15 research outputs found
Nature of eclipsing pulsars
We present a model for pulsar radio eclipses in some binary systems, and test
this model for PSRs B1957+20 and J2051-0827. We suggest that in these binaries
the companion stars are degenerate dwarfs with strong surface magnetic fields.
The magnetospheres of these stars are permanently infused by the relativistic
particles of the pulsar wind. We argue that the radio waves emitted by the
pulsar split into the eigenmodes of the electron-positron plasma as they enter
the companion's magnetosphere and are then strongly damped due to cyclotron
resonance with the ambient plasma particles. Our model explains in a natural
way the anomalous duration and behavior of radio eclipses observed in such
systems. In particular, it provides stable, continuous, and frequency-dependent
eclipses, in agreement with the observations. We predict a significant
variation of linear polarization both at eclipse ingress and egress. In this
paper we also suggest several possible mechanisms of generation of the optical
and -ray emission observed from these binary systems.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Ap