Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1978
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1978ap%26ss..55..427h&link_type=abstract
Astrophysics and Space Science, vol. 55, no. 2, May 1978, p. 427-439.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Crab Nebula, Energy Spectra, Gamma Ray Astronomy, Momentum, Pulsars, Relativistic Particles, X Ray Spectra, Curvature, Pair Production, Particle Acceleration, Particle Energy, Polarization Characteristics
Scientific paper
The assumption that curvature radiation is responsible for the high-energy X and gamma rays observed from the Crab pulsar is investigated, and the momentum distribution of high-energy charged particles near that pulsar is uniquely determined. The photon energy spectrum of curvature radiation for a charged particle of specified energy at a given radius is analyzed along with the spectra of curvature radiation from all particles at a given radius, the cutoff frequency due to pair production, the observed spectrum at infinity, and the particle number density required. Possible pulse shapes and the polarization of the high-energy curvature radiation are also examined. It is found that: (1) the observed power-law spectrum of the high-energy particles in the energy interval from 1000 to 1 billion eV is approximately accounted for by curvature radiation with a momentum distribution proportional to the inverse fifth power of the Lorentz factor of a streaming particle; (2) radiation damping near the polar cap places an upper limit on the momentum; and (3) this upper limit together with the cutoff energy associated with pair production can explain the cutoff energy of 1 billion eV, above which the luminosity is much less than that extrapolated from the lower-energy spectrum.
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