HAWC Study of Very-High-Energy $\gamma$-ray Spectrum of HAWC J1844-034

TL;DR

This study analyzes 1,910 days of HAWC data to identify and characterize very-high-energy gamma-ray sources in the region around eHWC J1842-035, revealing an extended source up to 175 TeV and potential counterparts.

Contribution

It provides a systematic search for gamma-ray sources in the region, identifying HAWC J1844-034 as an extended source and associating it with other known VHE sources, along with multi-wavelength spectral analysis.

Findings

Identified HAWC J1844-034 as an extended source emitting up to 175 TeV.

Matched HAWC J1844-034 with sources HESS J1843-033, LHAASO J1843-0338, TASG J1844-038.

Proposed PSR J1844-0346 and SNR G28.6-0.1 as potential counterparts.

Abstract

Recently, the region surrounding eHWC J1842-035 has been studied extensively by gamma-ray observatories due to its extended emission reaching up to a few hundred TeV and potential as a hadronic accelerator. In this work, we use 1,910 days of cumulative data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory to carry out a dedicated systematic source search of the eHWC J1842-035 region. During the search we have found three sources in the region, namely, HAWC J1844-034, HAWC J1843-032, and HAWC J1846-025. We have identified HAWC J1844-034 as the extended source that emits photons with energies up to 175 TeV. We compute the spectrum for HAWC J1844-034 and by comparing with the observational results from other experiments, we have identified HESS J1843-033, LHAASO J1843-0338, and TASG J1844-038 as very-high-energy gamma-ray sources with a matching origin. Also, we present and use the multi-wavelength data to fit the hadronic and leptonic particle spectra. We have identified four pulsar candidates in the nearby region from which PSR J1844-0346 is found to be the most likely candidate due to its proximity to HAWC J1844-034 and the computed energy budget. We have also found SNR G28.6-0.1 as a potential counterpart source of HAWC J1844-034 for which both leptonic and hadronic scenarios are feasible.