Is Gamma-ray Absorption by Induced Electric Fields Important in the Pulsar Magnetospheres?

Although the unified formula for gamma-ray absorption process involving both the magnetic field and a perpendicular electric field derived by Daugherty & Lerche (1975) is correct, we argued in this paper that their conclusion that the induced electric fields are important in the pair formation process in the pulsar magnetospheres is wrong and misleading. The key point is that usually the direction of a gamma photon at the emission point observed in the laboratory frame should be (v/c, 0, [1-(v/c)^2]^{1/2}) rather than (0, 0, 1), where v is the co-rotating velocity. This emission direction is just the one which results in zero attenuation coefficient of the gamma photon. Calculation shows that after the photon has moved a distance, its direction lead to the result that the induced electric field is also of minor importance. Thus only gamma-B process is the important mechanism for the pair production in the pulsar magnetospheres. The implications of the modification by ejecting the induced electric field are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 Postscript figures, LaTeX, some miscomments on the references of Harding et al are modified, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letter

Vacuum Potentials for the Two Only Permanent Free Particles, Proton and Electron. Pair Productions

The two only species of isolatable, smallest, or unit charges +e and -e present in nature interact with the universal vacuum in a polarisable dielectric representation through two uniquely defined vacuum potential functions. All of the non-composite subatomic particles containing one-unit charges, +e or -e, are therefore formed in terms of the IED model of the respective charges, of zero rest masses, oscillating in either of the two unique vacuum potential fields, together with the radiation waves of their own charges. In this paper we give a first principles treatment of the dynamics of charge in a dielectric vacuum, based on which, combined with solutions for the radiation waves obtained previously, we subsequently derive the vacuum potential function for a given charge q, which we show to be quadratic and consist each of quantised potential levels, giving therefore rise to quantised characteristic oscillation frequencies of the charge and accordingly quantised, sharply-defined masses of the IED particles. By further combining with relevant experimental properties as input information, we determine the IED particles built from the charges +e,-e at their first excited states in the respective vacuum potential wells to be the proton and the electron, the observationally two only stable (permanently lived) and "free" particles containing one-unit charges. Their antiparticles as produced in pair productions can be accordingly determined. The characteristics of all of the other more energetic non-composite subatomic particles can also be recognised. We finally discuss the energy condition for pair production, which requires two successive energy supplies to (1) first disintegrate the bound pair of vaculeon charges +e,-e composing a vacuuon of the vacuum and (2) impart masses to the disintegrated charges.Comment: Presentation at the 7th Int Conf Quantum Theory and Symmetries (QTS 7) Prague, Aug., 2011. Includes Part B: "A Microscopic Theory of the Neutron". Includes Part C: "A Quantum Electromagnetic Theory of the Pions, Muons and Their Emitting Particles (I)