[73.07] The Implications of Transient Magnetars

AAS 203rd Meeting, January 2004
Session 73 White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars
Oral, Tuesday, January 6, 2004, 2:00-3:30pm, Learning Center

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[73.07] The Implications of Transient Magnetars

A. Ibrahim (NASA/GSFC & GWU), J. Swank (NASA/GSFC), C. Markwardt (NASA/GSFC & UMD)

The transient behavior of the newly discovered magnetar candidate XTE J1810-197 addresses a number of outstanding issues concerning magnetars and their connection with other families of isolated neutron stars. The presence of a subclass of magnetars that appear for decades as faint unidentified soft X-ray sources before becoming bright and pulse-active can account for the discrepancy between the expected (~100) and observed (12) magnetar population in the galaxy. The evolution of the source from an inactive state, similar to those of Compact Central Objects (CCOs) and Dim Thermal Isolated Neutron Stars (DTNSs), to the present SGR- and AXP-like phase gives further credence to the intriguing conjuncture of an evolutionary relationship between several classes of isolated neutron stars in the magnetar framework.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: alaa@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov

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