Jeffrey Drexel Scargle

COHERENT SYNCHROTRON EMISSION IN THE CRAB NEBULA.

RECENT analyses of the electrodynamics of the plasma surrounding a rotating magnetic neutron star1–3 have provided plausible mechanisms for the acceleration of high energy particles in the Crab Nebula. We shall discuss some implications of these models, but the results may apply to a variety of models of the interaction between a central object and a surrounding nebula. In particular, we propose an explanation of the low frequency radio source of small diameter4, which probably lies near the centre of the Crab5 and which may therefore be associated with the pulsar. Specifically, we suggest that the high brightness temperatures associated with this source6 may result from coherent synchrotron emission associated with phase-coherence of the electron gyromotion.