Electrodynamics of disk-accreting magnetic neutron stars

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Accretion Disks, Electrodynamics, Electron Acceleration, Neutron Stars, Stellar Magnetospheres, Electromotive Forces, Gamma Rays, High Energy Interactions, Particle Density (Concentration), Plasma-Particle Interactions, Stellar Rotation

Scientific paper

We have investigated the electrodynamics of magnetic neutron stars accreting from Keplerian disks and the implications for particle acceleration and gamma-ray emission by such systems. We argue that the particle density in the magnetospheres of such stars is larger by orders of magnitude than the Goldreich-Julian density, so that the formation of vacuum gaps is unlikely. We show that even if the star rotates slowly, electromotive forces (EMFs) of order 1015 V are produced by the interaction of plasma in the accretion disk with the magnetic field of the neutron star. The resistance of the disk-magnetosphere-star circuit is small, and hence these EMFs drive very large conduction currents. Such large currents are likely to produce magnetospheric instabilities, such as relativistic double layers and reconnection events, that can accelerate electrons or ions to very high energies.

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