Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 1981
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1981ap%26ss..77..187t&link_type=abstract
Astrophysics and Space Science, vol. 77, no. 1, June 1981, p. 187-195.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
6
Plasma Acceleration, Pulsars, Stellar Radiation, X Ray Sources, Critical Velocity, Electron Avalanche, Electron Clouds, Electron-Positron Pairs, Gamma Rays, Positrons, Relativistic Particles
Scientific paper
Charged particle acceleration is considered by a radiation flux from a star or 'hot spot' in X-ray pulsars. It is shown that for any distance from the star there exists an upper velocity limit up to which a particle can be accelerated by radiation. This critical velocity does not depend on the luminosity of the spot. Near the 'hot spot' surface the critical velocity v = 0.65c. These results are applied to plasma acceleration in X-ray pulsars. The mechanism is advanced, of gamma-ray generation in the course of plasma accretion, onto a neutron star. It is shown that in the presence of a large magnetic field and high luminosity of the spot the relativistic electron-positron avalanche may appear. The optical depth of the electron-positron cloud achieves the value of order one. The X-ray quanta emitted by the spot are scattered by relativistic (gamma = 2.6) electron-positron pairs and are transformed into gamma radiation. Hard quanta with energy 1 MeV leave the generation region in a narrow cone of less than or equal to 0.25.
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