Gamma-rays from binary system with energetic pulsar and Be star with aspherical wind: PSR B1259-63/SS2883

TL;DR

This paper models gamma-ray production in the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS2883, accounting for wind asymmetry and anisotropic radiation, successfully explaining observed TeV gamma-ray light curves and spectra.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed leptonic inverse Compton model that incorporates the aspherical stellar wind and complex shock structure to explain gamma-ray observations.

Findings

The model reproduces the observed gamma-ray light curves.

Aspherical wind significantly affects gamma-ray spectra.

Gamma-ray absorption and cascades are crucial in the emission process.

Abstract

At least one massive binary system containing an energetic pulsar, PSR B1259-63/SS2883, has been recently detected in the TeV gamma-rays by the HESS telescopes. These gamma-rays are likely produced by particles accelerated in the vicinity of the pulsar and/or at the pulsar wind shock, in comptonization of soft radiation from the massive star. However, the process of gamma-ray production in such systems can be quite complicated due to the anisotropy of the radiation field, complex structure of the pulsar wind termination shock and possible absorption of produced gamma-rays which might initiate leptonic cascades. In this paper we consider in detail all these effects. We calculate the gamma-ray light curves and spectra for different geometries of the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS2883 and compare them with the TeV gamma-ray observations. We conclude that the leptonic IC model, which takes into account the complex structure of the pulsar wind shock due to the aspherical wind of the massive star, can explain the details of the observed gamma-ray light curve.