High-energy radiation from pulsars: a three-dimensional model approach

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. (C) 2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.