Open AccessPolarization evolution in strong magnetic fields
Author(s) -
Heyl Jeremy S.,
Shaviv Nir J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03076.x
Subject(s) - physics , polarization (electrochemistry) , magnetosphere , magnetic field , photon , neutron star , pulsar , decoupling (probability) , vacuum polarization , astrophysics , computational physics , quantum electrodynamics , optics , quantum mechanics , control engineering , engineering , chemistry
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.