Three Mistakes in Pulsar ElectrodynamicsAuthors: Zhu-Xing Liang, Yi Liang
(Submitted on 23 Aug 2010)
Abstract: In the paper Pulsar Electrodynamics, published in 1969, Goldreich and Julian propose some basic properties of pulsars, such as the oft-cited Goldreich-Julian density, light cylinder, open and closed magnetic field lines, corotation and so on. However, inspection of their mathematics reveals three mistakes: first, the relative velocity is irrelevantly replaced by the corotation velocity; second, a hypothesis in their theory is contradictory to Maxwell's equations; and third, their theory neglected a special solution of the frozen-in field equation which is of particular importance for pulsar research. We additionally describe the results of a series of magnetohydrodynamic experiments that may be beneficial to the understanding of pulsar electrodynamics.
在Goldreich and Julian 1969年发表的《Pulsar Electrodynamics》论文中,曾经提出了经常被引用的GJ密度、光速柱、开磁力线、闭磁力线以及共转等基本概念。然而,在对他们的数学推导进行检查以后,发现其中存在三个错误:第一,不恰当地用共转速度代换了相对速度;第二,他们的理论中的一个假设违反了麦克斯韦方程;第三,他们的理论忽略了磁冻结方程的一个特解,而这个特解对脉冲性研究很重要。另外,本文还介绍了我们已完成的一系列磁流体实验,这些实验的结果可能有利于对脉冲星电动力学的理解。
如果我们的观点能够得到普遍承认, 将对天体物理界产生重要冲击。起码,已经发表在各种杂志上的数以千计的有关脉冲星辐射模型的论文全都被证明存在错误。搜索发现,对Goldreich and Julian 的这篇经典论文的引用已达1200多次,而且近年的引用率仍然在攀升。一旦我们的指控成立,这些论文多数要受到影响。