1
|
Abeysekara AU, Albert A, Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Álvarez JD, Arceo R, Arteaga-Velázquez JC, Avila Rojas D, Ayala Solares HA, Barber AS, Bautista-Elivar N, Becerril A, Belmont-Moreno E, BenZvi SY, Berley D, Bernal A, Braun J, Brisbois C, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistrán T, Carramiñana A, Casanova S, Castillo M, Cotti U, Cotzomi J, Coutiño de León S, De León C, De la Fuente E, Dingus BL, DuVernois MA, Díaz-Vélez JC, Ellsworth RW, Engel K, Enríquez-Rivera O, Fiorino DW, Fraija N, García-González JA, Garfias F, Gerhardt M, González Muñoz A, González MM, Goodman JA, Hampel-Arias Z, Harding JP, Hernández S, Hernández-Almada A, Hinton J, Hona B, Hui CM, Hüntemeyer P, Iriarte A, Jardin-Blicq A, Joshi V, Kaufmann S, Kieda D, Lara A, Lauer RJ, Lee WH, Lennarz D, Vargas HL, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis Raya G, Luna-García R, López-Coto R, Malone K, Marinelli SS, Martinez O, Martinez-Castellanos I, Martínez-Castro J, Martínez-Huerta H, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Moreno E, Mostafá M, Nellen L, Newbold M, Nisa MU, Noriega-Papaqui R, Pelayo R, Pretz J, Pérez-Pérez EG, Ren Z, Rho CD, Rivière C, Rosa-González D, Rosenberg M, Ruiz-Velasco E, Salazar H, Salesa Greus F, Sandoval A, Schneider M, Schoorlemmer H, Sinnis G, Smith AJ, Springer RW, Surajbali P, Taboada I, Tibolla O, Tollefson K, Torres I, Ukwatta TN, Vianello G, Weisgarber T, Westerhoff S, Wisher IG, Wood J, Yapici T, Yodh G, Younk PW, Zepeda A, Zhou H, Guo F, Hahn J, Li H, Zhang H. Extended gamma-ray sources around pulsars constrain the origin of the positron flux at Earth. Science 2018; 358:911-914. [PMID: 29146808 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan4880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A U Abeysekara
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - A Albert
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - R Alfaro
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - C Alvarez
- Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
| | - J D Álvarez
- Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Mexico
| | - R Arceo
- Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
| | | | - D Avila Rojas
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - H A Ayala Solares
- Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - A S Barber
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | | | - A Becerril
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - E Belmont-Moreno
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - S Y BenZvi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - D Berley
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - A Bernal
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J Braun
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - C Brisbois
- Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | | | - T Capistrán
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - A Carramiñana
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - S Casanova
- Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland.,Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Castillo
- Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Mexico
| | - U Cotti
- Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Mexico
| | - J Cotzomi
- Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | - S Coutiño de León
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - C De León
- Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | - E De la Fuente
- Departamento de Física, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | - B L Dingus
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - M A DuVernois
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - J C Díaz-Vélez
- Departamento de Física, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | - R W Ellsworth
- School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - K Engel
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - O Enríquez-Rivera
- Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - D W Fiorino
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - N Fraija
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J A García-González
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - F Garfias
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - M Gerhardt
- Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - A González Muñoz
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - M M González
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J A Goodman
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Z Hampel-Arias
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - J P Harding
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - S Hernández
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - A Hernández-Almada
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J Hinton
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - B Hona
- Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - C M Hui
- Astrophysics Office, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, USA
| | - P Hüntemeyer
- Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - A Iriarte
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - A Jardin-Blicq
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - V Joshi
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - S Kaufmann
- Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
| | - D Kieda
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - A Lara
- Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - R J Lauer
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - W H Lee
- Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - D Lennarz
- School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - H León Vargas
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J T Linnemann
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - A L Longinotti
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - G Luis Raya
- Universidad Politecnica de Pachuca, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico
| | - R Luna-García
- Centro de Investigación en Computación, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - R López-Coto
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - K Malone
- Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - S S Marinelli
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - O Martinez
- Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | | | - J Martínez-Castro
- Centro de Investigación en Computación, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - H Martínez-Huerta
- Physics Department, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J A Matthews
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - E Moreno
- Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | - M Mostafá
- Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - L Nellen
- Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - M Newbold
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - M U Nisa
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | | | - R Pelayo
- Centro de Investigación en Computación, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - J Pretz
- Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - E G Pérez-Pérez
- Universidad Politecnica de Pachuca, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico
| | - Z Ren
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - C D Rho
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - C Rivière
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - D Rosa-González
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - M Rosenberg
- Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - E Ruiz-Velasco
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - H Salazar
- Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | - F Salesa Greus
- Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland.
| | - A Sandoval
- Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - M Schneider
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - H Schoorlemmer
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - G Sinnis
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - A J Smith
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - R W Springer
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - P Surajbali
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - I Taboada
- School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - O Tibolla
- Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
| | - K Tollefson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - I Torres
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Puebla, Mexico
| | - T N Ukwatta
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - G Vianello
- Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - T Weisgarber
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - S Westerhoff
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - I G Wisher
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - J Wood
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - T Yapici
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - G Yodh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - P W Younk
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - A Zepeda
- Physics Department, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Mexico City, Mexico.,Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
| | - H Zhou
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA.
| | - F Guo
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - J Hahn
- Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - H Li
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - H Zhang
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| |
Collapse
|