Princeton University Astroplasmas Seminar

In this talk, I will focus on the emission signatures we can expect from magnetospheres of compact objects, with a strong focus on pulsars. In the first part of the talk, I will describe the evolution of a three-dimensional collisionless reconnecting relativistic current sheet with strong synchrotron cooling. I will discuss the acceleration mechanisms that play the most important role, and how their contributions vary with the efficiency of the synchrotron cooling. I will also present the expected signatures of gamma-ray emission, e.g., its spectrum and anisotropy. These results will be (tentatively) applied to the recently observed TeV-emission from the Vela pulsar. In the second part of my talk, I will describe the 2D and 3D models of the polar pair production discharge. These new multi-dimensional models will help to understand how pulsar radio emission is produced, and the mechanisms behind its variability.