Our current knowledge of neutron star formation, progenitors, and natal masses, spins, magnetic fields, and space velocities is briefly reviewed from a theorist's perspective. More observational information is badly needed to constrain theoretical possibilities.

The largest number of known young neutron stars axe observed as spin-powered pulsars. While the majority of those are detected at radio frequencies, an increasing number can be studied in other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum as well. The Crab pulsar is the prototype of a young pulsar which can be observed from radio to gamma-ray frequencies, providing a red thread of discussion during a tour through the pulsar properties observed across the electromagnetic spectrum. The basic observational features of pulsar emission are presented, preparing the ground for more detailed reviews given in these proceedings. Here, particular attention will be paid to those emission features which may provide a link between the radio and high-energy emission processes.

With the successful launch of Chandra and XMM-Newton, the time has arrived when careful comparison of thermal evolution theories of isolated neutron stars with observations will offer a better hope for distinguishing among various competing neutron star cooling theories. For instance, the latest theoretical and observational developments may already exclude both nucleon and kaon direct Urea cooling. In this way we can now have a realistic hope for determining various important properties, such as the composition, superfluidity, the equation of state and stellar radius. These developments should help us obtain deeper insight into the properties of dense matter.

Identifying the massive progenitor stars that give rise to core-collapse supernovae (SNe) is one of the main pursuits of supernova and stellar evolution studies, and is essential for understanding the birth of pulsars. Using ground-based images of recent, nearby SNe obtained primarily with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), astrometry from 2MASS, and archival images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have attempted the direct identification of the progenitors of 16 Type II and Type Ib/c SNe. We may have identified the progenitors of the Type II SNe 1999br and 1999ev, the Type Ib SNe 2001B and 2001is, and the Type Ic SN 1999bu, possibly doubling the number of known SN progenitors. For the remaining SNe, limits placed on the absolute magnitude and color (when available) of the progenitor allows us to place limits on the progenitor's mass. Specifically, we have been able to place a relatively stringent limit on the progenitor of the Type II-P SN 2001du in NGC 1365, consistent with the limits placed on the masses of other Type II-P SNe. We have also recently identified the progenitor of the Type II-P SN 2003gd in Messier 74.

On the basis of the neutrino emission from the isotropic 1S0 neutron superfluid vortices in neutron star interiors, we propose a rocket model of neutrino jet for the observed pulsar kick.

We have simulated the 3D growth of a Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the expanding envelope of SN 1987A using the Adaptive Mesh Refinement Scheme utilizing a resolution of 4096−3. When the sinusoidal velocity perturbation amplitude is 10%, heavy element tongues of the He/H interface penetrate into the envelope with a high velocity.

We have developed the anisotropic heat transport equation for rotating neutron stars. With a simple model of neutron star, we also model the propagation of heat pulses resulting from transient energy releases inside the star. Even in the slow rotation limit, the results with rotational effects involved could differ significantly from those obtained with a spherically symmetric metric in the timescale of the thermal afterglow.

Several recent papers conclude that radio-pulsar magnetic fields decay on a time-scale of 10 Myr, apparently contradicting earlier results. We have implemented the methods of these papers in our code and show that this preference for rapid field decay is caused by the assumption that the beaming fraction does not depend on the period. When we do include this dependence, we find that the observed pulsar properties are reproduced best when the modeled field does not decay. When we assume that magnetic fields of new-born neutron stars are from a distribution sufficiently wide to explain magnetars, the magnetic field and period distributions we predict for radio are pulsars wider than observed. Finally we find that the observed velocities overestimate the intrinsic velocity distribution.

Extending the theory of core-mantle differential rotation of a planet, we have obtained the periods PCW and PFCN for different pulsars in the second approximation. We have investigated the dependence of these periods on the equation of state of neutron liquid, flatness of mantle and crust of the neutron star.

The magnetic field strengths of most millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are about 108–9 gauss. The accretion-induced magnetic field evolution scenario here concludes that field decay is related to the accreted mass, that the minimum or bottom field stops at about 108 gauss for Eddington-limited accretion, and scales with the accretion rate as M1/2. The possibility of low field (∼ 107 gauss) MSPs has been proposed for future radio observations.

Relativistic phenomena (orbital precession, Shapiro delay, and/or orbital decay) have been measured in Arecibo timing observations of four pulsar-white dwarf binaries, leading to constraints on the neutron star masses. We have detected the decay of the PSR J0751+1807 orbit due to gravitational radiation emission, the first such measurement in a binary with a low mass ratio (m2/m1 ≪ 1). Timing data constrains the mass of this pulsar to bet between 1.6 and 2.8 M⊙. Masses of the other pulsars are in marginal agreement with the canonical pulsar mass of 1.35 M⊙, but higher values are preferred.

We try to understand the eccentricity of high-mass binary pulsars using some methods of statistical mechanics.

The two main aspects of supernova remnant research addressed in this review are: I. What is our understanding of the progenitors of the observed remnants, and what have we learned from these remnants about supernova nucleosynthesis? II. Supernova remnants are probably the major source of cosmic rays. What are the recent advances in the observational aspects of cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants?

We report on the results of our monitoring program of SNR 1987A with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The high resolution images and the spectra from the latest Chandra data suggest that the blast wave has reached the dense inner ring on the western side of the SNR, as well as in the east. The observed soft X-ray flux is increasing more rapidly than ever, and the latest flux is four times brighter than three years ago.

We present results that trace the dynamics of two historical remnants, SN 1006 and SN 1572 (Tycho), for the past two decades. 21-cm radio images of each remnant were recorded during two previous epochs: 1983–1984 and 1991–1994. We obtained third-epoch images of both remnants from 2001 to 2003. After a direct comparison of images from these three epochs, we found the mean radio expansion rate of Tycho now agrees with a previous X-ray expansion study, and for the first time, we have measured the azimuthal expansion rate over the entire rim of SN 1006.

We have conducted 12CO observations with the Nobeyama 45-m telescope in the area of Tycho's supernova remnant. These high-resolution (16″) data show that the molecular cloud surrounds the SNR along the northeastern boundary. We suggest that Tycho's SNR and the molecular cloud are located at comparable distances within the Perseus arm and that they are physically interacting. We also discuss the possible connection between the molecular cloud and the Balmer-dominated optical filaments and propose that the preshock gas may be accelerated within the cosmic-ray and/or fast neutral precursor.

We present the first results of the observations of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7–3946 (also known as G347.3–0.5) obtained with the EPIC instrument on board the XMM-Newton satellite. We show a 5-pointings mosaiced image of the X-ray synchrotron emission. We characterize this emission by mapping its spectral parameters (absorbing column density NH and photon index γ). The synchrotron spectrum is flat at the shock and steep in the interior of the remnant. NH is well correlated with the X-ray brightness. A strong NH is found in the southwest rim of RX J1713.7–3946. We suggest that the SNR is interacting with a HI region there.