GLAST LAT And Pulsars: What Do We Learn from Simulations?

Gamma‐ray pulsars are among the best targets for the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the GLAST mission. The higher sensitivity, time and energy resolution of the LAT will provide data of fundamental importance to understand the physics of these fascinating objects. Powerful tools for studying the LAT capabilities for pulsar science are the simulation programs developed within the GLAST Collaboration. Thanks to these simulations it is possible to produce a detailed distribution of gamma‐ray photons in energy and phase that can be folded through the LAT Instrument Response Functions (IRFs). Here we present some of the main interesting results from the simulations developed to study the discovery potential of the LAT. In particular we will focus on the capability of the LAT to discover new radio‐loud gamma‐ray pulsars, on the discrimination between Polar Cap and Outer Gap models, and on the LAT pulsar sensitivity.