Looking into Pulsar Magnetospheres

Author: Lyutikov M.

Source: Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 278, Numbers 1-2, 2001 , pp. 81-84(4)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

Diffractive and refractive magnetospheric scintillations may allow direct probing of the plasma inside the pulsar light cylinder. The unusual electrodynamics of the strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma allows separation of the magnetospheric and interstellar scattering. The most distinctive feature of the magnetospheric scintillations is their independence of frequency. Diffractive scattering due to small scale inhomogeneities produces a scattering angle that may be as large as 0.1 radians, and a typical decorrelation time of 10^-8 seconds. Refractive scattering due to large scale inhomogeneities is also possible, with a typical angle of 10^-3 radians and a correlation time of the order of 10^-4 seconds. Some of the magnetospheric propagation effects may have already been observed.

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, Canada

Publication date: 2001-01-01

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