Nucleonic gamma-ray production in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

Abstract

Observations of the inner radian of the Galactic disk at very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays have revealed at least 16 new sources. Besides shell type super-nova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae (PWN) appear to be a dominant source population in the catalogue of VHE gamma-ray sources. Except for the Crab nebula, the newly discovered PWN are resolved at VHE gamma-rays to be spatially extended (5-20 pc). Currently, at least 3 middle aged ($t>10$ kyrs) PWN (Vela X, G18.0-0.7, and G313.3+0.6 in the ``Kookaburra'' region) and 1 young PWN MSH 15-5{\it2} ($t=1.55$ kyrs) have been identified to be VHE emitting PWN (sometimes called ``TeV Plerions''). Two more candidate ``TeV Plerions'' have been identifed and have been reported at this conference [1]. In this contribution, the gamma-ray emission from Vela X is explained by a nucleonic component in the pulsar wind. The measured broad band spectral energy distribution is compared with the expected X-ray emission from primary and secondary electrons. The observed X-ray emission and TeV emission from the three middle aged PWN are compared with each other.

6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in proceedings "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-Ray Sources", Barcelona July 2006

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• X-ray emission from PSR J1809-1917 and its pulsar wind nebula, possibly associated with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1809-193
• Discovery of the source HESS J1356-645 associated with the young and energetic PSR J1357-6429
• The Young Pulsar J1357-6429 and Its Pulsar Wind Nebula
• PSR J1856+0245: Arecibo Discovery of a Young, Energetic Pulsar Coincident with the TeV Gamma-ray Source HESS J1857+026
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• Lepto-Hadronic Origin of gamma-rays from the G54.1+0.3 Pulsar Wind Nebula
• Radio continuum and near-infrared study of the MGRO J2019+37 region
• High Energy Processes in Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• Observation of an extended VHE gamma-ray emission from MSH 15-52 with CANGAROO-III
• INTEGRAL observations of TeV plerions
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae and Cosmic Rays: A Bedtime Story