1111.3377 (Andrei Gruzinov)
Andrei Gruzinov
We have recently proposed that Force-Free Electrodynamics (FFE) does not
apply to pulsars -- pulsars should be described by the high-conductivity limit
of Strong-Field Electrodynamics (SFE), which predicts an order-unity damping of
the Poynting flux, while FFE postulates zero damping. The strong damping result
has not been accepted by several pulsar experts, who claim that FFE basically
works and the Poynting flux damping can be arbitrarily small.
Here we consider a thought experiment -- cylindrical periodic pulsar. We show
that FFE is incapable of describing this object, while SFE predictions are
physically plausible. The intrinsic breakdown of FFE should mean that the FFE
description of the singular current layer (the only region of magnetosphere
where FFE and the high-conductivity SFE differ) is incorrect. Then the
high-conductivity SFE should be the right theory for real pulsars too, and the
pure-FFE description of pulsars should be discarded.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.3377
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