Pulsar magnetospheres and their radiation

In this talk, I will review recent progress in understanding the complex multi-scale plasma physics of neutron star magnetospheres through the lens of first-principles particle-in-cell simulations. I will highlight pair production discharges near the stellar surface and radiative magnetic reconnection near and beyond the light cylinder. I will extensively discuss their role in powering the multi-wavelength non-thermal radiation of pulsars, which spans almost 20 decades in photon energy, from enigmatic coherent radio waves to recently detected 20TeV emission in Vela.

Date

Speakers

Sasha Phillipov

Affiliation

University of Maryland