Abstract
We show that cold, ultra-relativistic hydromagnetic winds can have a kinetic energy flux much larger than the Poynting flux. Even slight deviation of streamlines from a perfect radial geometry can move the fast magnetosonic point to some finite radii comparable to that of the light cylinder. Once the flow becomes supermagnetosonic, divergence of the streamlines can accelerate it via the “magnetic nozzle” effect, thereby converting Poyting flux to kinetic energy. We discuss our results in the content of pulsar winds.
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References
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag
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Li, Zy., Begelman, M.C., Chiueh, T. (1991). Ultra-relativistic pulsar wind. In: Zdziarski, A.A., Sikora, M. (eds) Relativistic Hadrons in Cosmic Compact Objects. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 391. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-54789-4_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-54789-4_65
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