Emission From Rotation-Powered Pulsars: Is It All Relative?

Abstract

Thirty-five years after the discovery of rotation-powered pulsars, we still do not understand the fundamentals of their pulsed emission at any wavelength. Even detailed pulse profiles cannot identify the location of the emission in a magnetosphere that extends from the neutron star surface to near the light cylinder. Compounding the problem are effects of strong gravity at low altitudes and plasma moving at relativistic speeds in the outer magnetosphere. I will discuss the role of special and general relativistic effects on pulsar emission, from inertial frame-dragging near the stellar surface to aberration, time-of-flight and retardation of the magnetic field near the light cylinder. Understanding how these effects determine what we observe at different wavelengths is critical to unraveling the emission physics.