Pulsar Wind Nebulae: On their growing diversity and association with highly magnetized neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews the increasing diversity of Pulsar Wind Nebulae and their association with highly magnetized neutron stars, emphasizing recent discoveries and future research directions in high-energy astrophysics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving classifications of PWNe and their links to different neutron star types, highlighting recent observational advancements.

Findings

Identification of new classes of PWNe

Diverse properties linked to neutron star magnetization

Future prospects with high-energy observations

Abstract

The 1968 discovery of the Crab and Vela pulsars in their respective supernova remnants (SNRs) confirmed Baade and Zwicky's 1934 prediction that supernovae form neutron stars. Observations of Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe), particularly with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, have in the past decade opened a new window to focus on the neutron stars' relativistic winds, study their interaction with their hosting SNRs, and find previously missed pulsars. While the Crab has been thought for decades to represent the prototype of PWNe, we now know of different classes of neutron stars and PWNe whose properties differ from the Crab. In this talk, I review the current status of neutron stars/PWNe-SNRs associations, and highlight the growing diversity of PWNe with an X-ray eye on their association with highly magnetized neutron stars. I conclude with an outlook to future high-energy studies.