Particle acceleration in axisymmetric pulsar current sheets

Understand

The equatorial current sheet in pulsar magnetospheres is often regarded as an ideal site for particle acceleration via relativistic reconnection.

• Using 2D spherical particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate particle acceleration in the axisymmetric pulsar magnetosphere as a function of the injected plasma multiplicity and magnetization.
• We observe a clear transition from a highly charge-separated magnetosphere for low plasma injection with little current and spin-down power, to a nearly force-free solution for high plasma multiplicity characterized by a prominent equatorial current sheet and high spin-down power.
• We find significant magnetic dissipation in the current sheet, up to 30% within 5 light-cylinder radii in the high-multiplicity regime.