Simulation of coherent synchrotron radiation emission from rotating relativistic electron layers

Abstract

The electromagnetic radiation of rotating relativistic electron layers is studied numerically using particle-in-cell simulation. This system is general enough to be applied to problems involving the coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) instability in bunch compressors and possibly in radio pulsars where the CSR instability may be used to explain the high brightness temperature and the observed spectra. The results of the simulation confirm all relevant scaling properties predicted by theoretical models and suggest that their range of validity is bigger than conservative estimates indicate. This is important for radio pulsars where the allowed parameter range is unknown.