On magnetic fields of radio pulsars

TL;DR

This paper recalculates neutron star magnetic fields in radio pulsars using magneto-dipole radiation, revealing generally higher magnetic inductions and a prevalence of small magnetic axis inclinations.

Contribution

It introduces new estimates of magnetic fields and magnetic axis angles for 376 pulsars, using three methods, highlighting that magnetic fields are often stronger than previously cataloged.

Findings

Magnetic fields are several times higher than in existing catalogs.

Small inclinations of magnetic axes are predominant among pulsars.

New methods improve estimates of pulsar magnetic properties.

Abstract

We used the magneto-dipole radiation mechanism for the braking of radio pulsars to calculate the new values of magnetic inductions at the surfaces of neutron stars. For this aim we estimated the angles ? between the rotation axis and the magnetic moment of the neutron star for 376 radio pulsars using three different methods. It was shown that there was the predominance of small inclinations of the magnetic axes. Using the obtained values of the angle ? we calculated the equatorial magnetic inductions for pulsars considered. These inductions are several times higher as a rule than corresponding values in the known catalogs.