[SN, SNR, and Isolated NS -- Invited ]
Chandra's Contribution Toward "Grand Unification":Unravelling the Surprising Diversity in Neutron Stars
Victoria Kaspi, McGill University
The last decade has shown us that the observational properties
of neutron stars, particularly those in their youth, are remarkably and
surprisingly diverse. From magnetars to RRATs, from radio pulsars to the
so-called "isolated neutron stars", an enormous puzzle in this field is
why we see so many different observational manifestations of what one
naively might have thought to be a relatively simple object. In this
talk I will review the field, trying to rationalize the many different
current "types" of neutron stars, while of course highlighting the many
important contributions made by Chandra toward solving this puzzle.