Skip to main content

Pulsar Radio Emission Mechanism: Radio Nanoshots as a Low-frequency Afterglow of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection

Author(s): Philippov, A; Uzdensky, DA; Spitkovsky, Anatoly; Cerutti, BT

Download
To refer to this page use: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr1f76667j
Full metadata record
DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorPhilippov, A-
dc.contributor.authorUzdensky, DA-
dc.contributor.authorSpitkovsky, Anatoly-
dc.contributor.authorCerutti, BT-
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-25T15:03:14Z-
dc.date.available2022-01-25T15:03:14Z-
dc.date.issued2019-05-01en_US
dc.identifier.citationPhilippov, A, Uzdensky, DA, Spitkovsky, A, Cerutti, BT. (2019). Pulsar Radio Emission Mechanism: Radio Nanoshots as a Low-frequency Afterglow of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 876 (1), 10.3847/2041-8213/ab1590en_US
dc.identifier.issn2041-8205-
dc.identifier.urihttp://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/pr1f76667j-
dc.description.abstractIn this Letter we propose that coherent radio emission of the Crab pulsar, other young energetic pulsars, and millisecond pulsars is produced in the magnetospheric current sheet beyond the light cylinder. We carry out global and local 2D kinetic plasma simulations of reconnection to illustrate the coherent emission mechanism. Reconnection in the current sheet beyond the light cylinder proceeds in the very efficient plasmoid-dominated regime, where the current layer gets fragmented into a dynamic chain of plasmoids that undergo successive coalescence. Mergers of sufficiently large plasmoids produce secondary perpendicular current sheets, which are also plasmoid unstable. Collisions of plasmoids with each other and with the upstream magnetic field eject fast magnetosonic waves, which propagate upstream across the background field and successfully escape from the plasma as electromagnetic waves that fall in the radio band. This model successfully explains many important features of the observed radio emission from the Crab and other pulsars with high magnetic field at the light cylinder: Phase coincidence with the high-energy emission, nanosecond duration (nanoshots), and extreme instantaneous brightness of individual pulses.en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relationhttps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019ApJ...876L...6P/abstracten_US
dc.relation.ispartofAstrophysical Journal Lettersen_US
dc.rightsFinal published version. Article is made available in OAR by the publisher's permission or policy.en_US
dc.titlePulsar Radio Emission Mechanism: Radio Nanoshots as a Low-frequency Afterglow of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnectionen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
dc.identifier.doidoi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab1590-
dc.date.eissued2019-05-01en_US
dc.identifier.eissn2041-8213-
pu.type.symplectichttp://www.symplectic.co.uk/publications/atom-terms/1.0/journal-articleen_US

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Philippov_2019_ApJL_876_L6.pdf1.11 MBAdobe PDFView/Download


Items in OAR@Princeton are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.