Equilibrium of the return current sheet and the structure of a pulsar magnetosphere
Abstract
The field-aligned current in a pulsar flows from the polar caps along the open magnetic field lines and returns along the boundary between the closed and open regions of the magnetosphere. An equilibrium condition for this current sheet is obtained. The equilibrium condition is necessary for matching the electric and magnetic fields in the open and closed regions of the magnetosphere. A numerical calculation of the structure of the aligned magnetosphere is presented.
- Publication:
-
Pisma v Astronomicheskii Zhurnal
- Pub Date:
- January 1990
- Bibcode:
- 1990PAZh...16...34L
- Keywords:
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- Current Sheets;
- Field Aligned Currents;
- Polar Caps;
- Pulsar Magnetospheres;
- Electric Fields;
- Neutron Stars;
- Astrophysics