Fast pulsars with disks

Abstract

It is quite likely that fast pulsars are not rare; there are several point-like radio sources with pulsar-like radio spectra that might prove to pulse in the milisecond range (J. H. Taylor, personal communication). The possibility that the recently discovered pulsar¹ PSR1937 + 214 is a new class of object has been considered by adherents of the vacuum model^2,3. We point out here that the measured parameters of PSR1937 + 214 are consistent with the proposed disk model of radio pulsars^4,5. Using the measured values of P and Ṗ and the scalings provided in this theory⁵, we expect a surface magnetic field strength of ∼10⁸ G, a radio-emission output of 10³¹ erg s⁻¹, and a weak (below detection with present instruments) output of energy in the X-ray and γ-ray ranges. The surface magnetic field cannot be checked, but the observed radio luminosity¹ is 3 × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹, in gratifying agreement with the theoretical expectation of the disk model.