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Title: The gamma-ray pulsar population of globular clusters: Implications for the GeV excess

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
 [1];  [2]
  1. Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
  2. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)

In this study, it has been suggested that the GeV excess, observed from the region surrounding the Galactic Center, might originate from a population of millisecond pulsars that formed in globular clusters. With this in mind, we employ the publicly available Fermi data to study the gamma-ray emission from 157 globular clusters, identifying a statistically significant signal from 25 of these sources (ten of which are not found in existing gamma-ray catalogs). We combine these observations with the predicted pulsar formation rate based on the stellar encounter rate of each globular cluster to constrain the gamma-ray luminosity function of millisecond pulsars in the Milky Way's globular cluster system. We find that this pulsar population exhibits a luminosity function that is quite similar to those millisecond pulsars observed in the field of the Milky Way (i.e. the thick disk). After pulsars are expelled from a globular cluster, however, they continue to lose rotational kinetic energy and become less luminous, causing their luminosity function to depart from the steady-state distribution. Using this luminosity function and a model for the globular cluster disruption rate, we show that millisecond pulsars born in globular clusters can account for only a few percent or less of the observed GeV excess. Among other challenges, scenarios in which the entire GeV excess is generated from such pulsars are in conflict with the observed mass of the Milky Way's Central Stellar Cluster.

Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359
OSTI ID:
1305131
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB-16-245-A; arXiv:1606.09250; 1473014
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2016, Issue 08; ISSN 1475-7516
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 39 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (30)

Model-independent analysis of the DAMPE excess journal February 2018
WIMP dark matter candidates and searches—current status and future prospects journal May 2018
Gamma rays from dark matter subhalos revisited: refining the predictions and constraints journal April 2017
Point sources from dissipative dark matter journal December 2017
Gamma-ray and X-ray emission from the Galactic centre: hints on the nuclear star cluster formation history journal June 2018
Disrupted globular clusters and the gamma-ray excess in the Galactic Centre journal January 2018
Bayesian model comparison and analysis of the Galactic disc population of gamma-ray millisecond pulsars journal September 2018
Milky Way globular clusters in γ-rays: analysing the dynamical formation of millisecond pulsars journal March 2019
Comment on “Understanding the γ -ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tuc: Evidence for dark matter?” journal September 2019
Boxes, boosts, and energy duality: Understanding the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess through Dynamical Dark Matter journal March 2017
Interpretation of the gamma-ray excess and AMS-02 antiprotons: Velocity dependent dark matter annihilations journal September 2017
Analyzing the gamma-ray sky with wavelets journal August 2018
Interpretations of galactic center gamma-ray excess confronting the PandaX-II constraints on dark matter-neutron spin-dependent scatterings in the NMSSM journal May 2018
Multimessenger Multi-TeV Dark Matter journal April 2019
The Fermi Galactic Center GeV Excess and Implications for Dark Matter journal May 2017
Millisecond Pulsar Origin of the Galactic Center Excess and Extended Gamma-Ray Emission from Andromeda: A Closer Look journal July 2018
Evidence for Cosmic-Ray Escape in the Small Magellanic Cloud Using Fermi Gamma Rays journal October 2018
ESTIMATING THE GeV EMISSION OF MILLISECOND PULSARS IN DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXIES journal November 2016
Gamma-Ray And X-Ray Emission From The Galactic Centre: Hints On The Nuclear Star Cluster Formation History text January 2018
Gamma-Ray And X-Ray Emission From The Galactic Centre: Hints On The Nuclear Star Cluster Formation History text January 2018
Boxes, Boosts, and Energy Duality: Understanding the Galactic-Center Gamma-Ray Excess through Dynamical Dark Matter text January 2016
Gamma Rays From Dark Matter Subhalos Revisited: Refining the Predictions and Constraints text January 2016
Interpretation of the gamma-ray excess and AMS-02 antiprotons: Velocity dependent dark matter annihilations text January 2017
Point Sources from Dissipative Dark Matter text January 2017
WIMP dark matter candidates and searches - current status and future prospects text January 2017
Disrupted Globular Clusters and the Gamma-Ray Excess in the Galactic Centre text January 2017
Model-independent analysis of the DAMPE excess text January 2017
Bayesian Model Comparison and Analysis of the Galactic Disk Population of Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars text January 2018
Evidence for Cosmic-Ray Escape in the Small Magellanic Cloud using Fermi Gamma-rays text January 2018
Comment on "Understanding the $γ$-ray emission from the globular cluster 47 Tuc: evidence for dark matter?" text January 2018

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