Related papers: Unidentified Gamma-Ray Sources as Ancient Pulsar W…
We investigate the electrodynamic structure of a pulsar outer-magnetospheric particle accelerator and the resultant gamma-ray emission. By considering the condition for the accelerator to be self-sustained, we derive how the…
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), formed when the wind originating from a rapidly rotating neutron star flows out into its surroundings, have now been observed across the electromagnetic spectrum from the radio to the PeV gamma-ray regime. For…
We numerically study the radiative properties of the reverberation phase of pulsar wind nebulae. Reverberation brings a significant evolution in a short period of time. We show that even the Crab nebula, associated to the more energetic…
In this work, we study theoretical and observational issues about pulsars (PSRs), pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) and supernova remnants (SNRs). In particular, the spectral modeling of young PWNe and the X-ray analysis of SNRs with magnetars…
We present observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) within the supernova remnant G0.9+0.1. At Chandra's high resolution, the PWN has a clear axial symmetry; a faint X-ray point source lying along the…
A significant fraction of massive stars move at speed through the interstellar medium of galaxies. After their death as core collapse supernovae, a possible final evolutionary state is that of a fast rotating magnetised neutron star,…
There is growing evidence that some variable high-energy gamma-ray sources are associated with pulsar wind nebulae. We review the current status of X-ray and radio studies of the sources most likely to be significant emitters above 100 MeV.…
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) studies with the Chandra X-ray Observatory have opened a new window to address the physics of pulsar winds, zoom on their interaction with their hosting supernova remnant (SNR) and interstellar medium, and…
The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory has reported the detection of cosmic-ray sources in Milky Way that can accelerate particles up to PeV (= 10$^{15}$ eV) energies. These sources, so called ``PeVatrons'', are mostly unidentified.…
The Crab nebula is one of the most studied cosmic particle accelerators, shining brightly across the entire electromagnetic spectrum up to very high-energy gamma rays. It is known from radio to gamma-ray observations that the nebula is…
I review the constraints placed on relativistic pulsar winds by comparing optical and X-ray images of the inner Crab Nebula on the one hand with two-dimensional MHD simulations on the other. The various proposals in the literature for…
A spherically symmetric model is presented for the interaction of a pulsar wind with the associated supernova remnant. This results in a pulsar wind nebula whose evolution is coupled to the evolution of the surrounding supernova remnant.…
Previous searches for radio pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) suggest that only the youngest and most energetic pulsars power PWN. However the selection effects associated with such searches are severe, in that emission from a faint compact PWN…
A typical young pulsar slows down at an imperceptible rate, its spin period increasing by less than 10 microseconds over the course of a year. However, the inertia of a pulsar is so extreme that to effect this tiny change in rotation rate,…
Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), especially the young ones, are among the most energetic astrophysical sources in the Galaxy. It is usually believed that the spin-down energy injected from the pulsars is converted into magnetic field and…
A spatially-independent model that can be used to calculate the temporal evolution of the electron/ positron spectrum in a spherically expanding pulsar wind nebula is presented. The model is applied to the young nebula G21.5-0.9, as well as…
Soon after the discovery of radio pulsars in 1967, the pulsars are identified as strongly magnetic (typically $10^{12}$G) rapidly rotating ($\sim 10^{2}-0.1$ Hz) neutron stars. However, the mechanism of particle acceleration in the pulsar…
It is generally believed that pulsars dissipate their rotational energy through powerful winds of relativistic particles. Confinement of these winds leads to the formation of luminous pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) seen across the…
The role pulsar wind nebulae play in producing our locally observed cosmic ray spectrum remains murky, yet intriguing. Pulsar wind nebulae are born and evolve in conjunction with SNRs, which are favored sites of Galactic cosmic ray…
In the past few years, gamma-ray astronomy has entered a golden age thanks to two major breakthroughs: Cherenkov telescopes on the ground and the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite. The sample of supernova remnants…