Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

31 pages, 8 figures, accepted by ApJ

Scientific paper

10.1086/309394

A non-stationary polar gap model first proposed by Ruderman & Sutherland (1975) is modified and applied to spark-associated pulsar emission at radio wave-lengths. It is argued that under physical and geometrical conditions prevailing above pulsar polar cap, highly non-stationary spark discharges do not occur at random positions. Instead, sparks should tend to operate in well determined preferred regions. At any instant the polar cap is populated as densely as possible with a number of two-dimensional sparks with a characteristic dimension as well as a typical distance between adjacent sparks being about the polar gap height. Our model differs, however, markedly from its original 'hollow cone' version. The key feature is the quasi-central spark driven by pair production process and anchored to the local pole of a sunspot-like surface magnetic field. This fixed spark prevents the motion of other sparks towards the pole, restricting it to slow circumferential drift across the planes of field lines converging at the local pole. We argue that the polar spark constitutes the core pulsar emission, and that the annular rings of drifting sparks contribute to conal components of the pulsar beam. We found that the number of nested cones in the beam of typical pulsar should not excced three; a number also found by Mitra & Deshpande (1999) using a completely different analysis.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-358089

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.