On the very high energy spectrum of the Crab pulsar

Abstract

In the present paper, we construct a self-consistent theory interpreting the observations from the MAGIC Cherenkov Telescope of the very high energy (VHE) pulsed emission from the Crab pulsar. In particular, on the basis of Vlasov's kinetic equation, we study the process of quasi-linear diffusion (QLD) developed by means of the cyclotron instability. This mechanism provides simultaneous generation of low (radio) and VHE (0.01-25GeV) emission on light cylinder scales in one location of the pulsar magnetosphere. A different approach to the synchrotron emission is considered, giving the spectral index of the VHE emission (β = 2) and the exponential cutoff energy (23GeV) in good agreement with the observational data. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.