Speaker
Description
Radiative plasma processes in neutron-star magnetospheres play a central role in shaping radio pulsar emission and high-energy variability. In particular, magnetospheric gaps—regions of unscreened electric field near pulsar polar caps—provide natural sites for extreme particle acceleration, radiation, and electron–positron pair creation. These gaps are believed to be key to triggering pair cascades and regulating pulsar magnetospheric activity, yet their time-dependent plasma physics remains poorly understood.
In this talk, I will present our recent work on the radiative plasma physics of polar-cap gaps in radio pulsars. We develop analytical theory to describe the coupled evolution of electric fields, particle acceleration, radiation, and pair creation in these extreme environments. We complement this with first-principles radiative particle-in-cell simulations that include exact QED processes and realistic plasma parameters to test and validate the theoretical predictions.