Related papers: Pulsar Pair Cascades in Magnetic Fields with Offse…
We report on the first self-consistent multidimensional particle-in-cell numerical simulations of non-homogeneous pair discharges in polar caps of rotation-powered pulsars. By introducing strong inhomogeneities in the initial plasma…
Using an analytic, axisymmetric approach that includes general relativity, coupled to a condition for pair production deduced from simulations, we derive general results about the spatial distribution of pair-producing field lines over the…
We present first-principles relativistic particle-in-cell simulations of the oblique pulsar magnetosphere with pair formation. The magnetosphere starts to form with particles extracted from the surface of the neutron star. These particles…
Development of QED cascades in a standing electromagnetic wave for circular and linear polarizations is simulated numerically with a 3D PIC-MC code. It is demonstrated that for the same laser energy the number of particles produced in a…
The magnetic field topology in the surrounding of neutron stars is one of the key questions in pulsar magnetospheric physics. A very extensive literature exists about the assumption of a dipolar magnetic field but very little progress has…
In the canonical model of a pulsar, rotational energy is transmitted through the surrounding plasma via two electrical circuits, each connecting to the star over a small region known as a "polar cap." For a dipole-magnetized star, the polar…
We numerically model evolution of magnetic fields inside a neutron star under the influence of ambipolar diffusion in the weak-coupling mode in the one-fluid MHD approximation. Our simulations are three-dimensional and performed in…
Soft X-ray emission from neutron stars affords powerful diagnostic tools for uncovering their surface and interior properties, as well as their geometric configurations. In the atmospheres of neutron stars, the presence of magnetic fields…
For sufficiently strong magnetic fields and/or low temperatures, the neutron star surface may be in a condensed state with little gas or plasma above it. Such surface condensation can significantly affect the thermal emission from isolated…
Over the last four decades, persistent and flaring emission of magnetars observed by various telescopes has provided us with a suite of light curves and spectra in soft and hard X-rays, with no emission yet detected above around 1 MeV.…
Pulsar magnetospheres are thought to be filled with electron-positron plasma generated in pair cascades. The driving mechanism of these cascades is the emission of gamma-ray photons and their conversion into pairs via Quantum…
Despite the fact that pulsars have been observed for almost half a century, many questions have remained unanswered. We use the analysis of X-ray observations in order to study the polar cap region of radio pulsars. The size of the hot…
Off-centred dipole configurations have been suggested to explain different phenomena in neutron stars, such as natal kicks, irregularities in polarisation of radio pulsars and properties of X-ray emission from millisecond pulsars. Here for…
We study theoretical X-ray light curves and polarization properties of accretion-powered millisecond pulsars. We assume that the radiation is produced in two antipodal spots at the neutron star surface which are associated with the magnetic…
We present numerical simulations of the electron-positron plasma creation process in a simple neutron star magnetosphere. We have developed a set of cascade `kernels', which represent the endpoint of the pair cascades resulting from…
Current models of pulsar gamma-ray emission use the magnetic field of a rotating dipole in vacuum as a first approximation to the shape of plasma-filled pulsar magnetosphere. In this paper we revisit the question of gamma-ray light-curve…
Pulsars, or more generally rotation powered neutron stars, are excellent factories of antimatter in the Galaxy, in the form of pairs of electrons and positrons. Electrons are initially extracted from the surface of the star by the intense…
Here we briefly report on first results of self-consistent simulation of non-stationary electron-positron cascades in the polar cap of pulsar using specially developed hybrid PIC/Monte-Carlo numerical code. We consider the case of…
Extremely strong magnetic fields change the vacuum index of refraction. Although this polarization dependent effect is small for typical neutron stars, it is large enough to decouple the polarization states of photons traveling within the…
We use Monte Carlo approach to study the energetics of electrons accelerated in a pulsar polar gap. As energy-loss mechanisms we consider magnetic Compton scattering of thermal X-ray photons and curvature radiation. The results are compared…