The International X-ray Observatory and other X-ray missions, expectations for pulsar physics

TL;DR

Future X-ray missions like ASTRO-H and IXO will significantly enhance our ability to study pulsars, providing higher sensitivity, better resolution, and new measurement capabilities to explore extreme physics environments.

Contribution

This paper summarizes current pulsar research topics and discusses how upcoming X-ray missions will advance the field with improved instrumentation and observational capabilities.

Findings

Future missions will enable detailed studies of pulsar magnetic fields and particle acceleration.

Enhanced X-ray imaging and polarization measurements will open new research avenues.

Predicted improvements include higher sensitivity and broader energy coverage.

Abstract

Pulsar systems are very good experimental laboratories for the fundamental physics in extreme environments which cannot be achieved on ground. For example, the systems are under conditions of high magnetic field strength, large gravitational potential, and fast rotation, containing highly-ionized hot plasmas with particle acceleration etc. We can test phenomena related to these extreme condition in the X-ray to sub-MeV bands. In future, we will get fantastic capabilities of higher sensitivities, larger effective area, higher energy resolutions, and X-ray imaging capabilities with wider energy band than current missions, in addition to opening new eyes of polarization measurements, and deep all sky monitoring capabilities, with future X-ray missions including ASTRO-H, eRossita, NuSTAR, GEMS, International X-ray Observatory (IXO) and so on. In this paper, we summarize current hot topics on pulsars and discuss expected developments by these future missions, especially by ASTRO-H and IXO, based on their current design parameters.