Pulsar Efficiency

TL;DR

This paper calculates the efficiency of pulsars, showing an average of 15%, and compares the characteristic photon energy estimates with Fermi pulsar data, providing insights into pulsar emission mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a new calculation of pulsar efficiency averaged over inclination angles and compares photon energy estimates with observational data.

Findings

Pulsar efficiency is about 15% on average.

Efficiency varies from 50% for aligned to 10% for orthogonal rotators.

Results are consistent with Fermi pulsar catalog data.

Abstract

Pulsar efficiency, defined as the ratio of the pulsed bolometric luminosity to the spin-down power, is calculated to be about 15% (averaged over the spin-dipole inclination angle, ranging between about 50% for the aligned and 10% for the orthogonal). We also estimate the characteristic photon energy and argue that our results agree with the Fermi pulsar catalog -- in a sense.