What magnetar explosions reveal through their light bending and polarization

Magnetar short bursts are brief X-ray flares peaking at 10–100 keV, recently linked to radio bursts from SGR 1935+2154. The authors model these events using general relativity, quantum electrodynamics effects in extreme magnetic fields, and polarization transport, predicting that most bursts should be highly linearly polarized and show telltale signs of light bending and delayed images from the neutron star's gravity. These signatures—along with energy-dependent polarization patterns—can constrain the burst geometry, the star's mass and radius, and the magnetic field structure.