Non-magnetic Pulsar Emission Mechanism

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel pulsar emission mechanism that does not rely on magnetic fields or rotational energy, instead attributing radiation to matter decay triggered by velocity thresholds relative to the ambient medium.

Contribution

It introduces an alternative emission process based on matter stability and decay due to velocity thresholds, challenging the traditional magnetic energy conversion model.

Findings

Decay regions on pulsar surfaces are formed under simple conditions.

Most pulsars' velocities support the proposed decay mechanism.

Pulsar radiation may carry away mass rather than rotational energy.

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the pulsar magnetic field converts most of its rotational energy losses into radiation. In this paper, we propose an alternative emission mechanism, in which neither the pulsar rotational energy nor its magnetic field is involved. The emission mechanism proposed here is based on the hypothesis that the pulsar matter is stable only when moving with respect to the ambient medium at a velocity exceeding some threshold value. A decrease in velocity below this threshold value leads to the decay of matter with the emission of electromagnetic radiation. It is shown that decay regions on the pulsar surface in which the velocities of pulsar particles drops to arbitrarily small values are formed under simple driving condition. It is also shown that for the majority of pulsars having measured transverse velocities, such a condition is quite possible. Thus, the pulsar radiation carries away not the pulsar rotational energy, but its mass, while the magnitude of the rotational energy does not play any role. At the end of the paper, we consider the reason for the possible short-period precession of the pulsar.