Magnetars and Pulsars: A Missing Link

Abstract

There is growing evidence that soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs)and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are isolated neutron stars withsuperstrong magnetic fields, i.e., magnetars, marking them a distinguishedspecies from the conventional species of spindown-powered isolatedneutron stars, i.e., radio pulsars. The current arguments in favorof the magnetar interpretations of SGR/AXP phenomenology will beoutlined, and the two energy sources in magnetars, i.e. a magneticdissipation energy and a spindown energy, will be reviewed. I will thendiscuss a missing link between magnetars and pulsars, i.e., lack of theobservational evidence of the spindown-powered behaviors in known magnetars.Some recent theoretical efforts in studying such behaviors will bereviewed along with some predictions testable in the near future.