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

Self Interference of Single Electrodynamic Particle in Double Slit

It is by the long established fact in experiment and theory that electromagnetic waves, here as one component of an IED particle, passing a double slit will undergo self inference each, producing at a detector plane fringed intensities. The wave generating point charge of a zero rest mass, as the other component of the particle, is maintained a constant energy and speed by a repeated radiation reabsorption/reemission scheme, and in turn steered in direction in its linear motion by the reflected radiation field, and will thereby travel to the detector along (one of) the optical path(s) of the waves leading to a bright interference fringe. We elucidate the process formally based on first principles solutions for the IED particle and known principles for wave-matter interaction.Comment: Presentation at The 6th Int. Symp. Quantum Theory and Symmetries, Univ. Kent, 2009