Abstract
We generalize the hot relativistic MHD wind analysis to include the anisotropy of the pressure created in the pulsar wind by the strong magnetic field. Even with anisotropy the relativistic MHD equations integrate. In a very intense magnetic field, the motion of relativistic particles becomes rapidly one-dimensional in the direction of the field due to the very important radiative losses. Consequently, their distribution function becomes also one-dimensional and the component of the pressure, in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, decrease. In the limitP ⊥≃0,P ∥≠0 we obtain a solution for the fluid flow which, starting at the neutron star surface, reaches smoothly infinity.
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Groupe de Recherche du C.N.R.S. No. 48.
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Asseo, E., Beaufils, D. Role of the pressure anisotropy in the relativistic pulsar wind. Astrophys Space Sci 89, 133–141 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01008390
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01008390