Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

In this talk, I will review recent progress in understanding the complex multi-scale plasma physics of neutron star magnetospheres through the lens of first-principles particle-in-cell simulations. I will highlight pair production discharges near the stellar surface and radiative magnetic reconnection near and beyond the light cylinder. I will extensively discuss their role in powering the multi-wavelength non-thermal radiation of pulsars, which spans almost 20 decades in photon energy, from enigmatic coherent radio waves to recently detected 20TeV emission in Vela.