POLAR GAP IN THE PULSAR FORCE-FREE MAGNETOSPHERE STRUCTURE

Abstract

The stationary axisymmetric force-free magnetosphere of a pulsar is considered by accounting for the polar gap and current circuit. Adjustment of the vacuum polar gap and the closing current sheet with the force-free magnetosphere of a monopolar structure is studied. For the transition layer between the vacuum and force-free regions, the self-consistent distributions of fields, currents and charges are analyzed, as well as the force and energetic balance examined. As is shown, in the case considered the transition layer characteristic scale is no less than the polar gap altitude, whereas the current closure is dissipation-free. The consequences of the results obtained for the interpretation of pulsar emission are discussed. In particular, the correlation between the radio and X-ray emission modes in the pulsar PSR B0943+10 is explained.

Keywords

• neutron star
• pulsar
• force-free magnetosphere
• polar gap
• pulsar current circuit