Braking indices of pulsars obtained in the presence of an effective force

TL;DR

This paper proposes a modified model for pulsar braking indices by introducing an effective force in the energy conservation equation, aiming to better match observed data and explain high braking indices like that of pulsar J1640-4631.

Contribution

It introduces a novel effective force component into the canonical pulsar model to improve the calculation of braking indices.

Findings

Predicted braking indices for various pulsars.

Analysis of the high braking index of pulsar J1640-4631.

Model aligns with observed data for certain pulsars.

Abstract

Braking indices of pulsars present a scientific challenge as their theoretical calculation is still an open problem. In this paper we report results of a study regarding such calculation which adapts the canonical model (which admits that pulsars are rotating magnetic dipoles) basically by introducing a compensating component in the energy conservation equation of the system. This component would correspond to an effective force that varies with the first power of the tangential velocity of the pulsar's crust. We test the proposed model using data available and predict braking indices values for different stars. We comment on the high braking index recently measured of the pulsar J1640-4631.