Extended gamma-ray sources around pulsars constrain the origin of the positron flux at Earth
A. U. Abeysekara(University of Utah), A. Albert(Los Alamos National Laboratory), R. Alfaro(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), C. Álvarez(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), J. D. Álvarez(Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo), R. Arceo(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), J. C. Arteaga‐Velázquez(Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo), D. Avila Rojas(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), H. A. Ayala Solares(Michigan Technological University), A. S. Barber(University of Utah), N. Bautista-Elivar(Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca), A. Becerril(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), E. Moreno(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), S. BenZvi(University of Rochester), D. Berley(University of Maryland, College Park), A. Bernal(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), J. Braun(University of Wisconsin–Madison), C. Brisbois(Michigan Technological University), K. S. Caballero‐Mora(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), T. Capistrán(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), A. Carramiñana(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), S. Casanova(Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences), M. Castillo(Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo), U. Cotti(Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo), J. Cotzomi(Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), S. Coutinõ de León(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), C. de León(Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), E. De la Fuente(Universidad de Guadalajara), B. L. Dingus(Los Alamos National Laboratory), M. A. DuVernois(University of Wisconsin–Madison), J. C. Díaz–Vélez(Universidad de Guadalajara), R. W. Ellsworth(George Mason University), K. Engel(University of Maryland, College Park), O. Enríquez-Rivera(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), D. W. Fiorino(University of Maryland, College Park), N. Fraija(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), J. A. García-González(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), F. Garfias(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), M. Gerhardt(Michigan Technological University), Alfonso Muñoz(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), M. M. González(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), J. A. Goodman(University of Maryland, College Park), Z. Hampel-Arias(University of Wisconsin–Madison), J. P. Harding(Los Alamos National Laboratory), S. Hernández(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), A. Hernández-Almada(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), J. A. Hinton(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), B. Hona(Michigan Technological University), C. M. Hui(Marshall Space Flight Center), P. Hüntemeyer(Michigan Technological University), A. Iriarte(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), A. Jardin-Blicq(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), Vikas Joshi(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), S. Kaufmann(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), D. Kieda(University of Utah), A. Lara(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), R. Lauer(University of New Mexico), William H. Lee(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), D. Lennarz(Georgia Institute of Technology), H. León Vargas(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), J. Linnemann(Michigan State University), A. L. Longinotti(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), G. Luis-Raya(Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca), R. Luna-García(Instituto Politécnico Nacional), R. López-Coto(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), K. Malone(Pennsylvania State University), S. S. Marinelli(Michigan State University), O. Martı́nez(Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), I. Martínez-Castellanos(University of Maryland, College Park), J. Martínez-Castro(Instituto Politécnico Nacional), H. Martínez-Huerta(Instituto Politécnico Nacional), J. Matthews(University of New Mexico), P. Miranda-Romagnoli(Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo), E. Moreno(Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), M. Mostafá(Pennsylvania State University), L. Nellen(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), M. Newbold(University of Utah), M. U. Nisa(University of Rochester), R. Noriega-Papaqui(Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo), Rodrigo Pelayo(Instituto Politécnico Nacional), J. Pretz(Pennsylvania State University), E. G. Pérez‐Pérez(Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca), Zhixiang Ren(University of New Mexico), Chang Dong Rho(University of Rochester), C. Rivière(University of Maryland, College Park), D. Rosa‐González(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), M. Rosenberg(Pennsylvania State University), E. Ruiz-Velasco(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), H. Salazar(Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), F. Salesa Greus(Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences), A. Sandoval(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), M. Schneider(University of California, Santa Cruz), Harm Schoorlemmer(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), G. Sinnis(Los Alamos National Laboratory), A. J. Smith(University of Maryland, College Park), R. W. Springer(University of Utah), P. Surajbali(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), I. Taboada(Georgia Institute of Technology), O. Tibolla(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), Kirsten Tollefson(Michigan State University), I. Torres(National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics), T. N. Ukwatta(Los Alamos National Laboratory), G. Vianello(Stanford University), T. Weisgarber(University of Wisconsin–Madison), S. Westerhoff(University of Wisconsin–Madison), I. G. Wisher(University of Wisconsin–Madison), J. Wood(University of Wisconsin–Madison), T. Yapici(Michigan State University), G. Yodh(University of California, Irvine), P. Younk(Los Alamos National Laboratory), A. Zepeda(Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas), H. Zhou(Los Alamos National Laboratory), Fan Guo(Los Alamos National Laboratory), Joachim Hahn(Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics), Hui Li(Los Alamos National Laboratory), H. C. Zhang(Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Cited by 511Open Access
Abstract
The unexpectedly high flux of cosmic-ray positrons detected at Earth may originate from nearby astrophysical sources, dark matter, or unknown processes of cosmic-ray secondary production. We report the detection, using the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), of extended tera-electron volt gamma-ray emission coincident with the locations of two nearby middle-aged pulsars (Geminga and PSR B0656+14). The HAWC observations demonstrate that these pulsars are indeed local sources of accelerated leptons, but the measured tera-electron volt emission profile constrains the diffusion of particles away from these sources to be much slower than previously assumed. We demonstrate that the leptons emitted by these objects are therefore unlikely to be the origin of the excess positrons, which may have a more exotic origin.
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