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Title: The gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars and implications for the GeV excess

Abstract

It has been proposed that a large population of unresolved millisecond pulsars (MSPs) could potentially account for the excess of GeV-scale gamma-rays observed from the region surrounding the Galactic Center. The viability of this scenario depends critically on the gamma-ray luminosity function of this source population, which determines how many MSPs Fermi should have already detected as resolved point sources. In this paper, we revisit the gamma-ray luminosity function of MSPs, without relying on uncertain distance measurements. Our determination, based on a comparison of models with the observed characteristics of the MSP population, suggests that Fermi should have already detected a significant number of sources associated with such a hypothesized Inner Galaxy population. As a result, we cannot rule out a scenario in which the MSPs residing near the Galactic Center are systematically less luminous than those present in the Galactic Plane or within globular clusters.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
  2. Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
OSTI Identifier:
1249200
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB-15-559-A; arXiv:1512.04966
Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516; 1409878
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-07CH11359
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1603; Journal Issue: 03; Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; millisecond pulsars; gamma ray theory

Citation Formats

Hooper, Dan, and Mohlabeng, Gopolang. The gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars and implications for the GeV excess. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2016/03/049.
Hooper, Dan, & Mohlabeng, Gopolang. The gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars and implications for the GeV excess. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/03/049
Hooper, Dan, and Mohlabeng, Gopolang. Tue . "The gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars and implications for the GeV excess". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2016/03/049. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1249200.
@article{osti_1249200,
title = {The gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars and implications for the GeV excess},
author = {Hooper, Dan and Mohlabeng, Gopolang},
abstractNote = {It has been proposed that a large population of unresolved millisecond pulsars (MSPs) could potentially account for the excess of GeV-scale gamma-rays observed from the region surrounding the Galactic Center. The viability of this scenario depends critically on the gamma-ray luminosity function of this source population, which determines how many MSPs Fermi should have already detected as resolved point sources. In this paper, we revisit the gamma-ray luminosity function of MSPs, without relying on uncertain distance measurements. Our determination, based on a comparison of models with the observed characteristics of the MSP population, suggests that Fermi should have already detected a significant number of sources associated with such a hypothesized Inner Galaxy population. As a result, we cannot rule out a scenario in which the MSPs residing near the Galactic Center are systematically less luminous than those present in the Galactic Plane or within globular clusters.},
doi = {10.1088/1475-7516/2016/03/049},
journal = {Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics},
number = 03,
volume = 1603,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Cited by: 37 works
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