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Abstract: (AIP)
The Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXP) are a small group of pulsars characterized by periods of several seconds and by the absence of massive companion stars. Three of them are associated with supernova remnants. It is unclear whether they are accreting from very low mass companions or consist of isolated neutron stars. In the latter case, their rotational energy loss is too small to provide the observed luminosity, and other powering mechanisms must be invoked. The discovery of similar periodicities and spin-down values in the Soft Gamma-Ray-repeaters suggests that also the AXP could be strongly magnetized neutron stars in which the X-ray emission is powered by the dissipation of the magnetic energy. However, also models based on accretion onto isolated neutron stars have been proposed.