THE INFLUENCE OF QUANTUM VACUUM FRICTION ON PULSARS

ABSTRACT We first revisit the energy loss mechanism known as quantum vacuum friction (QVF), clarifying some of its subtleties. Then we investigate the observables that could easily differentiate QVF from the classical magnetic dipole radiation for pulsars with accurately measured braking indices (n)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2016-06, Vol.823 (2), p.97-97
Main Authors: Coelho, Jaziel G., Pereira, Jonas P., Araujo, José C. N. de
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Braking
ENERGY LOSSES
Evolution
FORECASTING
FRICTION
MAGNETIC DIPOLES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
Mathematical models
NEUTRON STARS
PULSARS
pulsars: general
STAR EVOLUTION
stars: magnetic field
stars: neutron
SURFACES
Time
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Summary:ABSTRACT We first revisit the energy loss mechanism known as quantum vacuum friction (QVF), clarifying some of its subtleties. Then we investigate the observables that could easily differentiate QVF from the classical magnetic dipole radiation for pulsars with accurately measured braking indices (n). We show that this is particularly the case for the time evolution of a pulsar's magnetic dipole direction ( ) and surface magnetic field ( ). As is well known in the context of the classic magnetic dipole radiation, n < 3 would only be possible for positive , which, for instance, leads to ( ) when φ (B0) is constant. On the other hand, we show that QVF can result in very different predictions with respect to those above. Finally, even if has the same sign in both of the aforementioned models for a pulsar, then, for a given φ, we show that they give rise to different associated timescales, which could be another way to falsify QVF.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/0004-637X/823/2/97