Abstract:
Electromagnetic radiation spectrum is studied in a helical magnetic field since such magnetic field configurations may be present in cosmic objects. It is shown that, by a proper choice of the spatial period of the magnetic field, one could get large amounts of power over a wide region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The peak in the radiation spectrum shifts toward higher frequencies as the spatial period of the magnetic helix is reduced. As an illustration, this mechanism is applied to the Crab Nebula pulsar NP 0532.