Mirage Sources and Large TeV Halo-Pulsar Offsets: Exploring the Parameter Space

TL;DR

This paper uses GPU simulations to study how 100 TeV electrons propagate asymmetrically in turbulent magnetic fields around pulsars, revealing 'mirage' sources and offsets that challenge traditional diffusion models, and explaining recent high-energy observations.

Contribution

It introduces a GPU-accelerated simulation approach to explore asymmetric electron propagation and identifies 'mirage' sources, providing new insights into pulsar-related high-energy phenomena.

Findings

Identification of 'mirage' sources indicating significant offsets

Dependence of source offsets on magnetic field and source parameters

Explanation of recent LHAASO high-energy source observations

Abstract

We investigate the asymmetric propagation of 100 TeV electrons (whose radiation mainly concentrates on 20--30 TeV) in turbulent magnetic fields around pulsars, using GPU-accelerated simulations to explore their trajectories and interactions within pulsar wind nebulae and the interstellar medium. Key results include the identification of ``mirage'' sources indicating significant offsets in high-energy emissions from their originating pulsars, challenging the results of traditional symmetric diffusion models. By varying parameters like source distance, magnetic field strength, and electron injection spectral index, the study delineates their effects on observable phenomena such as the probability that a source has at least one mirage around it, as well as the source separation. Our results offer insights into some puzzling sources observed recently by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), and shed light on the cosmic-ray transport mechanism in the interstellar medium.