2002ApJ...572L..91L -
Astrophys. J., 572, L91-L94 (2002/June-2)
Radio pulses through a magnetized relativistic pair plasma flow.
LOU Y.-Q.
Abstract (from CDS):
Radio pulses emitted from a pulsar magnetosphere travel across the light cylinder and through a magnetized relativistic pulsar wind composed mainly of an electron-positron (e{mnplus}) pair plasma embedded in a spiral magnetic field. Besides the Doppler-shifted cyclotron resonance and wind advections of hybrid oscillations or low-frequency waves, we identify two cutoff frequencies at ωpe and ~(ω2pe+ω2c/γ2)1/2 for radio waves of two orthogonal polarizations perpendicular and parallel to the projected spin axis in the sky plane, where ωpe is the proper e{mnplus} pair plasma frequency, ωc is the relativistic Larmor frequency, and γ is the Lorentz factor of e{mnplus} bulk flow. Radio pulse spectra of most pulsars show low-frequency cutoffs at νcut≲100 MHz. For (ω2pe+ω2c/γ2)1/2<2πνcut, one may bracket the e{mnplus} particle loss rate of a pulsar wind. If for some cases, alternative to the wisdom that all such spectral cutoffs are intrinsic to the emission mechanism(s) near a pulsar, the magnetized e{mnplus} pair plasma of a pulsar wind actually causes the low-frequency cutoffs of radio pulse spectra, then spectral polarization studies of the two different frequency cutoffs can yield ωpe and ωc/γ. Together with the observed rates of pulsar spin and spin-down, one may derive key properties of a pulsar wind, including the e{mnplus} particle loss rate.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
Magnetohydrodynamics: MHD - Polarization - Stars: Pulsars: General - Relativity - Stars: Winds, Outflows - Waves
Simbad objects:
3
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