Current Flow and Pair Creation at Low Altitude in Rotation Powered Pulsars' Force-Free Magnetospheres: Space-Charge Limited Flow

TL;DR

This study investigates particle acceleration and pair creation at low altitudes in pulsar magnetospheres, revealing distinct behaviors depending on current density relative to the Goldreich-Julian value, with implications for pulsar emission mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model analyzing the voltage-current relationship in pulsar polar flows, highlighting time-dependent pair creation and conditions for steady versus bursty plasma generation.

Findings

Sub-GJ current densities lead to mild acceleration without pair creation.

Super-GJ current densities cause high voltage drops and bursty pair creation.

Return currents also produce pair creation bursts, affecting magnetospheric dynamics.

Abstract

(shortened) We report the results of an investigation of particle acceleration and electron-positron plasma generation at low altitude in the polar magnetic flux tubes of Rotation Powered Pulsars, when the stellar surface is free to emit whatever charges and currents are demanded by the force-free magnetosphere. We observe novel behavior. a) When the current density is less than the Goldreich-Julian (GJ) value (0<j/j_{GJ}<1), space charge limited acceleration of the current carrying beam is mild, with the full GJ charge density being comprised of the charge density of the beam, co-existing with a cloud of electrically trapped particles with the same sign of charge as the beam. The voltage drops are on the order of mc^2/e, and pair creation is absent. b) When the current density exceeds the GJ value (j/j_{GJ}>1), the system develops high voltage drops, causing emission of gamma rays and intense bursts of pair creation. The bursts exhibit limit cycle behavior, with characteristic time scales somewhat longer than the relativistic fly-by time over distances comparable to the polar cap diameter (microseconds). c) In return current regions, where j/j_{GJ}<0, the system develops similar bursts of pair creation. In cases b) and c), the intermittently generated pairs allow the system to simultaneously carry the magnetospherically prescribed currents and adjust the charge density and average electric field to force-free conditions. We also elucidate the conditions for pair creating beam flow to be steady, finding that such steady flows can occupy only a small fraction of the current density parameter space of the force-free magnetospheric model. The generic polar flow dynamics and pair creation is strongly time dependent. The model has an essential difference from almost all previous quantitative studies, in that we sought the accelerating voltage as a function of the applied current.