Pulsars are extremely magnetised spinning cosmic objets which emit beams of electromagnetic radiation from the radio band up to high-energy (HE; <100 GeV)  and very-high-energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray domain. While about 10% of the ~3000 radio pulsars are known to emit gamma-rays in the HE range, only three pulsars have up to now been detected in the VHE domain. The discovery (2022-23) of pulses reaching an unprecedented energy of 20 TeV from the nearby (280 pc) and young Vela pulsar,  challenged strongly our understanding of the acceleration and radiation processes at play in pulsars’ magnetosphere and wind zone. The very recent discovery of a very luminous multi-TeV emission from a pulsar much further than Vela has opened definitively the domain of TeV pulsar astrophysics.

The proposed thesis project consists of two complementary parts: 

1. The observational part consists of analysis of data obtained with the H.E.S.S. gamma-ray observatory (in Namibia) and the satellite-based Fermi-LAT instrument, in view of producing the first H.E.S.S pulsar catalog. This will be a major legacy of H.E.S.S. and will pave the way for TeV pulsar astronomy with the forthcoming major observatory CTAO (two sites, La Palma/Spain and Atacama/Chile), of which the partial exploitation of data has already begun at the northern site.  
2. The phenomenological part: due to their very-high energies, TeV photons probe the acceleration and emission mechanisms at their extreme limits. One can expect with great confidence a significant progress in models of high-energy emission from pulsars using more and more precise gamma-ray measurements, but also thanks to new sources discoveries. In this part of the thesis, the PhD candidate will take part in the modelling work, of course in a multi-wavelength (radio, X-ray, HE and VHE) perspective. 

In summary, the PhD subject could be formulated as “Current Landscape and Prospects in TeV Pulsar Astronomy with CTAO” . The center of gravity of the work could range from data analysis (H.E.S.S., Fermi-LAT) to detailed modelling, depending on the skills and personal tastes of the candidate.

This proposal can naturally be started with a Masters internship period.

f[Python programming language skills are highly recommended !].

Contact - APC Laboratory
Arache Djannati-Ataï (djannatiapc.in2p3.fr) & Maxime Regerad (regardapc.in2p3.fr)