A comparative analysis of the integrated radio luminosities of normal and millisecond pulsars

Abstract

We present the results of a comparative statistical analysis of the integrated radio luminosities of millisecond and normal pulsars and their dependences on other parameters of the pulsars. The analysis is based on our own measurements of the flux densities, spectra, and integrated radio luminosities of the millisecond pulsars, as well as data from the literature used to determine the integrated radio luminosities for 545 pulsars, 50 of them millisecond pulsars. Despite large differences in their periods P, period derivatives \(\dot P\), magnetic fields B, and ages τ, the integrated radio luminosities of the millisecond and normal pulsars and their dependences on other parameters are approximately the same. The integrated radio luminosity depends on the parameter B/P2, which is proportional to the potential difference in the polar-cap gap; this may indicate that the radio energy of pulsars is determined by the energy of primary particles accelerated in the polar-cap gap. Secular decreases in the radio luminosities of both normal and millisecond pulsars were also detected.