RESISTIVE SOLUTIONS FOR PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERES

Abstract

The current state of the art in the modeling of pulsar magnetospheres invokes\neither the vacuum or force-free limits for the magnetospheric plasma. Neither\nof these limits can simultaneously account for both the plasma currents and the\naccelerating electric fields that are needed to explain the morphology and\nspectra of high-energy emission from pulsars. To better understand the\nstructure of such magnetospheres, we combine accelerating fields and force-free\nsolutions by considering models of magnetospheres filled with resistive plasma.\nWe formulate Ohm's Law in the minimal velocity fluid frame and construct a\nfamily of resistive solutions that smoothly bridges the gap between the vacuum\nand the force-free magnetosphere solutions. The spin-down luminosity, open\nfield line potential drop, and the fraction of open field lines all transition\nbetween the vacuum and force-free values as the plasma conductivity varies from\nzero to infinity. For fixed inclination angle, we find that the spin-down\nluminosity depends linearly on the open field line potential drop. We consider\nthe implications of our resistive solutions for the spin down of intermittent\npulsars and sub-pulse drift phenomena in radio pulsars.\n