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Session 50 - Pulsars in the UV and Visible.
Topical, Oral session, Wednesday, June 10
Friars,
According to the Vector Model of pulsar emission (F. G. Smith, MNRAS, v219, 729, 1986; Comm. Ap., v15, 207, 1991; A. Lyne amp; F. G. Smith, "Pulsar Astronomy," Cambridge U. Press, 1990), the high-energy emission (IR to gamma- ray) comes from a different region than the radio emission (near the velocity of light cylinder rather than over the magnetic poles). Recent advances in observation of pulsars in the UV and visible coupled with theoretical advances of our understanding of pulsar emission mechanisms make a review of recent discoveries appropriate for the 1998 Summer Meeting.
The focus of this session will be on pulsars that radiate by accelerating particles away from the neutron star (the classical radio pulsars) rather than those that accrete material from a companion (the classical X-ray binary pulsar).
Topics to be discussed include:
(1) a comparison of observational results in the UV and visible, and perhaps the IR and X-ray region as well, with the predictions of the vector model; variations in pulse profile as a function of frequency as a test of the standard model.
(2) the discovery of new pulsars in the UV and visible
(3) the spectra of pulsars in the UV and visible.
(4) braking index measurements and theories of particle acceleration mechanisms; the possibility of cosmic ray acceleration occurring in this class of pulsars.
(5) using reprocessed UV pulses from X-ray binary pulsars to measure neutron star masses dynamically.
