1995A&A...301..456C

Following Kundt & Schaaf (1993), it is shown that under certain conditions, inverse Compton scattering is the dominant mechanism for braking escaping charges above polar caps rather than the usually invoked curvature radiation. These conditions are: (i) the polar-cap temperature is that indicated by X-rays from PSRs and (ii) either γ<m_ec²/kT=10^3.5T_6.5^–1 or γ<10⁷(σ/σ_T)^0.25a₈^0.5T_6.5^0.5, where γ is the Lorentz factor of escaping charges, T polar-cap temperature, a curvature radius of magnetic fieldlines, σ cross section of magnetic inverse Compton scattering, and σ_T Thomson cross section. The cyclotron resonance of magnetic inverse Compton scattering sets an upper bound on the energy of those escaping charges if the strength of the parallel electric field E satisfies the condition E≲10^3.9GB₁₃T_6.5², with B being magnetic field strength.