon interaction with magnetized vacuum in the vicinity of a neutron star, whereas the influence of magnetosphere plasma on the photon propagation was neglected. This is, indeed, the case if plasma is optically thin in respect to the Thomson scattering, that is, the column electron–positron density does not exceed 10 18 cm −2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aim of this paper is to give the detailed analysis of the method proposed by Belyanin et al (2001, 2004) for the determination of the neutron star magnetic field in the simplest case when it has a dipole structure. The paper is organized as follows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Formation of cyclotron-annihilation lines in magnetized vacuum near neutron stars

Kukushkin

2006

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We study the formation of the absorption features, called the cyclotron-annihilation lines, in the γ -spectra of the neutron stars (pulsars), owing to the fundamental quantum-electrodynamic effect of the one-photon pair creation in magnetized vacuum. As a result, we substantiate a new method for the determination of the neutron star magnetic fields B based on measuring the interval between the main annihilation and the first cyclotron-annihilation absorption lines. It is found that these lines may be easily resolved, and, consequently, the method is surely applicable if the following conditions are satisfied. (i) A γ -source has to be compact enough and located near a star, but not close to its magnetic poles. For instance, it may be a disc in the plane of a star magnetic equator with latitudinal angular width less than B/4.4 × 10 13 G and radial extent up to 25 per cent of the star radius. (ii) The source is to produce detectable γ -radiation at large angles 60 • to the local magnetic field. Being situated in a closed field line region and having a broad radiation pattern, such a source is not what is usually considered in the context of the polar cap and outer gap models of the pulsar γ -emission dealing with open field lines only. (iii) Magnetic field strength must lie in a certain narrow interval with the centre at ∼(3-4) × 10 12 G. Its width depends on the star orientation and disc radial extend and in the most favourable case is about 20-30 per cent of its lower boundary. Finally, the influence of the star rotation on this method employment is considered and new possibilities arising from forthcoming polarization observations are briefly discussed.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%