We have recently proposed that Force-Free Electrodynamics (FFE) does not apply to pulsars -- pulsars should be described by the high-conductivity limit of Strong-Field Electrodynamics (SFE), which predicts an order-unity damping of the Poynting flux, while FFE postulates zero damping. The strong damping result has not been accepted by several pulsar experts, who claim that FFE basically works and the Poynting flux damping can be arbitrarily small.
Here we consider a thought experiment -- cylindrical periodic pulsar. We show that FFE is incapable of describing this object, while SFE predictions are physically plausible. The intrinsic breakdown of FFE should mean that the FFE description of the singular current layer (the only region of magnetosphere where FFE and the high-conductivity SFE differ) is incorrect. Then the high-conductivity SFE should be the right theory for real pulsars too, and the pure-FFE description of pulsars should be discarded.
Pulsar electrodynamics inferred from frequency-dependent circular polarization diversity
Peking University（北京大学）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie（马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
Axion Hair and Pulsar Electrodynamics: modelling, discharge dynamics, and particle-in-cell simulations
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford（牛津大学鲁道夫·派尔斯理论物理中心）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器中心）；II. Institute of Theoretical Physics, Universität Hamburg（汉堡大学第二理论物理研究所）；Department of Theoretical Physics, CERN（欧洲核子研究中心理论物理部）；Dipartimento di Fisica, “Sapienza” Università di Roma & Sezione INFN Roma1（罗马第一大学物理系及INFN罗马一分部）；Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所）；Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) and Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST)（高等能源物理研究所及巴塞罗那科学与技术研究院）；Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton（普林斯顿高等研究院）；University of Maryland（马里兰大学）；Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）
