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A pedagogical review of the vacuum retarded dipole model of pulsar spin down

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2022

J. C. Satherley*
Affiliation:
School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
C. Gordon
Affiliation:
School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
*
Corresponding author: J. C. Satherley, email: jsa113@uclive.ac.nz.
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Abstract

Pulsars are rapidly spinning highly magnetised neutron stars. Their spin period is observed to decrease with time. An early analytical model for this process was the vacuum retarded dipole (VRD) by Deutsch (1955, AnAp, 18). This model assumes an idealised star and it finds that the rotational energy is radiated away by the electromagnetic fields. This model has been superseded by more realistic numerical simulations that account for the non-vacuum like surroundings of the neutron star. However, the VRD still provides a reasonable approximation and is a useful limiting case that can provide some qualitative understanding. We provide detailed derivations of the spin down and related electromagnetic field equations of the VRD solution. We also correct typographical errors in the general field equations and boundary conditions used by Deutsch (1955, AnAp, 18).

Information

Type
Review Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Figure 0

Figure 1. (a) The unit vectors of a vector field at a point on a sphere in $(r, \theta, \varphi)$. (b) The unit vectors of a vector field at a point on a sphere in $(r,\psi,\nu)$.

Figure 1

Figure 2. The relation between the two coordinate systems $(r,\theta,\varphi)$ and $(r,\psi,\nu)$. x, y, and z are the Cartesian coordinates. (a) The coordinate system $(r,\psi,\nu)$ portrayed on a sphere. (b) The star’s rotation axis $\boldsymbol{\omega}$ and the magnetic field’s symmetry axis $\boldsymbol{{e}}$. $\chi$ is the angle of inclination between $\boldsymbol{\omega}$ and $\boldsymbol{{e}}$, and $\lambda$ is measured from the projection of $\boldsymbol{{e}}$ onto the xy-plane.

Figure 2

Figure 3. The magnetic field from (A1) using typical star parameters is plotted as streamlines showing the direction and the log magnitude of the magnetic field strength represented by the colour. Directly vertical is the star’s rotation axis, and the magnetic field axis is set as $\chi=\pi/4$. Note the dashed red circle is the light cylinder, where $\rho=1$ or $r=c/\omega$.

Figure 3

Figure F.1. Spherical triangles with general notation and the labels according to parameters defined in this review. (a) Spherical Triangle with side lengths and angles labelled according to the notation in this appendix. Note that sides and angles labelled with the same letter are opposite each other. (b) Description according to coordinate parameters and inclination of $\boldsymbol{{e}}$ axis. Note that $\nu$ is an angle which is $2\pi$ periodic so $-\nu \equiv 2\pi-\nu$ (note angles increase though anticlockwise).