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Sheng-Hao Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Sheng-Hao Wang.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Slow diffusion is necessary to explain the gamma-ray pulsar halos

It was suggested that the $γ$-ray halo around Geminga might not be interpreted by slow-diffusion. If the ballistic regime of electron/positron propagation is considered, the Geminga halo may be explained even with a large diffusion coefficient. In this work, we examine this effect by taking the generalized Jüttner propagator as the approximate relativistic Green's function for diffusion and find that the morphology of the Geminga halo can be marginally fitted in the fast-diffusion scenario. However, the recently discovered $γ$-ray halo around PSR J0622$+$3749 at LHAASO cannot be explained by the same effect and slow diffusion is the only solution. Furthermore, both the two pulsar halos require a conversion efficiency from the pulsar spin-down energy to the high energy electrons/positrons much larger than 100\%, if they are interpreted by this ballistic transport effect. Therefore, we conclude that slow diffusion is necessary to account for the $γ$-ray halos around pulsars.

astro-ph.HE

Test of the superdiffusion model in the interstellar medium around the Geminga pulsar

The TeV $γ$-ray halo around the Geminga pulsar is an important indicator of cosmic-ray (CR) propagation in the local zone of the Galaxy as it reveals the spatial distribution of the electrons and positrons escaping from the pulsar. Considering the intricate magnetic field in the interstellar medium (ISM), it is proposed that superdiffusion model could be more realistic to describe the CR propagation than the commonly used normal diffusion model. In this work, we test the superdiffusion model in the ISM around the Geminga pulsar by fitting to the surface brightness profile of the Geminga halo measured by HAWC. Our results show that the chi-square statistic monotonously increases as $α$ decreases from 2 to 1, where $α$ is the characteristic index of superdiffusion describing the degree of fractality of the ISM and $α=2$ corresponds to the normal diffusion model. We find that model with $α<1.32$ (or $<1.4$, depending on the data used in fit) is disfavored at 95\% confidence level. Superdiffusion model with $α$ close to 2 can well explain the morphology of the Geminga halo, while it predicts much higher positron flux on the Earth than the normal diffusion model. This has important implication for the interpretation of the CR positron excess.

astro-ph.HE