SECONDARY EMISSION BEHIND THE RADIO OUTFLOWS IN GAMMA-RAY BINARIES

Abstract

Several binary systems consisting of a massive star and a compact object have been detected above 100 GeV in the Galaxy. In most of these sources, gamma-rays show a modulation associated to the orbital motion, which means that the emitter should not be too far from the bright primary star. This implies that gamma-ray absorption will be non-negligible, and large amounts of secondary electron–positron pairs will be created in the stellar surroundings. In this work, we show that the radio emission from these pairs should be accounted for when interpreting the radio spectrum, variability, and morphology found in gamma-ray binaries. Relevant features of the secondary radio emission are the relatively hard spectrum, the orbital motion of the radio peak center and the radio structure extension following a spiral-like trajectory. The impact of the stellar wind free–free absorption should not be neglected.