Power of an axisymmetric pulsar

Andrei Gruzinov

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Certain exact properties of the stationary force-free magnetosphere of an axisymmetric pulsar are obtained. In particular, it is shown that a magnetic separatrix has an inclination angle of 77.3° to the equatorial plane. The electromagnetic field has an R-1/2 singularity inside the separatrix near the light cylinder. A numerical simulation of the magnetosphere which crudely reproduces these properties is presented. The numerical results are used to estimate the power of an axisymmetric pulsar: L = (1 ± 0.1)μ2Ω4/c3. Thus, the background magnetic configuration, on which all the puzzling pulsar phenomena are taking place, is now known with some confidence.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number021101
    JournalPhysical Review Letters
    Volume94
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jan 21 2005

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Physics and Astronomy

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