The threshold for pulsar radio emission is determined by the Goldreich-Julian charge density

TL;DR

This paper investigates the physical threshold for pulsar radio emission, focusing on the ion-proton model and electron-positron pair creation, suggesting the former aligns better with observed phenomena across different pulsar types.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the ion-proton model satisfies a common emission threshold for various pulsars, unlike models based on electron-positron pair creation.

Findings

Ion-proton model aligns with a universal emission threshold.

Electron-positron pair creation models do not satisfy this threshold.

Implications for understanding pulsar radio emission mechanisms.

Abstract

A recent phenomenological study of radio emission from normal and millisecond pulsars by Karastergiou et al has lead these authors to state that they are unable to exclude a common physics process as the source although the rotation periods and magnetic fields of these two classes are very different. This has bearing on the nature of that source and it is the purpose the present Letter to explore this problem further, specifically for the ion-proton model and for all those models that assume electron-positron pair creation above the polar cap. The ion-proton model satisfies this commonality whereas pair creation does not. We mention briefly some consequences of these findings.