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M. Lyutikov (KIPAC, UBC), C. Thompson (CITA)
Magnetospheres of neutron stars may contain dense plasma, which resonantly scatters surface emission and and modifies its properties. We derive transfer function for resonant cyclotron scatter of a monochromatic line by warm plasma in inhomogeneous magnetic field and calculate modification of initial thermal spectrum. For mildly relativistic thermal velocities of scattering particles \betaT \leq 1 and resonant optical depths of the order of unity, the emerging spectrum is appreciably non-Plankian and is shifted to higher frequencies, by a factor ~1+ \betaT, due to effects of resonant Comptonization. As a result, resonant scatter leads to modified estimates of the surface temperature and emitting area. In addition, any narrow spectral features produced at the surface is erased.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.