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High-energy emissions from young pulsars: Perspective from the outer gap model

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7110281
Young pulsars such as the Crab and Vela pulsars are the most prominent gamma-ray sources in the Galaxy, powered by the neutron star's rotational energy and the spinning magnetic field. Since the late 1960's, a large amount of data has been amassed for these pulsars. With the recent launches of ROSAT, Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and other new instruments, many exciting new results have been reported. In this Workshop, we learned the weak and soft pulsed emission from the Vela pulsar, the possible detection of spectral turn-over at {approximately} 30 MeV, the detection of gamma-ray emission from PSR1509-58, and observation of pulse profile variability from the Crab pulsar. Soon after the Workshop, the discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from PSR1706-44 and Geminga were reported. All of these contribute to the large pool of hints that theorists need in order to explain the origin of these powerful emission. In this paper, we discuss results from the outer gap model and comparisons to observations. Section 2 gives a brief overview of the outer gap model. Section 3 discusses the high-energy spectrum from the Crab, PSR0540-693, and Vela. In Section 4, we discuss the pulse profile for pulsars with Crab-like parameters. Section 5 discusses outer gap evolution.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; NASA; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
7110281
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-92-2843; CONF-9202117--5; ON: DE92040365
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English