Utilizing cosmic-ray positron and electron observations to probe the averaged properties of Milky Way pulsars

Abstract

Pulsars have long been studied in the electromagnetic spectrum. Their environments are rich in high-energy cosmic-ray electrons and positrons likely enriching the interstellar medium with such particles. In this work we use recent cosmic-ray observations from the AMS-02, CALET and DAMPE collaborations to study the averaged properties of the local Milky Way pulsar population. We perform simulations of the local Milky Way pulsar population, for interstellar medium assumptions in agreement with a range of cosmic-ray nuclei measurements. Each such simulation contains $\sim 10^4$ pulsars of unique age, location, initial spin-down power and cosmic-ray electron/positron spectra. We produce more than $7\times 10^3$ such Milky Way pulsar simulations. We account for and study i) the pulsars' birth rates and the stochastic nature of their birth, ii) their initial spin-down power distribution, iii) their time evolution in terms of their braking index and characteristic spin-down timescale, iv) the fraction of spin-down power going to cosmic-ray electrons and positrons and v) their propagation through the interstellar medium and the Heliosphere. We find that pulsars of ages $\sim 10^5-10^7$ yr, have a braking index that on average has to be 3 or larger. Given that electromagnetic spectrum observations of young pulsars find braking indices lower than 3, our work provides strong hints that pulsars' braking index increases on average as they age, allowing them to retain some of their rotational energy. Moreover, we find that pulsars have relatively uniform properties as sources of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons in terms of the spectra they produce and likely release O($10\%$) of their rotational energy to cosmic-rays in the ISM. Finally, we find at $\simeq$12 GeV positrons a spectral feature that suggests a new subpopulation of positron sources contributing at these energies.

arXiv comment20 pages, 13 figures and 6 tables. Simulations are available at https://zenodo.org/record/5659004#.YYqnbi-ZN0s

References in corpus (115)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters
• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• A Theory of Dark Matter
• Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog
• Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation from Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with Six Years of Fermi-LAT Data
• Propagation of cosmic-ray nucleons in the Galaxy
• The Second Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars
• Birth and Evolution of Isolated Radio Pulsars
• The Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey: I. Observing and Data Analysis Systems, Discovery and Timing of 100 Pulsars
• The Parkes multibeam pulsar survey: VI. Discovery and timing of 142 pulsars and a Galactic population analysis
• Astrophysical Signatures of Secluded Dark Matter
• Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons
• Model-independent implications of the e+, e-, anti-proton cosmic ray spectra on properties of Dark Matter
• Pulsars as the Sources of High Energy Cosmic Ray Positrons
• Extended gamma-ray sources around pulsars constrain the origin of the positron flux at Earth
• Indirect Dark Matter Signatures in the Cosmic Dark Ages I. Generalizing the Bound on s-wave Dark Matter Annihilation from Planck
• CMB Constraints on WIMP Annihilation: Energy Absorption During the Recombination Epoch
• The First Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars
• Secondary antiprotons and propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy and heliosphere
• Exciting Dark Matter and the INTEGRAL/SPI 511 keV signal
• TeV Gamma Rays from Geminga and the Origin of the GeV Positron Excess
• Constraints on cosmic-ray propagation models from a global Bayesian analysis
• The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog
• The DArk Matter Particle Explorer mission
• Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Antiprotons and Gamma-rays in the Galaxy: a New Diffusion Model
• The origin of the positron excess in cosmic rays
• The cosmic-ray positron energy spectrum measured by PAMELA
• New Positron Spectral Features from Supersymmetric Dark Matter - a Way to Explain the PAMELA Data?
• Leptophilic Dark Matter
• Emission Beam Geometry of Selected Pulsars Derived from Average Pulse Polarization Data
• On possible interpretations of the high energy electron-positron spectrum measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope
• The surprising Crab pulsar and its nebula: A review
• Multiple Galactic Sources with Emission Above 56 TeV Detected by HAWC
• Milagro Observations of Multi-TeV Emission from Galactic Sources in the Fermi Bright Source List
• Three-Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of the Crab Nebula
• WIMPonium and Boost Factors for Indirect Dark Matter Detection
• On the birthrates of Galactic neutron stars
• Current Dark Matter Annihilation Constraints from CMB and Low-Redshift Data
• Pulsars versus Dark Matter Interpretation of ATIC/PAMELA
• A fresh look at linear cosmological constraints on a decaying dark matter component
• Extended Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Electron and Positron Spectrum from 11 GeV to 4.8 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
• Probing the Pulsar Origin of the Anomalous Positron Fraction with AMS-02 and Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
• Dark Matter and Pulsar Origins of the Rising Cosmic Ray Positron Fraction in Light of New Data From AMS
• High-energy antiprotons from old supernova remnants
• The Crab Nebula as a standard candle in very high-energy astrophysics
• The population of TeV pulsar wind nebulae in the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey
• Interpretation of AMS-02 electrons and positrons data
• Revised Pulsar Spindown
• The Case for a 700+ GeV WIMP: Cosmic Ray Spectra from PAMELA, Fermi and ATIC
• A Comprehensive Search for Dark Matter Annihilation in Dwarf Galaxies
• On cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants and the FERMI/PAMELA data
• Simulated synchrotron emission from Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• Indirect and direct search for dark matter
• Teraelectronvolt pulsed emission from the Crab pulsar detected by MAGIC
• High Energy Positrons From Annihilating Dark Matter
• Dissecting cosmic-ray electron-positron data with Occam's Razor: the role of known Pulsars
• Testing astrophysical models for the PAMELA positron excess with cosmic ray nuclei
• High-Energy Gamma Rays from the Milky Way: Three-Dimensional Spatial Models for the Cosmic-Ray and Radiation Field Densities in the Interstellar Medium
• A High Braking Index for a Pulsar
• An Effective Theory of Dirac Dark Matter
• Antiprotons from dark matter annihilation in the Galaxy: astrophysical uncertainties
• Coherently Dedispersed Polarimetry of Millisecond Pulsars
• AMS-02 data confronts acceleration of cosmic ray secondaries in nearby sources
• Is the PAMELA anomaly caused by the supernova explosions near the Earth?
• The Dipole Magnetic Field and Spin-down Evolutions of The High Braking Index Pulsar PSR J1640-4631
• A Predictive Analytic Model for the Solar Modulation of Cosmic Rays
• Pulsar-Wind Nebulae: Recent Progress in Observations and Theory
• The PAMELA Positron Excess from Annihilations into a Light Boson
• TeV Halos are Everywhere: Prospects for New Discoveries
• X-Ray Observations of Black Widow Pulsars
• Constraints on dark matter annihilation from AMS-02 results
• Arecibo 430 MHz Pulsar Polarimetry: Faraday Rotation Measures and Morphological Classifications
• Pulsar Birthrate from Parkes Multi-beam Survey
• Pulsar interpretation for the AMS-02 result
• New calculation of antiproton production by cosmic ray protons and nuclei
• Galactic factories of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons
• Implications of the AMS-02 positron fraction in cosmic rays
• NICER X-ray Observations of Seven Nearby Rotation-Powered Millisecond Pulsars
• Cosmic-Ray Electron Excess from Pulsars is Spiky or Smooth?: Continuous and Multiple Electron/Positron injections
• Torque Decay in the Pulsar (P,P_dot) Diagram. Effects of Crustal Ohmic Dissipation and Alignment
• Can we explain AMS-02 antiproton and positron excesses simultaneously by nearby supernovae without pulsars nor dark matter?
• Constraining the origin of the rising cosmic ray positron fraction with the boron-to-carbon ratio
• Neutrino Mass and Dark Matter in light of recent AMS-02 results
• Effects of the equation of state on the bulk properties of maximally-rotating neutron stars
• Timing of young radio pulsars II. Braking indices and their interpretation
• Braking Index of Isolated Pulsars
• Dynamical Dark Matter and the Positron Excess in Light of AMS
• Optical and infrared observations of the Crab Pulsar and its nearby knot
• Characterization of the optical and X-ray properties of the northwestern wisps in the Crab Nebula
• Possible Evidence for the Stochastic Acceleration of Secondary Antiprotons by Supernova Remnants
• Stochastic cosmic ray sources and the TeV break in the all-electron spectrum
• Dark Matter Particle Explorer observations of high-energy cosmic ray electrons plus positrons and their physical implications
• Pinpointing Cosmic Ray Propagation With The AMS-02 Experiment
• Phase Transitions in Rotating Neutron Stars
• Studying the Milky Way Pulsar Population with Cosmic-Ray Leptons
• Features in cosmic-ray lepton data unveil the properties of nearby cosmic accelerators
• Constraining positron emission from pulsar populations with AMS-02 data
• Constraints on dark matter annihilations from diffuse gamma-ray emission in the Galaxy
• The near-infrared detection of PSR B0540-69 and its nebula
• Charge Asymmetric Cosmic Ray Signals From Dark Matter Decay
• Stability of Hall equilibria in neutron star crusts
• 'Notches' in the Profiles of Bright Pulsars
• Slightly Non-Minimal Dark Matter in PAMELA and ATIC
• TeV Electron Spectrum for Probing Cosmic-Ray Escape from a Supernova Remnant
• Features in the Spectrum of Cosmic-Ray Positrons from Pulsars
• Optical and ultraviolet pulsed emission from an accreting millisecond pulsar
• Braking Index of Isolated Pulsars II: A novel two-dipole model of pulsar magnetism
• Possible optical counterpart of PSR J1357-6429
• Production and acceleration of antinuclei in supernova shockwaves
• The first ultraviolet detection of the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR B0540-69 and its multi-wavelength properties
• Cosmic Rays from Pulsars and Magnetars
• The optical and near-infrared spectrum of the Crab pulsar with X-shooter
• Chandra and HST Studies of Six Millisecond Pulsars in the Globular Cluster M13
• Dark matter annihilation into leptons through gravity portals

Cited by in corpus (11)

• The Third Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars
• New determination of the production cross section for secondary positrons and electrons in the Galaxy
• A novel prediction for secondary positrons and electrons in the Galaxy
• Pulsars Do Not Produce Sharp Features in the Cosmic-Ray Electron and Positron Spectra
• Revisiting GeV-scale annihilating dark matter with the AMS-02 positron fraction
• Constraining the Charge-, Time- and Rigidity-Dependence of Cosmic-Ray Solar Modulation with AMS-02 Observations during Solar Cycle 24
• Observing Signals of Spectral Features in the Cosmic-Ray Positrons and Electrons from Milky Way Pulsars
• Possible counterpart signal of the Fermi bubbles at the cosmic-ray positrons
• Possible spectral irregularities in the AMS-02 positron spectrum
• New estimate for the contribution of the Geminga pulsar to the positron excess
• SECRET: Stochasticity Emulator for Cosmic Ray Electrons