Electrodynamics of pulsar magnetospheres
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
2016-12-14 v1 Plasma Physics
Abstract
We review electrodynamics of rotating magnetized neutron stars, from the early vacuum model to recent numerical experiments with plasma-filled magnetospheres. Significant progress became possible due to the development of global particle-in-cell simulations which capture particle acceleration, emission of high-energy photons, and electron-positron pair creation. The numerical experiments show from first principles how and where electric gaps form, and promise to explain the observed pulsar activity from radio waves to gamma-rays.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1611.04331,
title = {Electrodynamics of pulsar magnetospheres},
author = {Benoît Cerutti and Andrei Beloborodov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1611.04331},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
31 pages, 11 figures, Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Chapter in ISSI book on "Jets and Winds in Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Gamma-ray Bursts"