Synchrotron Self-Compton Emission from the Crab and Other Pulsars

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed simulation of synchrotron-self Compton emission from pulsars, successfully modeling Crab pulsar emissions and predicting detectable signals for future telescopes, highlighting the uniqueness of Crab-like pulsars in producing significant SSC components.

Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive 3D force-free magnetic field model for pulsar emission, accurately reproducing observed spectra and predicting high-energy emissions for specific pulsars.

Findings

Crab pulsar's flux and spectral shape match observations.

Crab-like pulsars produce detectable SSC emission.

Millisecond pulsars' X-ray spectra align with predictions.

Abstract

Results of a simulation of synchrotron-self Compton (SSC) emission from a rotation-powered pulsar are presented. The radiating particles are assumed to be both accelerated primary electrons and a spectrum of electron-positron pairs produced in cascades near the polar cap. They follow trajectories in a slot gap using 3D force-free magnetic field geometry, gaining pitch angles through resonant cyclotron absorption of radio photons, radiating and scattering synchrotron emission at high altitudes out to and beyond the light cylinder. Full angular dependence of the synchrotron photon density is simulated in the scattering and all processes are treated in the inertial observer frame. Spectra for the Crab and Vela pulsars as well as two energetic millisecond pulsars, B1821-24 and B1937+21 are simulated using this model. The simulation of the Crab pulsar radiation can reproduce both the flux level and the shape of the observed optical to hard X-ray emission assuming a pair multiplicity of $M_+ = 3 \times 10^5$, as well as the very-high-energy emission above 50 GeV detected by MAGIC and VERITAS, with both the synchrotron and SSC components reflecting the shape of the pair spectrum. Simulations of Vela, B1821$-$24 and B1937+21, for $M_+$ up to $10^5$, do not produce pair SSC emission that is detectable by current telescopes, indicating that only Crab-like pulsars produce significant SSC components. The pair synchrotron emission matches the observed X-ray spectrum of the millisecond pulsars and the predicted peak of this emission at 1 - 10 MeV would be detectable with planned Compton telescopes.