The influence of positronium photoionization rate on the heating of J0250+5854 polar cap

Abstract

Abstract The influence of positronium photoionization rate on the heating of PSR J0250+5854 polar cap is considered. It is assumed that the polar cap is heated only by reverse positrons accelerated in pulsar diode. It is supposed that pulsar diode is located near the star surface (polar cap model) and operates in the steady state space charge-limited flow regime. The influence of a small-scale magnetic field on the electric field inside the pulsar diode is taken into account. The reverse positron current is calculated in the framework of two models: rapid and gradually screening. To calculate the production rate of electron-positron pairs we take into account only the curvature radiation of primary electrons and its absorption in magnetic field. It is assumed that some fraction of electron-positron pairs may be created in bound state that can later be photoionized by thermal photons from star surface.