MG14 - Talk detail

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Abstract

Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the present universe and the combination of extreme magnetic field, gravity and density makes them unique laboratories to probe current physical theories (from quantum electrodynamics to general relativity) in the strong field limit. Magnetars are observed as peculiar, burst-active X-ray pulsars, the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and the Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs). The last five years has witnessed an explosion in magnetar research which has led, among other things, to the discovery of transient, or `outbursting`, and `low-field` magnetars. Substantial progress has been made also on the theoretical side. Quite detailed models for explaining the magnetars' persistent X-ray emission, the properties of the bursts, the flux evolution in transient sources have been developed and confronted with observations. The aim of this talk is to present an overview in which the observational results are discussed in the light of the theoretical models, by concentrating on some particular aspects of magnetars phenomenology.

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