The High Energy Cosmic Ray Electron Spectrum measured by Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope: some possible interpretations

Abstract

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has provided the measurement of the high energy cosmic ray electrons plus positrons (CRE) spectrum with unprecedented accuracy form 20 GeV to 1 TeV. Recently this range has been extended down to ~ 7 GeV. The spectrum shows no prominent features and it is significantly harder than that inferred from several previous experiments. While the reported Fermi-LAT data alone may be interpreted in terms of a single (electron dominated) Galactic component, when combined with other complementary experimental results, specifically the CRE spectrum measured by H.E.S.S., and especially the positron fraction measured by PAMELA, an additional electron and positron component seems to be required. We show that the acceleration of electron-positron pairs in Galactic pulsars may offer a natural (though not unique) interpretation of all those results.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures Contribution to 2009 Fermi Symposium - eConf Proceedings C091122

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