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Gamma Ray Pulsars: From Radio to Gamma Rays

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Handbook of Supernovae

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Abstract

Pulsars are fast spinning and highly magnetized neutron stars , with a typical mass of 1.4–2M ⊙ and a radius of R s  ∼ 106 cm. Pulsars convert their rotational energy into particle energy and emit electromagnetic radiation as a beam. This radiation beam can be observed in a pulsation that has the same period as the rotational period of the pulsar. Since the discovery of the first pulsar in 1967, more than 2500 pulsars have been discovered by radio telescopes. The Fermi Gamma Ray Large Area Telescope launched in 2008 provides valuable observations of gamma ray radiation from pulsars. Fermi has detected pulsed gamma ray emissions from > 150 pulsars. The increase of the population of gamma ray emitting pulsars provides us a great opportunity for understanding the emission mechanisms from radio to gamma ray bands, and the evolution and structure of the pulsar magnetosphere. In this chapter, we summarize the results of multiwavelength observations for the Fermi-LAT pulsars and discuss their interpretation via particle acceleration and emission models.

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Acknowledgements

J.T. thanks Drs. S. Shibata, K. S. Cheng, E. R. Taam, H.-K. Chang, A. H. Kong, C. Y. Hui, and P. H. T. Tam for the useful discussions. This work is supported by a NSFC grant of China under 11573010.

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  1. School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074, Wuhan, China

    Jumpei Takata

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  1. Jumpei Takata
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Correspondence to Jumpei Takata .

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  1. University of London Observatory, Mill Hill, United Kingdom

    Athem W. Alsabti

  2. Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Paul Murdin

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Takata, J. (2016). Gamma Ray Pulsars: From Radio to Gamma Rays. In: Alsabti, A., Murdin, P. (eds) Handbook of Supernovae. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_73-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20794-0_73-1

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