Modeling Phase-resolved Observations of the Surfaces of Magnetic Neutron Stars

Recent observations by XMM-Newton detected rotational pulsations in the total brightness and spectrum of several neutron stars. To properly interpret the data, accurate modeling of neutron star emission is necessary. Detailed analysis of the shape and strength of the rotational variations allows a measurement of the surface composition and magnetic field, as well as constrains the nuclear equation of state. We discuss our models of the spectra and light curves of two of the most observed neutron stars, RX J1856.5-3754 and 1E 1207.4-5209, and discuss some implications of our results and the direction of future work.