Astronomers Use Rare Ultra-Magnetic Star to Crack a Quantum Mystery

Astronomers have used a magnetar, a rare neutron star with the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, to detect evidence of vacuum birefringence, a quantum effect predicted by Werner Heisenberg nearly 90 years ago. The study, led by Rachael E. Stewart, found that the magnetar's magnetic and rotational axes were nearly aligned, and the X-rays and radio waves produced by it showed extreme polarization that matched the magnetic field direction. This suggests that vacuum birefringence is occurring around the magnetar. The research team included scientists from multiple institutions, including the Center for Space Sciences and Technology, the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, and NASA. The findings could help scientists better understand how quantum physics operates in extreme environments. The study used data from the CSIRO Murriyang radio telescope, Swinburne University's Ngarrgu Tindebeek supercomputer, and NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer and NICER X-ray telescope. The alignment of the magnetar's magnetic and rotational poles made it an ideal candidate for detecting vacuum birefringence. The results indicate that the magnetic field strength of the magnetar is sufficient to produce the observed polarization effects. The study's findings may lead to new insights into the quantum nature of space and the role of magnetic fields in the universe.

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