The Rise of the Leptons: Pulsar Emission Dominates the TeV Gamma-Ray Sky

by Mr Tim Linden (Fermilab / UCSC)

Tuesday 20 Jun 2017, 13:15 → 14:30 Europe/Stockholm

FA31

Abstract: Recent HAWC observations have found extended TeV emission coincident with the Geminga and Monogem pulsars. In this talk, I will show that these detections have significant implications for our understanding of pulsar emission. First, the spectrum and intensity of these "TeV Halos" indicates that a large fraction of the pulsar spindown energy is efficiently converted into electron-positron pairs. This provides observational evidence supporting pulsar interpretations of the rising positron fraction observed by PAMELA and AMS-02. Second, the isotropic nature of this emission provides a new avenue for detecting nearby pulsars with radio beams that are not oriented towards Earth. Lastly, I will show that the total emission from all unresolved pulsars produces the majority of the TeV gamma-ray flux observed from the Milky Way. (host: Conrad)