Related papers: A Tale of Two Current Sheets
Neutron stars lose the bulk of their rotational energy in the form of a pulsar wind: an ultra-relativistic outflow of predominantly electrons and positrons. This pulsar wind significantly impacts the environment and possible binary…
In the last few years, new observations by CHANDRA and XMM have shown that Pulsar Wind Nebulae present a complex but similar inner feature, with the presence of axisymmetric rings and jets, which is generally referred as {\it jet-torus…
We investigate a pair creation cascade in the magnetosphere of a rapidly rotating neutron star. We solve the set of the Poisson equation for the electro-static potential and the Boltzmann equations for electrons, positrons, and gamma-ray…
A recent research shows that particles with a spectrum of a relativistic Maxwellian plus a high-energy tail can be accelerated by relativistic collisionless shocks. We investigate the possibility of the high-energy particles with this new…
The spin-down power of a pulsar is thought to be carried away in an MHD wind in which, at least close to the star, the energy transport is dominated by Poynting flux. The pulsar drives a low-frequency wave in this wind, consisting of…
We present solutions of force-free pulsar magnetospheres coupled with a uniform external magnetic field aligned with the dipole magnetic moment of the pulsar. The inclusion of the uniform magnetic field has the following consequences: The…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process converting magnetic energy into not only plasma energy but also particle energy in various astrophysical phenomena. In this letter, we show a unique dataset of a solar flare where…
The study of physical processes associated with particle acceleration in the open field line region above the polar cap (PC) of an isolated neutron star (NS) plays a fundamental role in our understanding and interpretation of high-energy…
The present work is our first attempt to understand the role of reconnection in the pulsar magnetosphere. Our discussion is based on the observationaly infered fact that, as the pulsar spins down, the region of closed corotating dipolar…
The termination shock of a pulsar wind is located roughly where the ram pressure matches that of the surrounding medium. Downstream of the shock, MHD models of the diffuse nebular emission suggest the plasma is weakly magnetized. However,…
We expand the off-resonant scattering theory for particle diffusion in magnetized current filaments that can be typically compared to astrophysical jets, including active galactic nucleus jets. In a high plasma beta region where the…
Magnetic reconnection can explosively release magnetic energy when opposing magnetic fields merge and annihilate through a current sheet, driving plasma jets and accelerating non-thermal particle populations to high energy, in plasmas…
The origin of radio emission from plerions is considered. Recent observations suggest that radio emitting electrons are presently accelerated rather than having been injected at early stages of the plerion evolution. The observed flat…
By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate the process of driven magnetic reconnection at the termination shock of relativistic striped flows. In pulsar winds and in magnetar-powered relativistic…
Two-dimensional particle simulations of a relativistic Harris current sheet of pair plasmashave demonstrated that the system is unstable to the relativistic drift kink instability (RDKI) and that a new kind of acceleration process takes…
We discuss the role of particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in unveiling the origin of the emitting particles in PWNe. After describing the basics of the PIC technique, we summarize its implications for the quiescent and the flaring emission…
Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) are ideal astrophysical laboratories where high energy relativistic phenomena can be investigated. They are close, well resolved in our observations, and the knowledge derived in their study has a strong impact in…
Bow Shock Pulsar Wind Nebulae are a class of non-thermal sources, that form when the wind of a pulsar moving at supersonic speed interacts with the ambient medium, either the ISM or in a few cases the cold ejecta of the parent supernova.…
The relativistic wind of obliquely-rotating pulsars consists of toroidal stripes of opposite magnetic field polarity, separated by current sheets of hot plasma. By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we…
We present a new model for the spectral evolution of Pulsar Wind Nebulae inside Supernova Remnants. The model couples the long-term dynamics of these systems, as derived in the 1-D approximation, with a 1-zone description of the spectral…