The production of electron-positron pairs in a vacuum neutron star magnetosphere is investigated for both low (compared to the Schwinger one) and high magnetic fields. The case of a strong longitudinal electric field where the produced electrons and positrons acquire a stationary Lorentz factor in a short time is considered. The source of electron-positron pairs has been calculated with allowance made for the pair production by curvature and synchrotron photons. Synchrotron photons are shown to make a major contribution to the total pair production rate in a weak magnetic field. At the same time, the contribution from bremsstrahlung photons may be neglected. The existence of a time delay due to the finiteness of the electron and positron acceleration time leads to a great reduction in the electron-positron plasma generation rate compared to the case of a zero time delay. The effective local source of electron-positron pairs has been constructed. It can be used in the hydrodynamic equations that describe the development of a cascade after the absorption of a photon from the cosmic gamma-ray background in a neutron star magnetosphere.
We consider the motion of charged particles in the vacuum magnetospheres of rotating neutron stars with a strong surface magnetic field, B>10^(12) G. The electrons and positrons falling into the magnetosphere or produced in it are shown to be captured by the force-free surface EB=0. Using the Dirac-Lorentz equation, we investigate the dynamics of particle capture and subsequent motion near the force-free surface. The particle energy far from the force-free surface has been found to be determined by the balance between the power of the forces of an accelerating electric field and the intensity …
We performed ab-initio Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of a pulsar magnetosphere with electron-positron plasma produced only in the regions close to the neutron star surface. We study how the magnetosphere transitions from the vacuum to a nearly force-free configuration. We compare the resulting force-free like configuration with ones obtained in a PIC simulation where particles are injected everywhere as well as with macroscopic force-free simulations. We found that although both PIC solutions have similar structure of electromagnetic fields and current density distributions, they have dif…
The accumulation of electrons and positrons in the vacuum magnetosphere of a neutron star with a surface magnetic field of B~10^12 G is considered. It is shown that particles created in the magnetosphere or falling into the magnetosphere from outside undergo ultra-relativistic oscillations with a frequency of 10-100 MHz. These oscillations decay due to energy losses to curvature radiation and bremsstrahlung, with their frequencies reaching 1-10 GHz. Simultaneously, the particles undergo regular motion along the force-free surface along closed trajectories. This leads to the gradual accumulatio…
The absorption of a high-energy photon from the external cosmic gamma-ray background in the inner neutron star magnetosphere triggers the generation of a secondary electron-positron plasma and gives rise to a lightning - a lengthening and simultaneously expanding plasma tube. It propagates along magnetic fields lines with a velocity close to the speed of light. The high electron-positron plasma generation rate leads to dynamical screening of the longitudinal electric field that is provided not by charge separation but by electric current growth in the lightning. The lightning radius is compara…
We quantitatively study the stationary, axisymmetric, force-free magnetospheres of spinning (Kerr) black holes (BHs) and the conditions needed for relativistic jets to be powered by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. These jets could be from active galactic nuclei, blazars, quasars, micro-quasars, radio active galaxies, and other systems that host Kerr BHs. The structure of the magnetosphere determines how the BH energy is extracted, e.g., via Blandford-Znajek mechanism, which converts the BH rotational energy into Poynting flux. The key assumption is the force-free condition, which requires the …
Extinct radio pulsars, in which stationary, self-sustaining generation of a relativistic electron-positron plasma becomes impossible when rotation brakes down, can be sources of a subrelativistic flux of positrons and electrons. We assume that the observed excess of positrons in the bulge and the disc of the Galaxy is associated with these old neutron stars. The production of pairs in their magnetospheres occurs due to one-photon absorption of gamma quanta of the Galactic and extragalactic backgrounds. The cascade process of plasma production leads to the flux of positrons escaping from the op…
With the neutron star rotating under a stationary magnetic field generating unipolar induction, charges are driven to the pulsar surface according to their signs, and are uploaded to the magnetosphere along the magnetic field lines. In the presence of an electron-positron plasma, the pulsar magnetosphere is represented by a unique magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma. The pulsar equation of force-free equilibrium is solved analytically for two configurations. The first one is a light cylinder guided jet-like open magnetosphere, and the second one is a closed magnetosphere within the light cylinder…
The motion of electrons and positrons in the vacuum magnetosphere of a neutron star with a surface magnetic field of B~10^12 G is considered. Particles created in the magnetosphere or falling into it from outside are virtually instantaneously accelerated to Lorentz factors gamma~10^8. After crossing the force-free surface, where the projection of the electric field onto the magnetic field vanishes, a particle begins to undergo ultra-relativistic oscillations. The particle experiences a regular drift along the force-free surface simultaneous with this oscillatory motion.
Electron-positron cascade in magnetospheres of supermassive Kerr black holes and the origin of relativistic AGN jets
University of Kansas（堪萨斯大学）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院尼古拉·哥白尼天文中心）
I argue that the problem of electromagnetically driven electron-positron cascades in magnetospheres of neutron stars must be addressed starting from first principles. I describe a general numerical algorithm for doing self-consistent kinetic simulations of electron-positron cascades - wherein particle acceleration, pair creation and screening of the electric field are calculated simultaneously - and apply it to model the Ruderman and Sutherland cascade in one dimension. I find that pair creation is quite regular and quasi-periodic. In each cycle a blob of ultrarelativistic electron-positron pl…
We present the first self-consistent global simulations of pulsar magnetospheres with operating $e^\pm$ discharge. We focus on the simple configuration of an aligned or anti-aligned rotator. The star is spun up from zero (vacuum) state to a high angular velocity, and we follow the coupled evolution of its external electromagnetic field and plasma particles using the "particle-in-cell" method. A plasma magnetosphere begins to form through the extraction of particles from the star; these particles are accelerated by the rotation-induced electric field, producing curvature radiation and igniting …
It is shown that the ion-proton magnetosphere is unstable in a limited area of the P - Pdot plane against transitions to a self-sustaining inverse Compton scattering mode in which the particles accelerated are mainly protons with a small component of positrons. It is argued that this mode cannot be absolutely stable. The number density of any outward-moving pair plasma is small and electron and positron Lorentz factors too high to support growth of any collective mode capable of exciting normal pulsar coherent radio emission. Particle fluxes and the position at which they pass through the ligh…
When the magnetosphere of a magnetar is perturbed by crustal deformation, an electric field $E_\parallel$ parallel to the magnetic field line would appear via Alvfén waves in the charge starvation region. The electron-positron pair bunches will be generated via two-stream instability in the magnetosphere, and these pairs will undergo charge separation in the $E_\parallel$ and in the meantime emit coherent curvature radiation. Following the approach of Yang & Zhang (2018), we find that the superposed curvature radiation becomes narrower due to charge separation, with the width of spectrum depen…
Contopoulos 2019 proposed that a dissipation zone develops in the magnetosphere of young pulsars at the edge of the closed-line region beyond the light cylinder. This is necessary in order to supply the charge carriers that will establish current closure through the equatorial and separatrix current-sheets. In the present work, we propose to investigate in greater detail this region with a simplified model that we would like to call the `ring-of-fire'. According to this simple model, the dissipation zone is a narrow reconnection layer where electrons and positrons are accelerated inwards and o…
We consider particle acceleration in vacuum gaps in magnetospheres of black holes powered through Blandford-Znajek mechanism and embedded into radiatively-inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) environment. In such situation the gap height is limited by the onset of gamma-gamma pair production on the infrared photons originating from the RIAF. We numerically calculate acceleration and propagation of charged particles taking into account the detailed structure of electric and magnetic field in the gap and in the entire black hole magnetosphere, radiative energy losses and interactions of gamma rays …
We continue our investigation of particle acceleration in the pulsar equatorial current sheet (ECS) that began with Contopoulos (2019) and Contopoulos & Stefanou (2019). Our basic premise has been that the charge carriers in the current sheet originate in the polar caps as electron-positron pairs, and are carried along field lines that enter the equatorial current sheet beyond the magnetospheric Y-point. In this work we investigate further the charge replenishment of the ECS. We discovered that the flow of pairs from the rims of the polar caps cannot supply both the electric charge and the ele…
In this paper we study the possibility of efficient pair production in a pulsar's magnetosphere. It has been shown that by means of the relativistic centrifugal force the electrostatic field exponentially amplifies. As a result the field approaches the Schwinger limit leading to pair creation process in the light cylinder area where the effects of rotation are very efficient. Analysing the parameters of the normal period ($\sim 1$ sec) pulsars we have found that the process is so efficient that the number density of electron-positron pairs exceeds the Goldreich-Julian density by five orders of…
We present numerical simulations of electron-positron pair cascades in the magnetospheres of magnetic neutron stars for a wide range of surface fields (B_p = 10^{12}--10^{15} G), rotation periods (0.1--10 s), and field geometries. This has been motivated by the discovery in recent years of a number of radio pulsars with inferred magnetic fields comparable to those of magnetars. Evolving the cascade generated by a primary electron or positron after it has been accelerated in the inner gap of the magnetosphere, we follow the spatial development of the cascade until the secondary photons and pair…
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.
We study the transverse propagation of photons in a magnetized vacuum considering radiative corrections in the one-loop approximation. The dispersion equation is modified due to the magnetized photon self-energy in the transparency region ($0<ω<2m_e$). The aim of our study is to explore propagation of photons in a neutron star magnetosphere (described by magnetized vacuum). The solution of the dispersion equation is obtained in terms of analytic functions. The larger the magnetic field, the lower the phase velocity and the more the dispersion curve deviates from the light-cone. For fixed value…
The current state of the art in the modeling of pulsar magnetospheres invokes either the vacuum or force-free limits for the magnetospheric plasma. Neither of these limits can simultaneously account for both the plasma currents and the accelerating electric fields that are needed to explain the morphology and spectra of high-energy emission from pulsars. To better understand the structure of such magnetospheres, we combine accelerating fields and force-free solutions by considering models of magnetospheres filled with resistive plasma. We formulate Ohm's Law in the minimal velocity fluid frame…
We study the emission patterns and light curves of gamma-rays in the pulsar magnetosphere with a current-induced magnetic field perturbation. Based on the solution of a static dipole with the magnetic field induced by some currents (perturbation field), we derive the solutions of a static as well as a retarded dipole with the perturbation field in the Cartesian coordinates. The static (retarded) magnetic field can be expressed as the sum of pure static (retarded) dipolar magnetic field and the static (retarded) perturbation field. We use the solution of the retarded magnetic field to investiga…
Pair cascades from millisecond pulsars (MSPs) may be a primary source of Galactic electrons and positrons that contribute to the increase in positron flux above 10 GeV as observed by PAMELA and AMS-02. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has increased the number of detected gamma-ray MSPs tremendously. Light curve modelling furthermore favours abundant pair production in MSP magnetospheres, so that models of primary cosmic-ray positrons from pulsars should include the contribution from the larger numbers of MSPs and their potentially higher positron output per source. We model the contributio…
Relativistic effects of compact objects onto electromagnetic fields in their vicinity are investigated using the test-field approximation. In particular, we study the possible emergence of magnetic null points which are astrophysically relevant for the processes of magnetic reconnection. While the magnetic reconnection occurs in the presence of plasma and may lead to violent mass ejection, we show here that strong gravitation of the supermassive black hole may actively support the process by suitably entangling the field lines even in the electro-vacuum description. In this contribution we fur…
We present a detailed analysis of the properties of twisted, force-free magnetospheres of non-rotating neutron stars, which are of interest in the modelling of magnetar properties and evolution. In our models the magnetic field smoothly matches to a current-free (vacuum) solution at some large external radius, and they are specifically built to avoid pathological surface currents at any of the interfaces. By exploring a large range of parameters, we find a few remarkable general trends. We find that the total dipolar moment can be increased by up to $40\%$ with respect to a vacuum model with t…
Supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei launch relativistic jets, as indicated by observed superluminal radio blobs. The energy source of these jets is widely discussed in the theoretical framework of Blandford-Znajek process, the electromagnetic energy extraction from rotating black holes (BHs), while formation mechanism of the radio blobs in the electromagnetically-dominated jets has been a long-standing problem. Recent high-resolution magnetohydrodynamic simulations of magnetically arrested disks exhibited magnetic reconnection in a transient magnetically-dominated part of the eq…
Pulsed, Polarized X-ray Emission from Neutron Star Surfaces: the Effects of Vacuum Birefringence in the Magnetosphere
Rice University（莱斯大学）；Washington University in St. Louis（圣路易斯华盛顿大学）；Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）；George Washington University（乔治华盛顿大学）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；University of Maryland Baltimore County（马里兰大学巴尔的摩县分校）；Houston City College（休斯顿城市学院）
Scenario of formation of fast radio bursts (FRBs) is proposed. Just like radio pulsars, sources of FRBs are magnetized neutron stars. Appearance of strong electric field in a magnetosphere of a neutron star is associated with close passage of a dense body near hot neutron star. For the repeating source FRB 121102, which has been observed in four series of bursts, the period of orbiting of the body is about 200 days. Thermal radiation from the surface of the star (temperature is of the order of $ 10^8 \, K $) causes evaporation and ionization of the matter of the dense body. Ionized gas (plasma…
Observations by the Fermi Large Area Telescope of gamma-ray millisecond pulsar light curves imply copious pair production in their magnetospheres, and not exclusively in those of younger pulsars. Such pair cascades may be a primary source of Galactic electrons and positrons, contributing to the observed enhancement in positron flux above ~10 GeV. Fermi has also uncovered many new millisecond pulsars, impacting Galactic stellar population models. We investigate the contribution of Galactic millisecond pulsars to the flux of terrestrial cosmic-ray electrons and positrons. Our population synthesi…
We extend our previous study of equilibrium solutions of non-rotating force-free magnetospheres of neutron stars. We show that multiple solutions exist for the same sets of parameters, implying that the solutions are degenerate. We are able to obtain configurations with disconnected field lines, however, in nearly all cases these correspond to degenerate higher energy solutions. We carry out a wide parametric search in order to understand the properties of the solutions. We confirm our previous results that the lower energy solutions have up to $\sim 25\%$ more energy than the vacuum case, hel…
1D PIC Simulations of Resonant Scattering-Driven Pair Cascades in Magnetar Magnetospheres
Dartmouth College（达特茅斯学院）；University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学帕克分校）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics（马克斯·普朗克天体物理学研究所）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所计算天体物理中心）
We construct hydromagnetic neutron star equilibria which allow for a non-zero electric current distribution in the exterior. The novelty of our models is that the neutron star's interior field is in equilibrium with its magnetosphere, thus bridging the gap between previous work in this area which either solves for the interior assuming a vacuum exterior or solves for the magnetosphere without modelling the star itself. We consider only non-rotating stars in this work, so our solutions are most immediately applicable to slowly-rotating systems such as magnetars. Nonetheless, we demonstrate that…
Pulsar magnetospheres admit non-stationary vacuum gaps that are characterized by non-vanishing ${\bf{E}} \cdot {\bf{B}}$. The vacuum gaps play an important role in plasma production and electromagnetic wave emission. We show that these gaps generate axions whose energy is set by the gap oscillation frequency. The density of axions produced in a gap can be several orders of magnitude greater than the ambient dark matter density. In the strong pulsar magnetic field, a fraction of these axions may convert to photons, giving rise to broadband radio signals. We show that dedicated observations of n…
The magnetospheres of magnetars are believed to be filled with electron-positron plasma generated by electric discharge. We present a first direct numerical experiment showing how the plasma is created in an axisymmetric closed magnetosphere. The $e^\pm$ discharge occurs in response to twisting of the magnetic field lines by a shear deformation of the magnetar surface, which launches electric currents into the magnetosphere. The simulation shows the formation of an electric "gap" with unscreened electric field ($\mathbf{E}\cdot \mathbf{B}\neq 0$) that continually accelerates particles along th…
We present a simple numerical model of the plasma flow within the open field line tube in the pulsar magnetosphere. We study how the plasma screens the rotationally induced electric field and maintains the electric current demanded by the global structure of the magnetosphere. We show that even though bulk of the plasma moves outwards with relativistic velocities, a small fraction of particles is continuously redirected back forming reverse plasma flows. The density and composition (positrons or electrons, or both) of these reverse flows are determined by the distribution of the Goldreich-Juli…
The rotational period of isolated pulsars increases over time due to the extraction of angular momentum by electromagnetic torques. These torques also change the obliquity angle $α$ between the magnetic and rotational axes. Although actual pulsar magnetospheres are plasma-filled, the time evolution of $α$ has mostly been studied for vacuum pulsar magnetospheres. In this work, we self-consistently account for the plasma effects for the first time by analysing the results of time-dependent 3D force-free and magnetohydrodynamic simulations of pulsar magnetospheres. We show that if a neutron star …
We present a model of the magnetosphere around an oscillating neutron star. The electromagnetic fields are numerically solved by modeling electric charge and current induced by the stellar torsional mode, with particular emphasis on outgoing radiation passing through the magnetosphere. The current is modeled using Ohm's law, whereby an increase in conductivity results in an increase in the induced current. As a result, the fields are drastically modified, and energy flux is thereby enhanced. This behavior is however localized in the vicinity of the surface since the induced current disappears …
Recent observations by the PAMELA and AMS-02 telescopes have uncovered an anomalous rise in the positron fraction at energies above 10~GeV. One possible explanation for this excess is the production of primary electron/positron pairs through electromagnetic cascades in pulsar magnetospheres. This process results in a high multiplicity of electron/positron pairs within the wind-termination shock of pulsar wind nebula (PWN). A consequence of this scenario is that no circular polarization should be observed within PWN, since the contributions from electrons and positrons exactly cancel. Here we n…
X-ray photons emitted from the surface or atmosphere of a magnetized neutron star is highly polarized. However, the observed polarization may be modified due to photon propagation through the star's magnetosphere. For photon frequencies much larger than the typical radio frequency, vacuum birefringence due to strong-field quantum electrodynamics dominates over the plasma effect. We study the evolution of photon polarization in the magnetized QED vacuum of a neutron star magnetosphere, paying particular attention to the propagation effect across the quasi-tangential (QT) point, where the photon…
In the magnetar model, the quiescent non-thermal soft X-ray emission from Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft-Gamma Repeaters is thought to arise from resonant comptonization of thermal photons by charges moving in a twisted magnetosphere. Robust inference of physical quantities from observations is difficult, because the process depends strongly on geometry and current understanding of the magnetosphere is not very deep. The polarization of soft X-ray photons is an independent source of information, and its magnetospheric imprint remains only partially explored. In this paper we calculate how re…
Context: At the low accretion-rates typical for BL Lac-objects, magnetospheres of active galactic nuclei can develop vacuum gaps with strong electric fields accelerating charged seed particles parallel to the magnetic fields up to ultra-relativistic energies. The seed particles sustain electromagnetic cascades by inverse-Compton-scattering and subsequent pair-production in soft background-radiation-fields from the accretion-disk and/or photo-ionised clouds, along the direction of the primary particle beams. Method: The one-dimensional kinetic equation describing this linear inverse-Compton-Kle…
In a previous paper, we derived the quantum states of a Dirac particle in a circular, intense magnetic field in the limit of low momentum perpendicular to the field with the purpose of giving a quantum description of the trajectory of an electron, or a positron, in a typical pulsar or magnetar magnetosphere. Here we continue this work by computing the radiation resulting from transitions between these states. This leads to derive from first principles a quantum theory of the so-called curvature and synchro-curvature radiations relevant for rotating neutron-star magnetospheres. We find that, wi…
Electrons/positrons produced in a pulsar magnetosphere emit synchrotron radiation, which is widely believed as the origin of the non-thermal X-ray emission detected from pulsars. Particles are produced by curvature photons emitted from accelerated particles in the magnetosphere. These curvature photons are detected as pulsed $γ$-ray emissions from pulsars with age $\lesssim10^6$ yr. Using $γ$-ray observations and analytical model, we impose severe constraints on the synchrotron radiation as a mechanism of the non-thermal X-ray emission. In most middle-aged pulsars ($\sim10^5-10^6$ yr) which ph…
We explore the structure of a dipole-type vacuum field of a slowly rotating magnetic star near the horizon of a supermassive black hole, where the structure of field lines becomes highly distorted by effects of strong gravity. Such a situation may occur near a neutron star in the final stages of a plunging trajectory into a galactic center. We solve Maxwell's equations in the Rindler approximation for the rotating conducting source of dipolar magnetic field arbitrarily inclined with respect to the axis of rotation. For the fixed inclination angle we calculate the field including the radiative …
We investigate the shapes of γ-ray pulsar light curves using 3D pulsar magnetosphere models of finite conductivity. These models, covering the entire spectrum of solutions between vacuum and force-free magnetospheres, for the first time afford mapping the GeV emission of more realistic, dissipative pulsar magnetospheres. To this end we generate model light curves following two different approaches: (a) We employ the emission patterns of the slot and outer gap models in the field geometries of magnetospheres with different conductivity σ. (b) We define realistic trajectories of radiating partic…
Recent observations in X-ray and Gamma-ray suggest that the emission region of the pulsar magnetosphere can be multifold. In particular, the open-close boundary of the magnetic field, so-called the Y-point, can be the new candidate place where magnetic field energy converts into the plasma heat and/or flow energy. Here, we present a new Particle-in-Cell code, which can be applied to the Y-point of the pulsar magnetosphere in axisymmetric geometry. The electromagnetic solver is used in the two-dimensional grid points with the cylindrical coordinate (R, z), while the particle solver operates in …
The remarkable null pulse coincident with the 2016 glitch in Vela rotation indicates a dynamical event involving the crust and the magnetosphere of the neutron star. We propose that a crustal quake associated with the glitch strongly disturbed the Vela magnetosphere and thus interrupted its radio emission. We present the first global numerical simulations of a neutron starquake. Our code resolves the elasto-dynamics of the entire crust and follows the evolution of Alfvén waves excited in the magnetosphere. We observe Rayleigh surface waves propagating away from the epicenter of the quake, arou…
M87 is a nearby radio galaxy that has been detected at energies ranging from radio to very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays. Its proximity and its jet, misaligned from the line of sight allow detailed morphological studies. The imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique (from 100 GeV to 10 TeV) provides insufficient angular resolution (few arc-minutes) to resolve the M87 emission region. However, the short time scale variability observed by MAGIC, HESS and VERITAS suggests the TeV emission is coming from a very small region, most likely close to the core. We propose that the variable TeV emission may…
Like the solar corona, the external magnetic field of magnetars is twisted by surface motions of the star. The twist energy is dissipated over time. We discuss the theory of this activity and its observational status. (1) Theory predicts that the magnetosphere tends to untwist in a peculiar way: a bundle of electric currents (the "j-bundle") is formed with a sharp boundary, which shrinks toward the magnetic dipole axis. Recent observations of shrinking hot spots on magnetars are consistent with this behavior. (2) Continual discharge fills the j-bundle with electron-positron plasma, maintaining…
The detection of rapidly variable gamma-ray emission in active galactic nuclei has generated renewed interest in magnetospheric particle acceleration and emission scenarios. In order to explore its potential, we study the possibility of steady gap acceleration around the null surface of a rotating black hole magnetosphere. We employ a simplified (1D) description along with the general relativistic expression of Gauss's law, and we assume that the gap is embedded in the radiation field of a radiatively inefficient accretion flow. The model is used to derive expressions for the radial distributi…
Pulsar magnetospheres are shaped by ultra-relativistic electron/positron plasmas flowing in a strong magnetic field and subject to strong gravitational fields. The former induces magnetospheric currents and space charges responsible for the distortion of the electromagnetic field based on pure electrodynamics. The latter induces other perturbations in these fields based on space-time curvature. The force-free approximation describes the response of this magnetosphere to the presence of currents and charges and has been investigated by many authors. In this context, general relativity has been …
A pseudo-spectral method with an absorbing outer boundary is used to solve a set of the time-dependent force-free equations. In the method, both electric and magnetic fields are expanded in terms of the vector spherical harmonic (VSH) functions in spherical geometry and the divergencelessness of magnetic field is analytically enforced by a projection method. Our simulations show that the Deutsch vacuum solution and the Michel monopole solution can be well reproduced by our pseudo-spectral code. Further the method is used to present the time-dependent simulation of the force-free pulsar magneto…
We present first-principles relativistic particle-in-cell simulations of the oblique pulsar magnetosphere with pair formation. The magnetosphere starts to form with particles extracted from the surface of the neutron star. These particles are accelerated by surface electric fields and emit photons capable of producing electron-positron pairs. We inject secondary pairs at locations of primary energetic particles, whose energy exceeds the threshold for pair formation. We find solutions that are close to the ideal force-free magnetosphere, with the Y-point and current sheet. Solutions with obliqu…
Faraday rotation (FR) is widely used to infer the orientation and strength of magnetic fields in astrophysical plasmas. Although the absence of electron-positron pairs is a plausible assumption in many astrophysical environments, the magnetospheres of pulsars and black holes and their associated jets may involve a significant pair plasma fraction. This motivates being mindful of the effect of positrons on FR. Here we derive and interpret exact expressions of FR for a neutral plasma of arbitrary composition. We focus on electron-ion-positron plasmas in which charge neutrality is maintained by a…
The main issue of the pulsar magnetosphere is how the rotation power is converted into both particle beams which causes pulsed emissions, and a highly relativistic wind of electron-positron plasmas which forms surrounding nebulae shining in X-rays and TeV gamma-rays. As a sequel of the first paper (Wada & Shibata 2007), we carried out a three dimensional particle simulation for the axisymmetric global magnetosphere. We present the results of additional calculations, which are higher resolution model and higher pair creation rate cases, and a detailed analysis for the solution. We confined to d…
The state of a static spherically symmetric relativistic axionically active multi-component plasma in the gravitational, magnetic and electric fields of an axionic dyon is studied in the framework of the Einstein - Maxwell - Boltzmann - axion theory. We assume that the equations of axion electrodynamics, the covariant relativistic kinetic equations, and the equation for the axion field with modified Higgs-type potential are nonlinearly coupled; the gravitational field in the dyon exterior is assumed to be fixed and to be of the Reissner-Nordström type. We introduce the extended Lorentz force, …
