Abstract
In this paper we study the possibility of efficient pair production in a pulsar’s magnetosphere. It has been shown that by means of relativistic centrifugal force the electrostatic field exponentially amplifies. As a result the field approaches the Schwinger limit leading to a pair creation process in the light cylinder area where the effects of rotation are very efficient. Analysing the parameters of the normal period (∼1 s) pulsars we found that the process is so efficient that the number density of electron–positron pairs exceeds the Goldreich–Julian density by five orders of magnitude.
Highlights
In 1969 Gold [1] suggested that pulsars are rotating neutron stars that centrifugally energise a pulsar’s magnetospheric particles to energy values high enough to produce high energy electromagnetic radiation
By means of the centrifugal-parametric amplification, the induced electric field exponentially increases and gradually approaches the Schwinger limit resulting in efficient pair production
We have examined a centrifugally accelerated pulsar’s magnetospheric particles and studied the parametric amplification of the electrostatic field
Summary
In 1969 Gold [1] suggested that pulsars are rotating neutron stars that centrifugally energise a pulsar’s magnetospheric particles to energy values high enough to produce high energy electromagnetic radiation. The main idea is based on the fact that, by means of interaction of very high energy curvature gamma rays and strong magnetic field of the order of 1012 Gauss, the high efficiency pair production process initiates at the electron and proton polar zones. By means of the centrifugal-parametric amplification, the induced electric field exponentially increases and gradually approaches the Schwinger limit resulting in efficient pair production. This is a completely new mechanism of pair creation in the pulsar magnetosphere which we study in this paper. The paper is organized as follows: In Section 2 we introduce the theoretical model, in Section 3 we apply the approach to pulsars and obtain results and in Section 4 we sumarize them
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