Electrodynamics of Pulsar Magnetospheres

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, emiss...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Space science reviews 2017-07, Vol.207 (1-4), p.111-136
Main Authors: Cerutti, Benoît, Beloborodov, Andrei M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Aerospace Technology and Astronautics
Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Computer simulation
Electrodes
Electrodynamics
Gamma rays
Magnetic fields
Magnetospheres
Mathematical models
Neutron stars
Numerical experiments
Particle acceleration
Particle in cell technique
Photons
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Planetology
Pulsar magnetospheres
Pulsars
Radio waves
Space Exploration and Astronautics
Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics
Stellar rotation
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0038-6308
1572-9672
DOI:10.1007/s11214-016-0315-7