On the mechanism of hard X-ray emission from magnetars

Understand

Persistent activity of magnetars is associated with electric discharge that continually injects relativistic particles into the magnetosphere.

• Large active magnetic loops around magnetars must be filled with outflowing particles that interact with radiation via resonant scattering and spawn electron-positron pairs.
• The outflow energy is processed into copious e+- until the plasma enters outer parts of the loop where the magnetic field is reduced below 10^13 G.
• In the outer zone, photons scattered by the outflow do not convert to e+- pairs and the outflow radiates its energy away.