The missing links of neutron star evolution in the eROSITA all-sky X-ray survey

TL;DR

This paper discusses how the eROSITA X-ray survey can uncover elusive neutron stars, especially those with evolving magnetic fields, providing new insights into their life cycle and bridging gaps in current understanding.

Contribution

It highlights the potential of the eROSITA survey to detect faint X-ray neutron stars and explore the evolution of their magnetic fields, addressing missing links in neutron star evolution.

Findings

eROSITA will detect X-ray faint neutron stars previously unobserved.

The survey can reveal magnetic field evolution signatures in isolated neutron stars.

Potential to identify new classes of neutron stars and understand their evolution.

Abstract

The observational manifestation of a neutron star is strongly connected with the properties of its magnetic field. During the star's lifetime, the field strength and its changes dominate the thermo-rotational evolution and the source phenomenology across the electromagnetic spectrum. Signatures of magnetic field evolution are best traced among elusive groups of X-ray emitting isolated neutron stars (INSs), which are mostly quiet in the radio and $\gamma$-ray wavelengths. It is thus important to investigate and survey INSs in X-rays in the hope of discovering peculiar sources and the long-sought missing links that will help us to advance our understanding of neutron star evolution. The Extended R\"ontgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (\eROS), the primary instrument on the forthcoming Spectrum-RG mission, will scan the X-ray sky with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. The survey has thus the unique potential to unveil the X-ray faint end of the neutron star population and probe sources that cannot be assessed by standard pulsar surveys.