X-ray observations of isolated neutron stars

Abstract

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, that radiate at the expense of their strong magnetic field and their high surface temperature. Five decades of multi-wavelength observations showed a large variety of physical parameters, such as the spin period, the magnetic field and the age, and of observational properties, especially in the radio and X-ray band. Isolated neutron stars have been classified according to the presence of thermal or non-thermal emission, and whether they show a constant flux, rapid flares and bursts or long-standing outbursts. One of the current challenges in the study of such objects is to explain these different manifestations in the context of a unified evolutionary picture. On the other hand, recent findings show that the classes of isolated neutron stars are more connected than previously thought, and that non only magnetars hold a complex magnetic field topology in the crust and above the surface.