Observations of Energetic High Magnetic Field Pulsars with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection of gamma-ray pulsations from the high-magnetic-field pulsar PSR J1119-6127 with Fermi LAT, analyzing its emission characteristics and comparing it to other high-B pulsars, providing insights into pulsar emission models.

Contribution

First detection of gamma-ray pulsations from PSR J1119-6127 with detailed spectral analysis and emission modeling, along with upper limits for other high-B pulsars.

Findings

Gamma-ray pulsations detected from PSR J1119-6127.

Spectral analysis indicates a power law with an energy cutoff at 0.8 GeV.

High magnetic field does not significantly alter gamma-ray emission zones.

Abstract

We report the detection of gamma-ray pulsations from the high-magnetic-field rotation-powered pulsar PSR J1119-6127 using data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. The gamma-ray light curve of PSR J1119-6127 shows a single, wide peak offset from the radio peak by 0.43 pm 0.02 in phase. Spectral analysis suggests a power law of index 1.0 pm 0.3 with an energy cut-off at 0.8 pm 0.2 GeV. The first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. We discuss the emission models of PSR J1119-6127 and demonstrate that despite the object's high surface magnetic field---near that of magnetars---the field strength and structure in the gamma-ray emitting zone are apparently similar to those of typical young pulsars. Additionally, we present upper limits on the \gam-ray pulsed emission for the magnetically active PSR J1846-0258 in the supernova remnant Kesteven 75 and two other energetic high-B pulsars, PSRs J1718-3718 and J1734-3333. We explore possible explanations for the non-detection of these three objects, including peculiarities in their emission geometry.