UNIV MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK
Pulsars are extraordinary objects powered by the fast rotation of huge magnetic fields. The resulting electric fields convert continuously part of the Pulsar rotational energy to electromagnetic radiation. At the same time they accelerate particles to energies sufficiently high to produce GeV photons. Their electromagnetic emission is in fact quite complex and ranges from the radio to the multi-GeV regime. It is essential, for the understanding of the Pulsar machine, to know the structure of the magnetosphere around these objects. I will present numerical models of 3D global pulsar magnetospheres covering the entire spectrum between the vacuum retarded dipole and the (ideal) force-free solutions. Finally, I will demonstrate how we exploit these solutions in order to explain the observations and,consequently, to understand the physical mechanisms that take place in pulsar magnetospheres.
Location: Physics Bldg., Room 401