Abstract
It is proposed that pulsars are mode-locked masers rather than rotating neutron stars. The maser cavity resides at the metallic-molecular interface near the surface of ordinary cold degenerate dwarf configurations. The period distribution, including its position, width, and features, is found in good agreement with that of pulsars. Furthermore, the pulse profile morphology of pulsars and modelocked lasers are found to be strikingly similar. Explanations are given for various other features, such as slowing down and optical pulses, and a possible connection with jovian decametric radiation is suggested. The main shortcoming of the maser theory is that no source of energy is obvious as yet.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashcroft, N. W.: 1968,Phys. Rev. Letters 21, 1748.
Brown, G. W., Carr, T. D., and Block, W. F.: 1968,Astrophys. Letters 1, 89.
Carr, T. D., Brown, G. W., and Smith, A. G. 1964,Astrophys. J.,140, 778.
Carr, T. D., and Gulkis, S.: 1969,Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 7, 577.
Crowell, M. H.: 1965,IEEE J. Quant. Elec. QE-1, 12.
Cutler, C. C.: 1955,Proc. IRE 43, 140.
Douglas, J. N. and Smith, H. J.: 1967,Astrophys. J. 148, 885.
Duguay, M. A., Shapiro, S. L., and Rentzepio, P. M.: 1967,Phys. Rev. Letters 19, 1014.
Dulk, G., Rayhrer, B., and Lawrence, R.: 1967,Astrophys. J. 150, L117.
Fife, A. A. and Gygax, S.: 1972,Appl. Phys. Letters 20, 152.
Gibson, A. F. and Kimmitt, M. F.: 1972,Laser Focus (August), 26.
Ginzburg, V. L.: 1971,Physics 55, 207.
Gribbin, J. R.: 1969,Astrophys. Letters 4, 77.
Goldreich, P. and Lynden-Bell, D.: 1969,Astrophys. J. 156, 59.
Harrison, B. K., Thorne, K. S., Wakano, M., and Wheeler, J. A.: 1965,Gravitation Theory and Gravitational Collapse, Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago.
Hirshfield, J. L. and Bekefi, G.: 1963,Nature 198 20.
Horowitz, P., Papaliolios, C., Carleton, N. P., Nelson, J., Middleditch, J., Hills, R., Cudaback, D., Wampler, J., Boynton, P. E., Groth, E. J., Partridge, R. B., Wilkinson, D. T., Duthie, J. G., and Murdin, P.: 1971,Astrophys. J. 166, L91.
Huguenin, G. R., Manchester, R. N., and Taylor, J. H.: 1971,Astrophys. J. 169, 97.
Leopold, L., Gregory, W. D., and Bostock, J.: 1969,Can. J. Phys. 47, 1167.
Lynch, M. A., Carr, T. D., May, J., Block, W. F., Robinson, V. M., and Six, N. F.: 1972,Astrophys. Letters 10, 153.
Lyne, A. G.: 1971,Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 153, 27 pp.
Lyne, A. G. and Smith, F. G. 1968,Nature 218, 124.
Madey, J. M. J.: 1971,J. Appl. Phys. 42, 1906.
Nash, F. R. 1967,IEEE J. Quant. Elec. QE-3, 189.
Neece, G. A., Rogers, F. J., and Hoover, W. G. 1971,J. Comp. Phys. 7, 621.
New, G. H. C.: 1972a,Alta Frequenza 41, 711.
New, G. H. C.: 1972b,Optics Comm. 6, 188.
Pantell, R. H., Soncini, G., and Puthoff, H. E.: 1968,IEEE J. Quant. Elec. QE-4, 905.
Papaliolios, C., Carleton, N. P., and Horowitz, P.: 1970,Nature 228, 445.
Pilkington, J. D. H., Hewish, A., Bell, S. J., and Cole, T. W.: 1968,Nature 218, 126.
Prentice, A. J. R. and Ter Haar, D.: 1969,Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 146, 423.
Ramsey, W. H.: 1950,Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 110, 444.
Risken, H. and Nummedal, K.: 1968,J. Appl. Phys. 39, 4662.
Ruderman, M.: 1972,Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.,10, 427.
Slee, O. B. and Higgins, C. S.: 1966,Australian. J. Phys. 19, 167.
Smith, P. W.: 1968,Appl. Phys. Letters 13, 235.
Smith, P. W.: 1970,Proc. IEEE 58, 1342.
Smoluchowski, R.: 1967Nature 215, 691.
Soderman, D. A. and Pinkston, W. H.: 1972,Appl. Opt. 11, 2162.
Tanaka, S. and Takayama, K.: 1967,J. Phys. Soc. Japan 22, 300 and 311.
Taylor, J. H., Huguenin, G. R., Hirsch, R. M., and Manchester, R. N.: 1971,Astrophys. Letters 9, 205.
Weber, H. P. and Ulrich, R.: 1971,Appl. Phys. Letters 19, 38.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
On leave from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mertz, L. Mode-locked maser theory of pulsars. Astrophys Space Sci 30, 43–55 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645752
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00645752