High Energy Studies of Pulsar Wind Nebulae

Abstract

The extended nebulae formed as pulsar winds expand into their surroundings provide information about the composition of the winds, the injection history from the host pulsar, and the material into which the nebulae are expanding. Observations from across the electromagnetic spectrum provide constraints on the evolution of the nebulae, the density and composition of the surrounding ejecta, the geometry of the systems, the formation of jets, and the maximum energy of the particles in the nebulae. Here I provide a broad overview of the structure of pulsar wind nebulae, with specific examples that demonstrate our ability to constrain the above parameters. The association of pulsar wind nebulae with extended sources of very high energy gamma-ray emission are investigated, along with constraints on the nature of such high energy emission.