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Paper: Pulsar Radio Emission Mechanisms: The Crab Enigmas
Volume: 466, Electromagnetic Radiation from Pulsars and Magnetars
Page: 65
Authors: Hankins, T. H.
Abstract: The Crab pulsar has been studied intensely over a wide range of wavelengths, yet it continues to reveal new phenomena that challenge explanation. The emission structures in the radio regime are complex and some may be unique among pulsars. The predictions of the standard models are compared with observations of the Crab pulsar radio emission and the observations are used to critique the theoretical models from an observer's point of view. The models must explain the extremely short and bright nanopulses observed (0.4 ns duration implying an equivalent brightness temperature of 1042 K), the wide bandwidths of radio emission (at least 0.02 to 46 GHz), the regular banded nature of the High Frequency Interpulse spectrum, the complex polarization structure, dispersion differences between components, and the phases of pulsar rotation where emission occurs. So far no comprehensive model satisfies all of the observational discriminants.
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