The effect of the diffuse gamma radiation on pulsars

Abstract

The possible role of the diffuse background gamma radiation in triggering the polar gap discharges in pulsars is examined. It is shown that the number of charges produced in the gap per second should suffice to continually reinitiate the breakdown in the gap. More significantly, several characteristics of pulsars that were previously not understood appear now to find a rational explanation on the basis of triggering by gamma rays.