Zoom info: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/98604058568

Philippov:
Magnetars are the neutron stars with the strongest known magnetic fields in the Universe. In between spectacular outbursts and giant flares, which I will discuss in my colloquium talk, they remain sources of non-thermal X-rays and high-brightness radio emission. In this talk, I will describe a novel mechanism capable of powering the radio emission: radiation-driven two-stream instability. I will show how first-principles plasma simulations allow us to directly calculate radiative efficiencies and show their consistency with observed magnetars.