Pulsar atmospheric current loops

Abstract

THE basic difficulty with the theories of pulsar radiation is that there is as yet no self-consistent model of the large scale structure of the plasma atmosphere of the pulsar1,2. The lack of such a model is perhaps most strikingly exemplified by the fact that there is no consistent explanation of how an aligned rotating magnetised neutron star can maintain a net zero current from its surface—that is, how either a finite current loop in its atmoshere, or an ‘infinite’ loop to the nebula, is established consistent with the space charge and the electromagnetic fields3,4. This letter will be limited to a discussion of how current loops are established when the rotational and magnetic axes are aligned.