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.
CY - Berlin, Heidelberg DA - 1991-01 DO - 10.1007/3-540-54789-4_65 N2 -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.
PB - Springer Berlin Heidelberg PP - Berlin, Heidelberg PY - 1991 SN - 978-3-540-46448-8 SP - 141 EP - 144 TI - Ultra-relativistic pulsar wind VL - 391 ER -