THE THEORY OF PULSAR WIND NEBULAE

Abstract

I will review the current status of our theoretical understanding of Pulsar Winds and associated nebulae (PWNe). In recent years, axisymmetric models of pulsar winds with a latitude dependent energy flux have proved very successful at explaining the morphology of PWNe as seen in the X-rays. This success has prompted developments aimed at using multi-wavelength observations of these nebulae as a diagnostics of the hidden physics of the pulsar wind and of the mechanism(s) through which particles are accelerated in these sources.I will discuss these most recent developments in terms of the information that we infer from detailed comparison of simulated non-thermal emission with current observations.