Constraining the Galactic millisecond pulsar population using Fermi Large Area Telescope

Abstract

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) has recently revealed a large population of gamma-ray emitting millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in our Galaxy. We aim to infer the properties of the Galactic population of gamma-ray emitting MSPs from the samples detected by the Fermi-LAT. We developed a Monte Carlo model to predict the spatial and gamma-ray luminosity distribution of the Galactic MSP population. Based on the estimated detection sensitivity of Fermi-LAT, we split the model population into detectable and undetectable samples of MSPs. Using a maximum likelihood method, we compared the detectable sample to a set of 36 MSPs detected by Fermi-LAT, and we derived the parameters of the spatial distribution and the total number of gamma-ray emitting MSPs in the Galaxy. The corresponding undetectable sample provided us with an estimate for the expected diffuse emission from unresolved MSPs in the Milky Way. We also applied our method to an extended sample of 66 MSPs that combines firmly detected MSPs and gamma-ray sources that show characteristics reminiscent of MSPs. For the first time our analysis provides gamma-ray based constraints on the Galactic population of MSPs. The radial scale length and vertical scale height of the population is consistent with estimates based on radio data. Our analysis suggests that MSPs do not provide any significant contribution to the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray background emission.

12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Cited by in corpus (24)

• The Fermi Galactic Center GeV Excess and Implications for Dark Matter
• Strong support for the millisecond pulsar origin of the Galactic center GeV excess
• Evidence for Unresolved Gamma-Ray Point Sources in the Inner Galaxy
• The First Fermi-LAT Catalog of Sources Above 10 GeV
• Millisecond pulsars and the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess: the importance of luminosity function and secondary emission
• The nature of the Diffuse Gamma-Ray Background
• Composition of the Fermi-LAT isotropic gamma-ray background intensity: Emission from extragalactic point sources and dark matter annihilations
• Challenges in Explaining the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess with Millisecond Pulsars
• Diffuse gamma-ray emission from galactic pulsars
• Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO--Virgo data
• The Gamma-Ray Luminosity Function of Millisecond Pulsars and Implications for the GeV Excess
• Status and perspectives of Continuous Gravitational Wave searches
• Unveiling the Gamma-ray Source Count Distribution Below the Fermi Detection Limit with Photon Statistics
• Bayesian Model Comparison and Analysis of the Galactic Disk Population of Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars
• Estimating the GeV Emission of Millisecond Pulsars in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Continuous gravitational waves from Galactic neutron stars: demography, detectability and prospects
• Fermi-LAT gamma-ray anisotropy and intensity explained by unresolved Radio-Loud Active Galactic Nuclei
• Formation of Binary Millisecond Pulsars by Accretion-Induced Collapse of White Dwarfs under Wind-Driven Evolution
• Implications on Spatial Models of Interstellar Gamma-Ray Inverse-Compton Emission from Synchrotron Emission Studies in Radio and Microwaves
• Targeted search for the stochastic gravitational-wave background from the galactic millisecond pulsar population
• Modeling the non-recycled Fermi gamma-ray pulsar population
• Exploring the potential X-ray counterpart of the puzzling TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1507-622 with new Suzaku observations
• Quark Novae: An Alternative Channel For the Formation of Isolated Millisecond Pulsars
• Detectability of continuous gravitational waves from magnetically deformed neutron stars