Circulating Subbeam Systems and the Physics of Pulsar Emission

Joanna M. Rankin; Geoffrey A. E. Wright

doi:10.1007/s00159-003-0020-x

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Circulating Subbeam Systems and the Physics of Pulsar Emission

Joanna M. Rankin·Geoffrey A. E. Wright

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to suggest how detailed single-pulse observations of ``slow'' radio pulsars may be utilized to construct an empirical model for their emission. It links the observational synthesis developed in a series of papers by Rankin starting in the 1980s to the more recent empirical feedback model of Wright (2003a) by regarding the entire pulsar magnetosphere as a non-steady, non-linear interactive system with a natural built-in delay. It is argued that the enhanced role of the outer gap in such a system indicates an evolutionary link to younger pulsars, in which this region is thought to be highly active, and that pulsar magnetospheres should no longer be seen as being ``driven'' by events on the neutron star's polar cap, but as having more in common with planetary magnetospheres and auroral phenomena.

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BibTeX RIS

Joanna M. Rankin, Geoffrey A. E. Wright. 2003-06-02. Circulating Subbeam Systems and the Physics of Pulsar Emission. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00159-003-0020-x

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