Slow Diffusion is Necessary to Explain the γ-Ray Pulsar Halos

Abstract

It was suggested that the γ-ray halo around Geminga might not be interpreted by slow diffusion. If the ballistic regime of electron/positron propagation is considered, the Geminga halo may be explained even with a large diffusion coefficient. In this work, we examine this effect by taking the generalized Jüttner propagator as the approximate relativistic Green’s function for diffusion and find that the morphology of the Geminga halo can be marginally fitted in the fast-diffusion scenario. However, the recently discovered γ-ray halo around PSR J0622+3749 at the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory cannot be explained by the same effect and slow diffusion is the only solution. Furthermore, both the two pulsar halos require a conversion efficiency from the pulsar spin-down energy to the high-energy electrons/positrons much larger than 100%, if they are interpreted by this ballistic transport effect. Therefore, we conclude that slow diffusion is necessary to account for the γ-ray halos around pulsars.