PHYSICAL REVIEW E

VOLUME 55, NUMBER 5

MAY 1997

Linear modes in the rotating neutron star polar-cap electron-positron plasma

U. A. Moz*
School of Science and Technology, Bangladesh Open University, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh Received 17 September 1996 Linear modes in the rotating neutron star polar-cap electron-positron plasma are considered. Due to the like dynamical behavior among species, linear modes in electron-positron plasmas have some specic features. Rotation of a neutron star generates additional effects on the plasma in the polar-cap region. These effects are different for waves propagating at different angles to the ambient magnetic eld. S1063-651X 97 06105-9 PACS number s : 52.60. h, 52.25. b, 52.35.Mw, 52.35.Sb

I. INTRODUCTION

Pulsars are the source of pulsed cosmic radio emission. They were discovered in 1967 and almost immediately associated with rotating neutron stars. Such stars originate from the catastrophic gravitational collapse of ordinary stars of some specic mass, which have exhausted their nuclear fuel. In neutron stars, the gravitational forces are brought to equilibrium by the pressure of strongly compressed neutron matter. Although the mass of the stars is on the order of solar mass, their radius is only about 10 km. The density arises on the order of 1014 gm/cm3 and conservation of magnetic ux creates a superstrong magnetic eld on the order of 1016 gauss. On the other hand, conservation of angular momentum makes the neutron star a highly rotating object. The most remarkable property of radio pulsars is the very high stability of the frequency of succession of radiation pulses. It is natural to assume that the high coherence and directivity of observed pulsar radio emission is due to the presence of a magnetic eld and plasma in the vicinity of the neutron star i.e., pulsar magnetosphere in which the emission is generated. It is suggested 13 that cascade generation of ee plasma occurs in the polar-cap region of the rotating neutron star. The process of electron-positron pair creation and annihilation also occurs in relativistic plasma at high temperatures. The pair production, which is one of the most effective means of producing an electron-positron plasma, involves high-energy processes under extreme astrophysical conditions, such as solar ares, pulsars, black holes, the jet phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei 4 , and in the early universe 5 . In this paper, we study the linear modes in the rotating and strongly magnetized electron-positron plasmas. We investigate the rotational effect on the normal modes in a magnetized plasma. We know that the rotational axis and the magnetic axis are not aligned; therefore, the inclination angle also plays a vital role in the pulsar-magnetosphere plasmas.
II. BASIC EQUATIONS

continuity and momentum equations for each species, supplemented by Maxwells equations. In the momentum balance equation, we introduce the Coriolis force 2m( 0 v s ) for plasma rotation with rotation frequency 0 . We also introduce a phenomenological damping force m v s proportional to the mass and velocity of the charge and to an effective damping frequency . We assume that pressure P s (s e,e ) is isotropic and satises P s n s T s , where n s is the number density of species s, and T s is the species temperature. With the rotation we only consider the Coriolis force, neglecting the centrifugal term, as plasma is considered to be very close to the rotational axis. In the Maxwell system, the rotational effects come through the current; therefore, modication of the eld equations is not considered, since the plasma rotation is much smaller than the cyclotron frequency. The equations considered are, therefore, ns t
v s

n s v s 0, qs v B0 mc s ns , 1 E , c t

vs

qs E m Ts mn s 4 c

vs

vs

q sn sv s

1 B , c t

E 4

q sn s ,

We consider two uid magnetohydrodynamic MHD equations to describe the rotating ee plasma in the polarcap region of the neutron star. The equations are the usual

B 0,

*FAX: 00 880 2 865750. Electronic address: bou@driktap.tool.nl

1063-651X/97/55 5 /5894 7 /$10.00 55

e or e for s e, e respecwhere q s denotes the charge tively , v s the uid velocity, c the speed of light, m the electron-positron mass, and E , B the electric and magnetic elds, respectively.
5894 1997 The American Physical Society

55

LINEAR MODES IN THE ROTATING NEUTRON STAR . . .

5895

v sx

qs m i

1
2 0s 2 2

k 2v 2 ts
2 0sx

1 k 2v 2 z ts

k Ex

2 0s

/ k2

2 2

k zv 2 ts
0sz 2

0s

Ey Ex , 9

0sx

0sz

k zk xv 2 ts

v sz

qs m i

1
2 0s 0sx 2 2

k 2v 2 ts

1 Ex Ey

2 0s

/ k2

2 2

FIG. 1. Schematic view of a magnetized neutron star with a dipole moment whose axis makes an angle with the rotation axis 0 , the closed magnetic eld lines B extending out to a radius r 0 representing either the light cyllinder isolated neutron star or the Alfven surface in the accretion ow of a companion . p is the polar-cap angle; lines inside p will be open and reach outside the light cylinder. III. DIELECTRIC TENSOR FOR THE ROTATING ee PLASMA

0sz

k zk xv 2 ts

k xv 2 ts
0sx 2

k
2 0sz

0s

k 2v 2 x ts

Ez ,

10

and for k y 0, from equation of motion 2 , we easily get qs m 1

2 0s 2

We consider the neutron star to be an inclined rotator, as shown in Fig. 1. The magnetic axis makes an inclination angle with the rotation axis. The highly magnetized ee plasma generated in the polar-cap region also rotates with the star within the light cylinder. For a plane-wave propagation of the form ei
kr t

v sy

0sz E x

Ey

0sx E z

. 11

From the relation 4 i

s

from Eqs. 1 and 2 , we nd

vs

1
2 0s 2

qs m

0s

D E k
0s

i jE j

q sn sv s ,

12

0s

v2 ts

kvs

k ik

0s

0s

with v s dened by Eq. 9 11 , we determine the dielectric tensor for the rotating magnetized plasma to be

where 1 i / ,
v2 ts

Ts , m q sB 0 . mc

xx ij yx zx

xy yy zy

xz yz zz

13

0s

0s

0,

0s

with
2 ps s 2 2 2 2 2 2 0s 2 0sx

For simplicity, we consider the magnetic eld in the polar cap region to be along the z axis, i.e., B 0 B 0 z , and the wave propagation vector k to be on the x ,z plane, i.e., k k x ,0,k z . We also consider the rotational frequency 0 where 0x 0x ,0, 0z 0 sin , 0z 0 cos . Then, from Eq. 8 one can easily nd particle velocities along the x and z directions:

xx

k 2v 2 z ts k
2 0s

k 2v 2 ts

/ k2

2 2

5896
2 ps

U. A. MOFIZ
2 p 2

55

4
2 2 c

xy

i
s

xz

0x k 2v 2 t

0z

k xk zv 2 t k2 z
2 c

1
2 p

/ k2

k zv 2 ts
0sz 2 2 2 0s 2

k k

0s 2 0s

yx

2
2 2 p 2

0z 2 c

k 2v 2 ts

/ k2

2 2

,
yy

1
2 p

2 ps xz s 2 yz 0sx 2 2 2 0s 0sz

2 c

i 4

2
2

0x 2 c 0z

k zk xv 2 ts k
2 0s

k 2v 2 ts i
s

/ k2

2 2

,
zx xz

2 p 2

2 c

0x 2 2 k vt 2

k xk zv 2 t k2 z
2 c

/ k2

yx

2 ps 0sz 2 2 2 0sz 2 ps 2 2

,
zy

2 p

2 1
2 2 p 2

k 2v 2 / x t
2 c

0x

2k x k z v 2 / t k2 z
2 c 2 c

2 2

0z

k 2v 2 t
2

/ k

yy

1
s

2, 0s

zz

k 2v 2 x t k2 z
2 c

2 c

k 2v 2 1 t

/ k2

. 15

yz

i
s

2 ps 2 2

0sx 2 0s

zx 2 ps s 0sx 2 k 2v 2 0s ts 2 ps s 2

xz ,

Here, 2 (8 e 2 n 0 )/m and v 2 T/m. As plasma is considp t ered to be isotropic, so T e T p T is considered. From Maxwell equations 3 6 , we have the wave equation
2

k ik j k 2

ij

zy

ij

,k

E j 0.

16

k xv 2 / ts 1

k
2 0s

0s

2 2

/ k2

2 2

Let k x k sin , k z k cos , where is the angle between the wave vector k and the magnetic eld B 0 . Then, dening N 2 (k 2 c 2 )/( 2 ), we have the wave equations
xx

N 2 cos2
yx yy

xy

xz

N 2 sin cos
yz zz

zz

N2
zy

zx 2 2 2 0sz

N 2 sin cos Ex Ey Ez 0.

N 2 sin 17

k 2v 2 x ts k
2 0s

2 2

2 0s

k 2v 2 ts

/ k2

2 2

. 14

The obtained dielectric tensor is more simplied for electron-positron plasma near the polar region. As the neutron star magnetic eld is superstrong ( 1012 gauss), we consider the cyclotron frequency to be much higher than the 2 2 plasma rotation, i.e., 0s 0 . So we assume that 2 2 2 2 2 k z c where c (eB 0 )/mc 0s c and (k 0s ) and we neglect the damping effect, i.e., 1. Thus for ee plasma near the polar cap of the neutron star, we have 1
2 p 2 p 2 2 2 2 c

IV. WAVE PROPAGATION PARALLEL TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD

First we consider the simplest case of wave propagation along B 0 z . So in this case, 0 i.e., k x 0 . Let us consider that the inclination angle is very small i.e., 0x 0 . In this particular case the wave equation 17 may be written as N2 ig 0 where ig N2 0 0 0 Ex Ey Ez

0,

18

k 2v 2 4 z t k2 z

xx

k 2v t 1
2 0z

2 0x 2 c /

k2

xy

2 1
2

k 2v 2 / z t
2 c

2k x k z v 2 / t k2 z
2 c

2 2

0x

k 2v 2 1 t

/ k2

2 p 2

2, c

55

LINEAR MODES IN THE ROTATING NEUTRON STAR . . .

5897

4
2 2 c

2 0x 2

2 p

k 2v 2 t
2 p 2 c

0z 2

2 p 2

k 2v 2 t

A. The Langmuir mode

2 2 The mode 0 1 k 2 v 2 ) represents the p /( t electrostatic Langmuir wave with E z 0 along the magnetic eld. The dispersion for the plasma mode is the usual relation

3 2

k2

2 D

19

where we assume that v 2 / 2 (T/m)/ 2 3 2 and k 2 2 t p p D D 1. Here we see that plasma rotation does not have a signicant effect on Langmuir waves along the magnetic eld.
B. The transverse mode

FIG. 2. Refractive indices of electromagnetic waves propagating along the magnetic eld in the rotating electron-positron plasma. The dimensionless parameters are p / c 0.1, 0 / c 0.01. The thin curve represents the right-polarized wave and the thick curve represents the left-polarized wave.

The dispersion relation for the transverse mode along the magnetic eld is described by the equation N2 If we dene
r l

positron can resonate with the wave if c . Thus both the modes are extraordinary waves x modes . But, for 0 0, we see that N r N l . So the waves refractive indices differ in this case, as shown in Fig. 2. Now, let us investigate both the right-hand r mode and left-hand l mode polarized waves in the rotating plasma. For this, we rewrite Eqs. 23 and 24 as k 2c 2
2

N2

g 2 0.

20

p2
2

2, c

26

g, g,

21

where
2 p

1 1

2 2

, ,

for r mode, for l mode.

the dispersion relation 20 can be written as N2 r

r

p2 22
0 p

N2 l

g.

The right-hand side of Eq. 22 is related to the rotation ( 0 ) of the plasma and to the inclination of the rotating neutron star. These two features have signicant effects on the dispersion of transverse plasma modes propagating along the magnetic eld. For simplicity, let us consider the modes very close to the polar axis i.e., 0, which gives 0x 0 and 0z . In this case, from Eq. 22 we nd that 0 N2 r
r

Then from Eq. 26 we nd

2
1 2

k 2c 2 p2

2 c

k 2c 2 p2

2 2 c

4k 2 c 2

2 c

. 27

1. High-frequency modes

2 p 2 2 p 2 2 c 2 c

23

Equation 27 describes two branches of modes, highfrequency sign and low-frequency sign waves. First, we consider the plus sign. Then, in the long-wavelength limit (k0) we nd k
2 2 1/2 c

N2 l

24

k 2c 2 2
p 2

2 c 2 2 c

28

We see that, without plasma rotation ( ily recover the earlier results 68 , N2 1 N2 2 1
2 p 2

0), one may eas-

while in the short-wavelength limit (k ) we have k kc 1 1 p2 2 k 2c 2 . 29

0/

2, c

25
2 p

which describes that, in electron-positron plasma, both the right-hand and left-hand circularly polarized waves are described by the same dispersion relation and both electron and

It should be noted that for high-frequency waves (

2 p

1, so in this case. Thus, plasma rotation does not signicantly affect the waves in the upper branch.

5898 2. Low-frequency modes

U. A. MOFIZ

55

Now we consider the low-frequency branch, taking the minus sign in Eq. 27 . First, we do an analysis in the longwavelength limit. For k0, we nd
2 0

1 1 1 1

v 2 /c 2 k 2 v 2 A A v 2 /c 2 A v 2 /c 2 k 2 v 2 A A v 2 /c 2 A

for r mode, for l mode. 30

k
0

For 0 0 no rotation , we get the usual low-frequency branch k kc 1 c 2/ v 2 A . 31

FIG. 3. The dispersion relation for the transverse collective mode propagating parallel to the magnetic eld. In the highfrequency regime thin curve both the right- and the left-polarized waves have the same dispersion. But in the low-frequency regime thick curve , the right- and left-polarized waves split for smaller k.

But for plasma rotation ( 0 0), we see that the modes are different. In the long-wavelength limit, for k 0, we nd 2 1 0
0 v 2 /c 2 A

for r mode,

32

5 A long-wavelength low-frequency transverse mode with the frequency close to plasma rotation may propagate along the magnetic eld.
V. WAVE PROPAGATION PERPENDICULAR TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD

for l mode,

which shows that in the rotating plasma a right-polarized long wave and an extremely low-frequency mode exist. 2 2 2 For a dense plasma ( 2 1. So, p c ), we have v A /c from Eq. 30 we nd k
2 0 2 0

k 2v 2 A k 2v 2 A

0,

for r mode, . for l mode 0,

Now we consider the wave propagation perpendicular to the magnetic eld. We assume k k,0,0 . Then for e,e plasma close to the polar axis i.e., 0 or 0x 0 , the wave equations may be written as
1

33 ig 2 0 34 where

In the short-wavelength limit, i.e., k , we nd

c,

ig 1 2 2 N 0

0 0
1

N2

Ex Ey Ez

0,

35

which shows that, for larger k, both modes behave similarly and plasma rotation does not have a signicant effect. The dispersion relation vs k is schematically shown in Fig. 3. It shows that high-frequency waves are not inuenced very much by plasma rotation but the low-frequency mode with a larger wavelength splits up into two branches. Thus, we perform a simple analysis of modes propagating along the magnetic eld, close to the polar axis in a rotating pulsar plasma. Obviously, it is useful to outline the main features of a rotating plasma with those in the nonrotating plasma. One nds the following features in the rotating electron-positron polar-cap plasma. 1 The Langmuir mode is not affected by plasma rotation. 2 Both the right and left circularly polarized waves have resonances near the cyclotron frequency. 3 For high-frequency waves, plasma rotation has no signicant effect on wave propagation. 4 For low-frequency modes in the long-wavelength regime, plasma rotation plays a signicant role. The plasma dispersion relation for right-circularly-polarized waves differs from that of left-circularly-polarized waves.

2 p 2 2 c 2 p 2 2 p 2 2 c 2 p 2 2 p 2.

k 2v 2 t
2, c

g1

k 2v 2 t
2, c

g2

2 2 ) represents the transverse wave with N2 1 1 ( p/ 1 the electric eld parallel to the ambient magnetic eld E B 0 but k B 0 . In this mode, magnetic eld has no effect. So this is the usual, ordinary, or l mode. The other dispersion relation is described by the equation

55

LINEAR MODES IN THE ROTATING NEUTRON STAR . . .

5899

VI. WAVE PROPAGATION AT AN ARBITRARY ANGLE TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD

To investigate the wave propagation at an arbitrary angle to the magnetic eld, it is convenient to consider the direc tion of wave vector k along the z direction, i.e., k 0,0,k and B 0 B 0x ,0,B 0z , where B 0x B 0 sin , B 0z B 0 cos . For waves propagating very close to the polar axis 0, which gives 0x 0 in the cold plasma approximation ( v 2 t 0), one may obtain the following equations: N2
xx yx zx xy xz yz zz 2

yy zy

Ex Ey Ez

0.

39

FIG. 4. Refractive indices of electromagnetic waves propagating perpendicular to the rotating electron-positron plasma. The values of dimensionless parameters are p / c 0.1, 0 / c 0.01, 2 (k 2 v 2 )/ 2 0.001. With the usual cutoff at 2 t c c there occurs an 2 2 2 2 extra cutoff at 2 c p k v t due to plasma rotation.

In the system of axes with z axis parallel to k , the third line of matrix equation 39 is independent of N 2 . So the z-component of the electric eld is dependent on the other two, i.e., Ez 1
zz zx E z zy E y

40

N2 2 1

g 1g 2
2 1 2 p 2 2 c

The remaining two equations are 1 4

2 0 2 2 p 2 2 c 2 p xx

N2
yx yy

xy

k 2v 2 t

. 36 where

N2

Ex Ey

0,

41

Refractive indices of these modes are shown graphically in Fig. 4. We see that plasma rotation does not affect the ordinary modes, but it affects the extraordinary mode in the lowfrequency regime. With the usual cutoff frequency at 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 c , there occurs an extra cutoff at c p k vt entirely due to the rotation ( 0 ) of the plasma. From the rst line of Eq. 35 , we get the ratio of the longitudinal to the transverse components, Ex Ey g1
1

1
xx xx zz

xz zx ,

1
xy xy zz xz zy

1
yx yx zz

yz zx ,

0 2 2 c

2 p 2 p

k 2v 2 t

37 with

1
yy yy zz yz zy

42

In general, rotation of the star is much less than the wave frequency, i.e., 0 / 1. So, essentially, E x 0, E y 0. Again, for c , the longitudinal component p is also small. On the other hand, at the frequency
2 c 2 p

xx

cos2
yx

sin2 , ig cos , sin cos ,

k 2v 2 t

1/2

38
xz

xy

there is a resonance, which implies that E x /E y or E y 0, i.e., the wave becomes purely longitudinal. Thus we nd some specic features of transverse modes propagating perpendicular to the magnetic eld in a rotating electron-positron plasma. 1 Both the ordinary and extraordinary modes can exist in the rotating electron-positron plasma. 2 The cutoff frequency for the extraordinary mode is shifted due to the rotation of plasma. 3 Both the ordinary and extraordinary waves are linearly polarized.

zx

yy

, ig sin , cos2 .

yz

zy

zz

sin2

The ratio of E x /E y gives the degree of the ellipticity of the normal modes. With the quantities given in Eq. 42 , after some calculation, one may nd

5900

U. A. MOFIZ

55

Ex Ey

xy

i2
xx

0 2

2 p 2 c

N2

2 p 2

cos 1

k c /

2 2

2 c

2 p

2 p

k 2v 2 t

k 2v 2 t

2 c

2 p

sin2

2 c

2 p

k 2 v 2 cos2 t

. 43

VII. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

We have studied the linear modes in a strongly magnetized and rotating electron-positron plasma. The study is related to plasmas in the polar cap region of a rotating neutron star. We know that, in general, electron-positron plasma even in the nonrotational case differs signicantly from the usual electron-ion plasma 9 . The following events take place. 1 Due to the same charge-to-mass ratio of the electron and positron, the dynamical behavior is the same. 2 Due to the same time scales, in the thermal equilibrium both species have the same temperature, in contrast to the electron-ion plasma, where different temperatures may be maintained. 3 In the presence of a magnetic eld, the electron and positron perform a gyromotion at the same frequency and the plasma couples to the left- and right-circularly-polarized waves equally. Now, in case of plasma rotation and strong magnetization of the pulsar plasma, we nd some specic features of linear modes in the electron-positron plasmas. For waves propagating along the magnetic eld we nd the following. 1 Plasma rotation does not have a signicant effect on Langmuir and high-frequency transverse modes. 2 Both the right- and left-circularly-polarized waves have resonances near the cylotron frequency. 3 For low-frequency modes in the long-wavelength regime, plasma rotation plays a vital role. Plasma dispersion relations for right-circularly-polarized waves differ from that of left-polarized waves.

For waves propagating perpendicular to the magnetic eld we nd: The following. 1 Both the ordinary and extraordinary modes can exist even in the rotating electron-positron plasma. 2 With the usual cutoff there occurs an extra cutoff due to the rotation of the plasma. 3 Both the ordinary and extraordinary waves are linearly polarized. Finally, we study the modes propagating at an arbitrary angle to the magnetic eld. We derive an expression Eq. 43 that describes the ellipticity of the normal modes. We nd that the ellipticity is mostly dened by the rotation of the plasma. In the nonrotational plasma it is simply zero, while it increases with the increase of the rotation ( 0 ) of the star. The ellipticity of the modes is also related to the angle propawith respect to the ambient magnetic eld. For gation waves propagating along the magneting eld ( 0), the ellipticity is maximum, while for waves propagating perpendicular to the magnetic eld ( /2), the ellipticity is zero. This means that waves propagating perpendicular to the magnetic eld are linearly polarized. Thus, the specic features of linear modes in the rotating and strongly magnetized electron-positron plasma in the polar cap region of a neutron star are revealed. More detailed description may be obtained using the kinetic approach. Nonlinear modes are similarly important. We wish to study and report on these cases in the future.

1 P. Goldreich and W. H. Julian, Astrophys. J. 157, 869 1969 . 2 J. G. Lominadge, G. Z. Machabeli, G. I. Milikidze, and A. D. Patarya, Sov. J. Plasma Phys. 12, 712 1986 . 3 U. A. Moz, U. De Angelis, and A. Forlani, Phys. Rev. A 25, 1023 1982 . 4 Active Galactic Nuclei, edited by H. R. Miller and P. J. Wiita Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987 ; Positron-Electron Pairs in Astrophysics, edited by M. L. Burns, A. K. Harding, and R. Ramaty AIP, New York, 1983 . 5 C. W. Misner, K. S. Thorne, and J. A. Wheeler, Gravitation

6 7 8 9

Freeman, San Francisco, 1980 ; M. J. Rees, in The Very Early Universe, edited by G. W. Gibbons, S. W. Hawking, and S. Siklos Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993 . V. I. Bereziani, M. Y. El-Ashry, and U. A. Moliz, Phys. Rev. E 50, 448 1994 . U. A. Moz, N. L. Tsintsadze, and L. N. Tsintsadze, Phys. Scr. 51, 390 1995 . G. P. Zank and R. G. Greaves, Phys. Rev. E 51, 6079 1995 . Naoki Iwamoto, Phys. Rev. E 47, 604 1993 .