Ultra-high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission associated with the tail of a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection of ultra-high-energy gamma-ray emission near a pulsar, likely originating from re-accelerated particles in the bow-shock tail, revealing new insights into pulsar wind nebulae at extreme energies.

Contribution

It presents the first association of UHE gamma-ray emission with a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula, suggesting a novel origin mechanism involving re-accelerated particles in the tail.

Findings

Detection of gamma-ray source up to 300 TeV with high significance.

Gamma-ray emission offset from pulsar and aligned with X-ray tail.

Spectral fit indicates a log-parabola shape with specific parameters.

Abstract

In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of an unidentified point-like ultra-high-energy (UHE) $\gamma$-ray source, designated as 1LHAASO J1740+0948u, situated in the vicinity of the middle-aged pulsar PSR J1740+1000. The detection significance reached 17.1$\sigma$ (9.4$\sigma$) above 25$\,$TeV (100$\,$TeV). The source energy spectrum extended up to 300$\,$TeV, which was well fitted by a log-parabola function with $N0 = (1.93\pm0.23) \times 10^{-16} \rm{TeV^{-1}\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-2}}$, $\alpha = 2.14\pm0.27$, and $\beta = 1.20\pm0.41$ at E0 = 30$\,$TeV. The associated pulsar, PSR J1740+1000, resides at a high galactic latitude and powers a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula (BSPWN) with an extended X-ray tail. The best-fit position of the gamma-ray source appeared to be shifted by $0.2^{\circ}$ with respect to the pulsar position. As the (i) currently identified pulsar halos do not demonstrate such offsets, and (ii) centroid of the gamma-ray emission is approximately located at the extension of the X-ray tail, we speculate that the UHE $\gamma$-ray emission may originate from re-accelerated electron/positron pairs that are advected away in the bow-shock tail.