Resolving diffusion signatures in distant pulsar halos with current and future experiments

TL;DR

This study evaluates how upcoming gamma-ray experiments like LHAASO-KM2A and CTA can improve the identification of pulsar halos by analyzing their morphological features through simulations.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential of future gamma-ray observations to enhance pulsar halo detection via morphological discrimination techniques.

Findings

CTA's superior angular resolution improves morphological discrimination.

LHAASO-KM2A's large effective area increases sensitivity at high energies.

Future gamma-ray experiments can expand pulsar halo samples and insights.

Abstract

Pulsar halos provide a unique probe of cosmic-ray propagation in the vicinity of pulsars and have important implications for our understanding of particle diffusion in the interstellar medium. However, the number of firmly identified pulsar halos remains limited. One of the main challenges is the difficulty in unambiguously confirming halo candidates through precise morphological measurements with current $\gamma$-ray observations. In this work, we investigate the prospects for identifying pulsar halo candidates through morphological discrimination using simulations of two advanced $\gamma$-ray experiments: LHAASO-KM2A and the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Using mock observations with realistic instrumental responses, we assess the ability of each experiment to distinguish diffusion-based halo morphologies from alternative simplified spatial models. Our results show that both increased photon statistics and improved angular resolution significantly enhance the power of morphological discrimination. In particular, CTA benefits from its superior angular resolution, while LHAASO-KM2A gains sensitivity from its large effective area at the highest energies. These results indicate that future $\gamma$-ray observations have the potential to expand the sample of pulsar halos and provide further insights into cosmic-ray transport around pulsars.