Pulsars as the Source of the WMAP Haze

The WMAP haze is an excess in the 22 to 93 GHz frequency bands of WMAP extending about 10 degrees from the galactic center. We show that synchrotron emission from electron-positron pairs injected into the interstellar medium by the galactic population of pulsars with energies in the 1 to 100 GeV ran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Kaplinghat, Manoj, Phalen, Daniel J, Zurek, Kathryn M
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 09.09.2009
Subjects
Electron-positron pairs
Frequencies
Frequency spectrum
Haze
High energy electrons
Interstellar matter
Mathematical morphology
Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Physics - High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Pulsars
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Summary:The WMAP haze is an excess in the 22 to 93 GHz frequency bands of WMAP extending about 10 degrees from the galactic center. We show that synchrotron emission from electron-positron pairs injected into the interstellar medium by the galactic population of pulsars with energies in the 1 to 100 GeV range can explain the frequency spectrum of the WMAP haze and the drop in the average haze power with latitude. The same spectrum of high energy electron-positron pairs from pulsars, which gives rise to the haze, may also generate the observed excesses in AMS, HEAT and PAMELA. We discuss the spatial morphology of the pulsar synchrotron signal and its deviation from spherical symmetry, which may provide an avenue to determine the pulsar contribution to the haze.
Bibliography:MCTP-09-12
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0905.0487