Global hybrid force-free-PIC model of the aligned magnetosphere of a B_⋆ = 10⁷ G surface magnetic field neutron star with a P = 1 ms spin period at simulated time, t = 2.45 ms. Solid black lines show the poloidal magnetic field lines (i.e., isocontour of the magnetic flux function Ψ), solid green and red lines show the transition from the force-free regions to the PIC region (i.e., Ψ₀, Ψ₁, Ψ₂, and Ψ₃; see Table 1). Panel a: Map of the pairs density normalized by $n_{\mathrm{GJ}}^{\star }$ and compensated by (r/r_⋆)². Panel b: Map of the mean pair energy, ℰ = γm_ec². Panels c and d: Same as panels (a) and (b), but for the protons. The panels do not show the full domain, but instead they are focused on the PIC domain where the current sheet forms. A zoomed-in view of a reconnection site is shown in panel (a). Notice how thin the reconnection layer is.