Integrated radio luminosities of pulsars

Abstract

The integrated radio luminosities of 311 long-period (P > 0.1 s) and 27 short-period (P < 0.1 s) pulsars have been calculated using a new compilation of radio spectra. The luminosities are in the range 10²⁷ − 10³⁰ erg/s for 88% of the long-period pulsars and 10²⁸ − 10³¹ erg/s for 88% of the short-period pulsars. We find a high correlation between the luminosity L and the estimate L ₁ = S ₄₀₀ d ² from the catalog of Taylor et al. The factor η for the transformation of the rotational energy of the neutron star into radio emission increases-decreases with increasing period for long-period and short-period pulsars. The mean value of η is −3.73 for the long-period and −4.85 for short-period pulsars. No dependence was found between L and the pulsar’s kinematic age t _k = |z|/〈v _z〉, where |z| and 〈v _z〉 = 300 km/s are the pulsars’ height above the plane of the Galaxy and mean velocity. A dependence of L on the rate of rotational energy losses Ė was found for both groups of pulsars. It is shown that L ∝ Ė ^1/3 for the entire sample. The pulsar luminosity function is constructed, and the total number and birth rate of pulsars in the Galaxy are calculated.