THE AXISYMMETRICAL PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERE - A NEW MODEL

Relativistic acceleration and electron-positron pair production are supposed to occur deep within the light-cylinder, leading to an outflowing plasma stream consisting of high-gamma primary electrons and a high-density sea of moderate-gamma pairs. The potential difference between the plasma and the star and the associated degree of sub-rotation are both quite modest. The assumption of strictly dissipation-free flow would lead to singularities in both the how and the magnetic field, occurring a short distance beyond the light-cylinder. The quasi-steady model proposed necessarily has dissipation zones: one just beyond the light-cylinder and approximated as a thin cylinder within which E.B is locally large, and the other as a dense equatorial disc, likely to suffer from spasmodic macroscopic instabilities. The proposed dissipative zone just beyond the light-cylinder could be the source of intense X- and gamma-ray emission.