Barbara

Numerical MHD models are considered very successful in accounting for many of the observed properties of Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe), especially those concerning the high energy emission morphology and the inner nebula dynamics.
Although PWNe are known to be among the most powerful accelerators in nature, producing particles up to PeV energies, the mechanisms responsible of such an efficient acceleration are still a deep mystery. Indeed, these processes take place in one of the most hostile environment for particle acceleration: the relativistic and highly magnetized termination shock of the pulsar wind.

The newest results from numerical simulations of the Crab Nebula, the PWN prototype, will be presented, with special attention to the problem of particle acceleration. In particular it will be shown how a multi-wavelengths analysis of the wisps properties can be used to constrain the particle acceleration mechanisms working at the Crab’s termination shock, by identifying the particle acceleration site at the shock front.