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Abstract:Pulsar winds have been shown to be preferred sites of particle acceleration and high-energy radiation. Models have been constructed in order to better characterize their general structure in isolated systems. However, most of the galactic millisecond pulsars find themselves in binary systems. In this talk, I present the first Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of both the pulsar magnetosphere and the wind of the pulsar interacting with an unmagnetized spherical companion. This work considers a generic case that could be applied to various companions including planets, asteroids, white dwarfs, or even neutron stars. Our results show evidence of an enhanced conversion of Poynting flux into particle acceleration, via forced reconnection in the outflowing wind near the companion. Hence, the high-energy synchrotron radiation is also amplified and takes the form of an orbital-modulated hollow cone of light. We do not exclude long-period radio transient counterparts, that would be of significant interest, especially in the light of the recently discovered galactic long-period radio transients.
Slides available here: https://www.ntnu.no/wiki/download/attachments/195538250/NTNU_seminar_VRR.pdf?api=v2