Cornell Institute researcher Dong Lai studied the unusual polarization of X-rays from
In 2022, NASA's IXPE satellite observedmagnetar 4U 0142 + 61, located at a distance of about 13 thousand light years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. A magnetar is the dense and hot remnant of a massive star with a magnetic field 100 trillion times that of our planet. Analysis of the data showed that the lower and higher energy X-rays are polarized differently, and the electromagnetic fields are oriented at right angles to each other.
This observation contradicts previous concepts.The researchers believed that the magnetar should generate highly polarized X-rays. This means that the electromagnetic radiation field does not vibrate randomly, but has a preferred direction.
To explain the unusual effect, the astrophysicistused quantum electrodynamics. This theory, which describes the microscopic interactions between electrons and photons, predicts that when X-ray photons leave the thin atmosphere of the hot magnetized gas or plasma of a neutron star, they go through a phase called vacuum resonance.
Under these conditions, photons that do not have their owncharge, can temporarily turn into pairs of "virtual" electrons and positrons, which are affected by the superstrong magnetic field of the magnetar even in vacuum. This process is called "vacuum birefringence". In combination with a related process, plasma birefringence, the conditions are created for the polarity of high-energy X-rays to fluctuate by 90° with respect to low-energy X-rays.
The researcher notes that the studyX-rays from some of the Universe's most extreme objects, including neutron stars and black holes, allows scientists to explore the behavior of matter under conditions that cannot be replicated in the lab, and contributes to understanding the beauty and diversity of the Universe.
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On the cover: an artistic illustration of the 4U 0142+61 magnetar and its surrounding debris disk. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech