Polarization evolution in strong magnetic fields

Extremely strong magnetic fields change the vacuum index of refraction. Although this polarization-dependent effect is small for typical neutron stars, it is large enough to decouple the polarization states of photons travelling within the field. The photon states evolve adiabatically and follow the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 311; no. 3; pp. 555 - 564
Main Authors Heyl, Jeremy S., Shaviv, Nir J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 21.01.2000
Subjects
magnetic fields
polarization
stars: neutron
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Summary:Extremely strong magnetic fields change the vacuum index of refraction. Although this polarization-dependent effect is small for typical neutron stars, it is large enough to decouple the polarization states of photons travelling within the field. The photon states evolve adiabatically and follow the changing magnetic field direction. The combination of a rotating magnetosphere and a frequency-dependent-state decoupling predicts polarization phase lags between different wavebands, if the emission process takes place well within the light cylinder. This QED effect may allow observations to distinguish between different pulsar-emission mechanisms and to reconstruct the structure of the magnetosphere.
Bibliography:istex:4E3A24A2EE76430C92A330EEAEEEF4EE8B7CD286
ark:/67375/HXZ-L7MW3S78-R
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03076.x