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Strongly Magnetized Sources: QED and X-ray Polarization Heyl, Jeremy; Caiazzo, Ilaria

Abstract

Radiative corrections of quantum electrodynamics cause a vacuum threaded by a magnetic field to be birefringent. This means that radiation of different polarizations travels at different speeds. Even in the strong magnetic fields of astrophysical sources, the difference in speed is small. However, it has profound consequences for the extent of polarization expected from strongly magnetized sources. We demonstrate how the birefringence arises from first principles, show how birefringence affects the polarization state of radiation and present recent calculations for the expected polarization from magnetars and X-ray pulsars.

Item Metadata

Title
Strongly Magnetized Sources: QED and X-ray Polarization
Creator
Heyl, Jeremy; Caiazzo, Ilaria
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2018-07-21
Description
Radiative corrections of quantum electrodynamics cause a vacuum threaded by a magnetic field to be birefringent. This means that radiation of different polarizations travels at different speeds. Even in the strong magnetic fields of astrophysical sources, the difference in speed is small. However, it has profound consequences for the extent of polarization expected from strongly magnetized sources. We demonstrate how the birefringence arises from first principles, show how birefringence affects the polarization state of radiation and present recent calculations for the expected polarization from magnetars and X-ray pulsars.
Subject
Quantum electrodynamics: radiative corrections; Magnetic fields; Neutron stars; X-ray polarization
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-06-24
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0379557
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70751
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Physics and Astronomy, Department of
Citation
Galaxies 6 (3): 76 (2018)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/galaxies6030076
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0