The Axisymmetric Pulsar Magnetosphere: A Classical Model

Extract

The aim of this work (Fitzpatrick and Mestel 1988a, Fitzpatrick and Mestel 1988b) is to elucidate how a neutron star with a dipolar magnetic field of axis k and an instantaneous angular velocity αk would spin down, within the framework of classical physics. The rotation of the highly conducting stellar crust generates differences of electric potential between field lines. An electron current flows from points of lower to higher potential via a dissipation domain located largely beyond the light-cylinder. Electrons leave the star's polar regions as a subrelativistic stream, flowing nearly along the lines of the poloidal field B_p, picking up energy from the electric force and angular momentum from the moment about k of the magnetic force.