Probing orbital parameters of gamma-ray binaries with TeV light curves

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to determine the orbital parameters of gamma-ray binaries by analyzing TeV light curves affected by gamma-gamma absorption, enhancing understanding of these energetic systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to infer orbital parameters from TeV light curves, leveraging gamma-gamma absorption features.

Findings

Method successfully identifies orbital parameters from simulated light curves.

Gamma-gamma absorption features vary with orbital phase and system geometry.

Potential to improve characterization of gamma-ray binaries using TeV observations.

Abstract

Gamma-ray binaries are binary systems where the energy flux peaks in the gamma-ray energy band. They harbour a compact object (a neutron star or a black hole) orbiting around a massive star that provides a strong radiation field. It is believed that the gamma-ray emission from such objects can be strongly attenuated through the electron-positron pair production in gamma-gamma interactions. The importance of gamma-gamma absorption depends on the orbital phase and on the geometry of the system. In this work we propose a method of how the orbital parameters of gamma-ray binaries could be probed with TeV light curves that have imprinted features of gamma-gamma absorption.