Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Joint Astrophysics Seminar

Pendulum, Solar Neutrinos and Polarized X-rays: Modeling Radiation from Neutron Star Atmospheres

Dong Lai

Cornell University

The last few years have seen significant observational progress in the study of surface radiation from isolated neutron stars, including radio pulsars, radio-quiet neutron stars and magnetars. Modeling such radiation requires a detailed understanding of the property of matter in strong magnetic fields and radiative transfer in magnetized, birefringent plasmas. Interestingly, the physics of varying pendulum and quantum electrodynamics both play important roles.