George I Melikidze

The diverse polarization properties in pulsars are in conflict with applying a unique emission mechanism to the population. The polarization position angle (PPA) traverse in most pulsars shows an S-shaped curve that can be interpreted using the rotating vector model (RVM) as the radio emission being directed either parallel or perpendicular to the divergent magnetic field lines and argues for a coherent curvature radiation mechanism from charge bunches in a strongly magnetized pair plasma. However, in a subset of pulsars the radio emission is significantly depolarized and the PPA shows a complex pattern which cannot be explained using RVM. We propose that even in such cases the highly polarized time samples in the single pulses should follow the RVM with possibly two parallel tracks separated by 90°. We have investigated PSR J1645−0317, with complex PPA traverse, and showed new evidence that considering only the highly polarized time samples in the single pulses, the PPA distribution clearly follows the RVM. We conclude that this strongly favours the coherent curvature radiation mechanism to be universally applicable in the pulsar population.

Coherent radio emission from pulsars originates from excited plasma waves in an ultra-relativistic and strongly magnetized electron–positron pair plasma streaming along the open magnetic field lines of the pulsar. Traditional coherent radio emission models have relied on instabilities in this pair plasma. Recently, alternative models have been suggested. These models appeal to direct coupling of the external electromagnetic field to the superluminal O-mode (lt2 mode) during the time-dependent pair cascade process at the polar gap. The objective of this work is to provide generic constraints on plasma models based on lt2 mode using realistic pulsar parameters. We find that the very short time-scale associated with pair cascades does not allow lt2 mode to be excited at radio frequencies and the impulsive energy transfer can only increase the kinetic spread (‘temperature’) of the pair plasma particles. Moreover, under homogeneous plasma conditions, plasma waves on both branches of O mode (i.e. superluminal lt2 and subluminal lt1) cannot escape the plasma. In the strongly magnetized pair plasma, only the extraordinary mode (t mode) can escape freely. We show that any generic fictitious mechanisms do not result in the wave electric field of t mode to have predominant orientation either parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic field plane as observed. Such fictitious mechanisms will inevitably lead to depolarization of signals and cannot account for the highly polarized single pulses observed in pulsars. We suggest coherent curvature radiation as a promising candidate for pulsar radio emission mechanism.