High-Energy Radiation from Pulsars : A Three Dimensional Model Approach

Abstract

We suggest that some observational features of high-energy radiation from pulsars should be explained in terms of three dimensional geometric models, e.g. the phase-resolved X-ray and $\gamma$-ray spectra and the energy dependent light curves from various pulsars. In this paper, we present a three dimensional pulsar outer-magnetospheric gap model to explain these observational features. The outer-magnetospheric gap is proposed to form near the null charged surface and extend toward the light cylinder. The other two geometric dimensions of the outer-magnetospheric gap, i.e. the vertical size and the azimuthal extension can be determined self-consistently. We apply this model to explain the observed phase-dependent spectra and the energy-dependent light curves of various pulsars.