It is known that vacuum polarization can modify the photon propagation modes in the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star. A resonance occurs when the effect of vacuum polarization on the photon modes balances that of the plasma. We show that a photon (with energy E\ a few keV) propagating outward in the atmosphere can convert from one polarization mode into another as it traverses the resonant density, \ρᵣₑₛ\ Yₑ⁻¹\η⁻²(B/10¹⁴ G)²(E/1 keV)² g cm⁻³, where Yₑ is the electron fraction, and \η\~ 1 is a slowly varying function of the magnetic field B. The physics of this mode conversion is analogous to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein mechanism for neutrino oscillation. Because the two photon modes have vastly different opacities in the atmosphere, this vacuum-induced mode conversion can significantly affect radiative transport and surface emission from strongly magnetized neutron stars.
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Lai et al. (2002) studied this question.
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