Neutrinos from pulsar environments

Abstract

AbstractRecent calculations of the neutrino fluxes and spectra from pulsar magnetospheres and wind nebulae are reviewed. The neutrinos, produced in pp and pγ collisions via pion decays, are a signature of TeV ions accelerated electrostatically in the magnetosphere, in the wind termination shock (Fermi), or in the wind neutral sheet (wave surfing and/or reconnection). The fluxes and spectra are related to the energy and density of the accelerated ion beam and the densities of the target species, thereby constraining ion-loaded pulsar wind models originally developed to explain the variable wisps in pulsar-driven supernova remnants. The neutrino signal may be detectable by km2 telescopes (e.g...