SGR 0418+5729: a low-magnetic-field magnetarEsposito, P. and Rea, N. and Turolla, R. and Israel, G. L. and Zane, S. and Stella, L. and Kouveliotou, C. and Mereghetti, S. and Tiengo, A. and Goetz, D. and Göğüş, Ersin (2011) SGR 0418+5729: a low-magnetic-field magnetar. In: Conference on Radio Pulsars - An Astrophysical Key to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, Chai, Italy Full text not available from this repository. Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3615111 AbstractSoft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars are a small (but growing) group of X-ray sources characterized by the emission of short bursts and by a large variability in their persistent flux. They are believed to be magnetars, i.e. neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields (10(14)-10(15) G). We found evidence for a magnetar with a low magnetic field, SGR 0418+5729, recently detected after it emitted bursts similar to those of soft gamma-ray repeaters. New X-ray observations show that its dipolar magnetic field cannot be greater than 8 x 10(12) G, well in the range of ordinary radio pulsars, implying that a high surface dipolar magnetic field is not necessarily required for magnetar-like activity. The magnetar population may thus include objects with a wider range of magnetic-field strengths, ages and evolutionary stages than observed so far.
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