Increased Support for a New Millisecond Pulsar Population in the Galactic Bulge

Abstract

Almost a decade after its discovery, the Galactic center gamma-ray excess remains puzzling. Although the spectral characteristics of this signal can be explained by either dark matter emission or a new population of millisecond pulsars, the spatial morphology of the excess is the key to separating the two theories. This contribution presents the results of a recent study that uses cutting-edge models for interstellar gas, inverse Compton emission, and stellar mass models to reanalyze the Galactic center excess. A strong correlation is observed between the Fermi GeV excess's spatial morphology and the Galactic bulge stars, supporting the millisecond pulsar hypothesis.