Estimates of the Surface Magnetic Field Strength of Radio Pulsars

Abstract

We investigate the geometry of the magnetic field of rotation-powered pulsars. A new method for calculating an angle ($\beta$) between the spin and magnetic dipole axes of a neutron star (NS) in the ejector stage is considered within the frame of the magnetic dipole energy loss mechanism. We estimate the surface magnetic field strength ($B_{\rm ns}$) for a population of known neutron stars in the radio pulsar (ejector) stage. The evaluated $B_{\rm ns}(\beta)$ may differ by an order of magnitude from the values without considering the angle $\beta$. It is shown that $B_{\rm ns}(\beta)$ lies in the range $10^{8}$--$10^{14}\,\text{G}$ for a known population of short and middle periodic radio pulsars.