Evidence of vacuum birefringence from the polarisation of the optical emission from an Isolated Neutron Star

TL;DR

This paper presents observational evidence of vacuum birefringence by analyzing the polarization of optical emission from an isolated neutron star, confirming a quantum electrodynamics prediction under extreme magnetic conditions.

Contribution

It provides the first observational evidence of vacuum birefringence in the optical emission from a neutron star, supporting quantum electrodynamics in strong magnetic fields.

Findings

Detection of polarization consistent with vacuum birefringence

Confirmation of QED predictions in astrophysical environments

Potential for future polarization studies at other wavelengths

Abstract

Isolated Neutron Stars are some of the most exciting stellar objects known to astronomers: they have the most extreme magnetic fields, with values up to $10^{15}$ G, and, with the exception of stellar-mass black holes, they are the most dense stars, with densities of $\approx 10^{14}$ g cm$^{-3}$. As such, they are perfect laboratories to test theories of electromagnetism and nuclear physics under conditions of magnetic field and density unattainable on Earth. In particular, the interaction of radiation with strong magnetic fields is the cause of the {\em vacuum birefringence}, an effect predicted by quantum electrodynamics in 1936 but that lacked an observational evidence until now. Here, we show how the study of the polarisation of the optical radiation from the surface of an isolated neutron star yielded such an observational evidence, opening exciting perspectives for similar studies at other wavelengths.