### Magnetospheres and pulsars with net chargeMagnetospheres and pulsars with net charge

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 Author Cohen, J. M. ♦ Kegeles, L. S. ♦ Rosenblum, A. Sponsorship USDOE Source United States Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Content type Text Publisher Institute of Physics (IOP) Language English
 Subject Keyword Physics (Astrophysics & Cosmology)-Stars ♦ Physics Research-Astrophysics & Cosmology-Stars ♦ PULSARS- STELLAR MAGNETOSPHERES ♦ ELECTRONS ♦ GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY ♦ MAGNETIC FIELDS ♦ PLASMA ♦ ROTATION Abstract It is shown that a pulsar surrounded by a corotating magnetosphere region can possess a net charge. If there is no streaming, the star must be charged. The result is shown for the special relativistic case as well as for the fully general-relativistic model, including the effects of strong gravitation and the dragging of inertial frames. The value of the charge is of the order of 10$sup 12$ coulombs and depends upon the angle between the rotation and magnetic dipole axes. In the special relativistic case, the dipole magnetosphere contains no net charge, whereas when general relativity is included, the magnetosphere possesses net charge which can be comparable to that of the star itself. This is a new general-relativisitc effect. Because of their net charge, pulsars possessing this type of corotating magnetosphere region are sources of charged particles. (AIP) ISSN 0004637X Educational Use Research Learning Resource Type Article Publisher Date 1975-10-01 Publisher Department Department of Physics, University of Pennsylvania Publisher Place United States Journal Astrophysical Journal Volume Number 201 Organization Department of Physics, University of Pennsylvania