Magnetar Confirms: The Vacuum Isn't Empty ⚡ экспресс
Quantum electrodynamics predicts vacuum birefringence in ultra-strong magnetic fields — an effect never directly observed before. The magnetar 1E 1547.0–5408, with a surface field >10^14 G, was studied using the IXPE X-ray polarimeter together with NICER and the Parkes radio telescope. Phase- and energy-resolved measurements revealed a high polarization degree: on average 65% at 2 keV, where thermal emission dominates, with peaks up to 80% in certain phases and >40% in the radio-pulse region, sharply dropping at 4 keV. Radiation transfer modeling in the atmosphere, incorporating geometry from radio data, shows that the observed pattern cannot be explained without accounting for vacuum birefringence in the magnetosphere. This is the first observational confirmation of the quantum effect in a magnetar’s magnetosphere, paving the way for testing QED in strong fields with next-generation polarimeters.
According to quantum theory, in an ultra-strong magnetic field, emptiness is no longer empty. It becomes akin to a crystal that transmits light differently—like polarized sunglasses filtering out glare. This effect, predicted by pioneers like Richard Feynman, has waited nearly a century for direct proof.
The IXPE X-ray telescope aimed at the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408—a dead star with a magnetic field billions of times stronger than anything in Earth's labs. Its radiation's polarization—how much the light waves are 'combed'—was measured. At typical medical X-ray energies, it reached 65%, sometimes soaring to 80%.
As energy increased, polarization dropped sharply. Only one explanation fits: the vacuum around the star bends light like a crystal. Curiously, the first radio pulsar—also a neutron star—was mistaken for an alien signal by Jocelyn Bell Burnell in 1967. Today we know: the signals are strange, but nature is even stranger.
🎯 The magnetic field of this magnetar is 100 billion times stronger than a fridge magnet's: it can tear apart water molecules from a thousand kilometers away.