On the Phase‐Averaged Spectrum of Pulsars and Shape of Their Cutoffs
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10.1063/1.3615122
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Abstract
All gamma‐ray pulsars exhibit an exponential cutoff in their spectra and for bright pulsars the statistics are sufficiently high to study the detailed shape of the cutoff. The phase‐averaged spectra of some pulsars exhibit a sub‐exponential cutoff, not predicted by any single physical mechanism. Further studies clarified that this gentler average cutoff is a consequence of having significant variations of the cutoff energy in the phase‐resolved spectrum. In conclusion, the phase‐averaged spectrum of a pulsar is not a physical quantity to test high‐energy emission models.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
Key Topics
- Pulsars
- 5.0
- Emission spectra
- 1.0
