MeV Pulsars: Modeling Spectra and Polarization

A sub-population of energetic rotation-powered pulsars show high fluxes of pulsed non-thermal hard X-ray emission. While this MeV pulsar population includes some radio-loud pulsars like the Crab, a significant number have no detected radio or GeV emission, a mystery since gamma- ray emission is a common characteristic of pulsars with high spin-down power. Their steeply rising hard X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) suggest peaks at 0.1 - 1 MeV but they have not been detected above 200 keV. Several upcoming and planned telescopes may shed light on the MeV pulsars. The Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) will observe pulsars in the 0.2 - 12 keV band and may discover additional MeV pulsars. Planned telescopes, such as All-Sky Medium-Energy Gamma-Ray Observatory (AMEGO) and e-ASTROGAM, will detect emission above 0.2 MeV and polarization in the 0.2 - 10 MeV band. We present a model for the spectrum and polarization of MeV pulsars where the X-ray emission comes from electron- positron pairs radiating in the outer magnetosphere and current sheet. This model predicts that the peak of the SED increases with surface magnetic field strength if the pairs are produced in polar cap cascades. For small inclination angles, a range of viewing angles can miss both the radio pulse and the GeV pulse from particles accelerating near the current sheet. Characterizing the emission and geometry of MeV pulsars can thus provide clues to the source of pairs and acceleration in the magnetosphere.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, published in Proceedings of Scienc

Gamma-Ray Emission in Dissipative Pulsar Magnetospheres: From Theory to Fermi Observations

We compute the patterns of $\gamma$-ray emission due to curvature radiation in dissipative pulsar magnetospheres. Our ultimate goal is to construct macrophysical models that are able to reproduce the observed $\gamma$-ray light-curve phenomenology recently published in the Second Fermi Pulsar Catalog. We apply specific forms of Ohm's law on the open field lines using a broad range for the macroscopic conductivity values that result in solutions ranging, from near-vacuum to near Force-Free. Using these solutions, we generate model $\gamma$-ray light curves by calculating realistic trajectories and Lorentz factors of radiating particles, under the influence of both the accelerating electric fields and curvature radiation-reaction. We further constrain our models using the observed dependence of the phase-lags between the radio and $\gamma$-ray emission on the $\gamma$-ray peak-separation. We perform a statistical comparison of our model radio-lag vs peak-separation diagram and the one obtained for the Fermi standard pulsars. We find that for models of uniform conductivity over the entire open magnetic field line region, agreement with observations favors higher values of this parameter. We find, however, significant improvement in fitting the data with models that employ a hybrid form of conductivity; specifically, infinite conductivity interior to the light-cylinder and high but finite conductivity on the outside. In these models the $\gamma$-ray emission is produced in regions near the equatorial current sheet but modulated by the local physical properties. These models have radio-lags near the observed values and statistically best reproduce the observed light-curve phenomenology. Additionally, these models produce GeV photon cut-off energies.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (revised version, 26 pages, 23 figures