A Cylindrical Pulsar Magnetosphere Model with Particle Inertia

Burman, RR; Mestel, L.

doi:10.1071/ph790681

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Indeed Mestel (1973), da Costa & Kahn (1982) and da Costa (1983) made attempts to model pulsar electrodynamics in two-dimensional (2-D) cylindrical coordinates that is invariant under translation along the -axis, to gain a better physical insight without dealing with the full 3-D complexity but keeping the important non-axisymmetric property. Such an approach was pioneered by Mestel, Wright & Westfold (1976) and taken over by Burman & Mestel (1979) to investigate particle inertia effects but was however never later pursued.…”

Section: Overview Of Pulsar Magnetospheresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory of pulsar magnetosphere and wind

Pétri

2016

J. Plasma Phys.

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Neutron stars are fascinating astrophysical objects immersed in strong gravitational and electromagnetic fields, at the edge of our current theories. These stars manifest themselves mostly as pulsars, emitting a timely very stable and regular electromagnetic signal. Even though discovered almost fifty years ago, they still remain mysterious compact stellar objects. In this review, we summarize the most fundamental theoretical aspects of neutron star magnetospheres and winds. The main competing models explaining their radiative properties like multi-wavelength pulse shapes and spectra and the underlying physical processes such as pair creation and radiation mechanisms are scrutinized. A global but still rather qualitative picture slowly emerges thanks to recent advances in numerical simulations on the largest scales. However considerations about pulsar magnetospheres remain speculative. For instance, the exact composition of the magnetospheric plasma is not yet known. Is it solely filled with a mixture of e ± leptons or does it contain a non-negligible fraction of protons and/or ions? Is it almost entirely filled or mostly empty except for some small anecdotal plasma filled regions? Answers to these questions will strongly direct the description of the magnetosphere to seemingly contradictory results leading sometimes to inconsistencies. Nevertheless, accounts are given as to the latest developments in the theory of pulsar magnetospheres and winds, the existence of a possible electrosphere and physical insight obtained from related observational signatures of multi-wavelength pulsed emission.

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Section: Overview Of Pulsar Magnetospheresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory of pulsar magnetosphere and wind

Pétri

2016

J. Plasma Phys.

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“…Mestel & Wang 1982). Some understanding of large obliquity cases can be gained from the cylindrical model in which the z-variation is suppressed (see Burman & Mestel 1979;da Costa & Kahn 1982).…”

Section: Towards the Construction Of A Global Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulsar magnetospheres

1992

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A

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The energy loss from the neutron star - as inferred from the secular increase in rotation period - is much greater than that emitted in either the radio or the other observed wavelengths. A primary motivation of magnetospheric theory is to trace the mode in which this energy and the associated angular momentum are in fact carried off from active pulsars. This review concentrates on the special case in which the magnetic and rotation axes are aligned. Electrons emitted from the polar caps are accelerated to highly relativistic energies by the electric force and simultaneously pick up angular momentum from the magnetic torque. Some process of angular momentum dissipation occurring beyond the light-cylinder is then required, both to yield the continuous spin-down of the star, and also to allow the electrons to cross magnetic field lines and so complete their circuits back to the star. Within the framework of classical physics, this could occur if most of the spin-down energy is lost through incoherent photon emission in an equatorial domain beyond the lightcylinder, but this would generate y-radiation far in excess of that observed. Transport away of the angular momentum via a relativistic wind requires the generation of a quasi-neutral plasma. Gamma-rays emitted by outflowing electrons will produce electron-positron pairs in the strong magnetic field near the star, and highly energetic electrons returning to the star may also generate a mixed plasma by pair production or by surface spallation. Coupling with the circulating primary electron current may then ensure that the dominant angular momentum loss is via the wind rather than through photon emission.

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Structure of the Pulsar Magnetosphere

Mestel¹

1981

Pulsars

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A Cylindrical Pulsar Magnetosphere Model with Particle Inertia

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

Theory of pulsar magnetosphere and wind

Theory of pulsar magnetosphere and wind

Pulsar magnetospheres

Structure of the Pulsar Magnetosphere

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