Towards solution of the pulsar problem

Abstract

The 24-year-old pulsar problem is reconsidered. New results are obtained by replacing the assumption of steady-state discharges near the polar caps by oscillatory discharges, and by creating the neutral-excess pair plasma via inverse-Compton collisions rather than via curvature radiation. As a result, the electrons and positrons which compose the pulsar wind have different bulk velocities and an oscillating space density, and (strong) coherent curvature radiation is implied (without invoking the excitation of instabilities, and contrary to existing proofs of its impossibility). The magnetospheres of young pulsars are likely to have considerable higher-order multipole components, in particular octupole. Radiation transfer through the pulsar magnetosphere results in fan beams whose polarization is dictated by the bottom of the radiation zone, hence, looks like curvature radiation from dipole-like polar caps. Wind generation depends mainly on the quantityBΩ2 which takes similar values for the ms pulsars; the latter compensate for (somewhat) weaker fields by wider polar caps and smaller curvature radii.