Related papers: Dissipation of the striped pulsar wind
The interaction of a rotating star's magnetic field with a surrounding plasma disk lies at the heart of many questions posed by neutron stars in X-ray binaries. We consider the opening of stellar magnetic flux due to differential rotation…
Partially-ionized plasmas consist of charged and neutral particles whose mutual collisions modify magnetic reconnection compared with the fully-ionized case. The collisions alter the rate and locations of the magnetic dissipation heating…
The evolutions of a neutron star's rotation and magnetic field (B-field) have remained unsolved puzzles for over half a century. We ascribe the rotational braking torques of pulsar to both components, the standard magnetic dipole radiation…
We study electron and positron acceleration at the termination shock of a striped pulsar wind. Drift motion along the shock surface keeps either electrons or positrons -but not both, close to the equatorial plane of the pulsar, where they…
Recently, magnetic reconnection, where a relativistically hot plasma is confined by a strong magnetic field, has received great attention in relation to astrophysical objects (e.g., pulsar magnetosphere and magnetar). However, reconnection…
The late stage of an inspiraling neutron star binary gives rise to strong gravitational wave emission due to its highly dynamic, strong gravity. Moreover, interactions between the stellar magnetospheres can produce considerable…
The Stokes parameters of the pulsed synchrotron radiation produced in the striped pulsar wind model are computed and compared with optical observations of the Crab pulsar. We assume the main contribution to the wind emissivity comes from a…
After discussion of observational constraints on the nature of the MHD wind coupling between the Crab Pulsar and the Crab Nebula, the theory of transverse relativistic shock structure is reviewed and applied to the interpretation of the…
Neutron stars can harbor extremely strong magnetic fields, yet the structure and stability of their magnetic field configuration remain poorly understood. Observations of pulsars indicate that the large-scale external field is predominantly…
The flow generated by low-density radiatively driven winds which decouple their gas and radiation fields is discussed. In particular we concentrate on flow which is still bound to the star and can therefore reaccrete. The wind decelerates…
Magnetars are a kind of pulsars powered mainly by superhigh magnetic fields. They are popular sources with many unsolved issues in themselves, but also linked to various high energy phenomena, such as QPOs, giant flares, fast radio bursts…
In magnetized astrophysical outflows, the dissipation of field energy into particle energy via magnetic reconnection is often invoked to explain the observed non-thermal signatures. By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
The nearly 100% linear polarization has been reported for a few fast radio bursts. This finding places severe limits on the emission mechanism. I argue that the totally polarized radiation could be generated in the course of relativistic…
The mechanism that accelerates particles to the energies required to produce the observed high-energy impulsive emission in solar flares is not well understood. Drake et al. (2006) proposed a mechanism for accelerating electrons in…
We develop a new model of the fluctuation dynamo in which the magnetic field is confined to thin flux ropes advected by a multi-scale flow which models turbulence. Magnetic dissipation occurs only via reconnections of flux ropes. The model…
Many in-situ spacecraft observations have demonstrated that magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail is largely controlled by the pre-reconnection current sheet configuration. One of the most important thin current sheet…
We solve the 1D neutrino-heated non-relativistic MHD wind problem for conditions that range from slowly rotating (spin period P > 10 ms) protoneutron stars (PNSs) with surface field strengths typical of radio pulsars (B < 10^13 G), to…
The diffusion of astrophysical magnetic fields in conducting fluids in the presence of turbulence depends on whether magnetic fields can change their topology via reconnection in highly conducting media. Recent progress in understanding…
We present the first 3D fully coupled magneto-thermal simulations of neutron stars (including the most realistic background structure and microphysical ingredients so far) applied to a very complex initial magnetic field topology in the…
In gamma-ray binaries neutron star is orbiting a companion that produces a strong stellar wind. We demonstrate that observed properties of "stellar wind"-"pulsar wind" interaction depend both on the overall wind thrust ratio, as well as…