Cosmic-ray positrons from 10 to 20 GeV - A balloon-borne measurement using the geomagnetic east-west asymmetry

Mueller, D.; Tang, K. K.

doi:10.1086/164859

Cited by 106 publications

(33 citation statements)

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“…The solid, long dashed and dotdashed curves are the ratios including the contribution of the mature γ-ray pulsars with birth rates of one per 100 yrs, one per 50 yrs and one per 30 yrs respectively. The observed data are taken from Fanselow et al (1969) (solid circles), Daugherty et al (1975) (open up-triangles), Buffington et al (1975) (open down-triangles), Müller & Tang (1987) (solid uptriangles), Golden et al (1987) (solid down-triangles), Golden et al (1994) (open diamonds), Golden et al (1996) (open circles), Barbiellini et al (1996) (open boxes), Barwick et al (1997) remnant. Observationally, Becker et al (1999) found the mature pulsars such as Geminga, PSR B1055-52 an PSR B0656+14 are not surrounded by nebulae.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic-ray positrons from mature gamma-ray pulsars

Zhang

Cheng

2001

A&A

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Abstract.We consider a possible contribution of mature γ-ray pulsars (with ages of ≥ 10 5 yrs) to cosmic ray positrons. Within the framework of the γ-ray pulsar outer gap model, e ± pairs in the pulsar magnetosphere are produced by the cascade of e ± pairs through synchrotron radiation of the return current from the outer gap. A good fraction of these cascade e ± pairs are reflected by the hard X-rays from the polar cap via resonant scattering and escape from the pulsar through the light cylinder. The escaped pairs are accelerated to relativistic energies in the pulsar wind driven by low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we generate a sample of the mature γ-ray pulsars in our Galaxy and calculate the positron production rate from these pulsars. In a simple "leaky box" model, we calculate the ratio of cosmic-ray positrons to total electrons. Our result indicates that the pulsar contribution to the cosmic ray positrons peaks at about 60 GeV and the observed e + /(e − + e + ) ratio can be explained in this model.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmic-ray positrons from mature gamma-ray pulsars

Zhang

Cheng

2001

A&A

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“…Early observations of positrons and antiprotons (Muller & Tang 1987;Golden et al 1979;Bogomolov et al 1979) seem to indicate a major excess of antimatter with respect to the estimated secondary component produced by primary cosmic-ray collisions in the interstellar medium. These observations generated many different speculations about the extra sources of positrons (see for example, Grimani 2004 and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on cosmic-ray positron excess and average pulsar parameters

Grimani¹

2007

A&A

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Recent, accurate e + /(e + +e − ) ratio measurements in cosmic rays allow us to distinguish among different estimates of secondary positron production in the interstellar medium (ISM), provided the effect of solar modulation and solar polarity are properly taken into account. Data above a few GeV indicate that a possible extra component of positrons could be required in addition to the secondaries. This positron excess is compatible with the hypothesis of pair production at the polar cap of mature pulsars. Assuming only pulsar contributions without any exotic contributions such as dark-matter annihilation, the average parameters of Galactic pulsars contributing to positron and electron interstellar fluxes were obtained. These parameter values are found near the peak of the distributions of the observed characteristics of radio pulsars. The studied gamma-ray pulsar sample is too small to make any conclusion. The expected e + /(e + +e − ) ratio from the PAMELA experiment currently in orbit is reported in this paper. The GLAST mission will allow us to double-check our findings about the role of pair production at the pulsar polar cap and outer gap.

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“…Many novel detectors have been invented to overcome the difficulty by using a combination of an electromagnetic calorimeter and a device for particle identiÐcation, such as a gas Cherenkov counter & Meyer 1973), a transition (Muller radiation detector (Prince 1979 ;Tang 1984 ;& Tang Muller 1987), or a magnet spectrometer (Buffington, Orth, & Smoot 1975 ;Golden et al 1984Golden et al , 1994. Recent advanced detectors for measuring positrons separately from negative electrons have been constructed in combination with a transition radiation detector (Barwick et al 1997) or a Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector (Boezio et al 2000) with a system of magnet spectrometer and calorimeter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Energy Spectrum of Cosmic‐Ray Electrons from 10 to 100 GeV Observed with a Highly Granulated Imaging Calorimeter

Torii

Tamura

Tateyama

et al. 2001

ApJ

117

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Cosmic-ray electrons1 have been observed in the energy range from 12 to D100 GeV with a new balloon-borne payload, the Balloon-borne Electron Telescope with Scintillating Fibers (BETS). This is the Ðrst publication of the absolute energy spectrum of electrons measured with a highly granulated Ðber calorimeter. The calorimeter makes it possible to select electrons against the background protons by detailed observation of both the longitudinal and the lateral shower development. The performance of the detector was calibrated by the CERN-SPS accelerator beams : electrons from 5 to 100 GeV, protons from 60 to 250 GeV. The balloon observations were carried out twice, in 1997 and 1998, at the Sanriku Balloon Center (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) in Japan. The observation time was D13 hr in all at an altitude above 34 km. A total of 1349 electron candidates were collected, and the 628 events with energies above 12.5 GeV, well above the geomagnetic rigidity cuto † of D10 GV, have been used to compose a di †erential absolute energy spectrum at the top of the atmosphere. The energy spectrum is described by a power-law index of 3.00^0.09, and the absolute di †erential intensity at 10 GeV is 0.199^0.015 m~2 s~1 sr~1 GeV~1. The overall shape of the energy spectrum in 10 D 100 GeV can be explained by a di †usion model, in which we assume an energy-dependent di †usion coefficient (PE0.3) for an injection spectrum, E~2.4.

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Cosmic-ray positrons from 10 to 20 GeV - A balloon-borne measurement using the geomagnetic east-west asymmetry

Cited by 106 publications

References 0 publications

Cosmic-ray positrons from mature gamma-ray pulsars

Cosmic-ray positrons from mature gamma-ray pulsars

Constraints on cosmic-ray positron excess and average pulsar parameters

The Energy Spectrum of Cosmic‐Ray Electrons from 10 to 100 GeV Observed with a Highly Granulated Imaging Calorimeter

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