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Do Pulsars Turn Off?

Abstract

THERE are persuasive arguments, nearly independent of the chosen model, which indicate that pulsars do, in fact, turn off in a time short compared with the age of the galaxy. After indicating these arguments, we will show that this behaviour is to be expected on the basis of established physical theory and the particular pulsar model which we1,2 and others (refs. 3โ€“6 and unpublished work of A. G. W. Cameron) have been developing, that the absence of long period pulsars can be quantitatively understood, and that fairly accurate predictions can be made for the rate of change of period แน– from other observed quantities.

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References

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OSTRIKER, J., GUNN, J. Do Pulsars Turn Off?. Nature 223, 813โ€“814 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/223813a0

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