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Description
Spider pulsars are compact binary systems consisting of a millisecond pulsar and a low-mass companion. The relativistic pulsar wind interacts with the companion outflow, forming an intrabinary shock (IBS) associated with particle acceleration and orbitally modulated X-ray emission. These systems may also contribute to high-energy cosmic-ray positrons and are thought to harbor some of the most massive neutron stars, making them useful laboratories for studying the neutron star equation of state and evolutionary pathways. The small orbital separation places these systems in a regime where the striped pulsar wind may not have fully dissipated when reaching the IBS. While the presence of an IBS is well established, its detailed geometry, location, and physical properties remain uncertain. We investigate the interaction between a magnetized striped pulsar wind and the companion outflow using global relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations.
