Pulsars as the Source of the WMAP Haze

TL;DR

This paper proposes that synchrotron emission from electron-positron pairs produced by pulsars can explain the WMAP haze's spectrum and spatial distribution, linking it to other cosmic ray excesses.

Contribution

It demonstrates that pulsar-generated electron-positron pairs can account for the WMAP haze's spectral and spatial features, offering a new astrophysical explanation.

Findings

Pulsar electron-positron pairs match the haze spectrum.

Haze spatial distribution aligns with pulsar emission models.

Potential connection to cosmic ray excesses in AMS, HEAT, and PAMELA.

Abstract

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.