Speaker
Description
Cosmic-ray positrons are charged antiparticles that strike Earth’s atmosphere isotropically. At energies below several GeV they are produced by cosmic-ray protons interacting with nearby interstellar matter. At higher energies, an unexpected and unexplained excess above the proton-induced background has been detected by several satellites, including PAMELA, AMS-02 and Fermi. Due to energy losses in interstellar magnetic and radiation fields, the highest-energy positrons observed must have originated in our immediate Galactic neighborhood. This excess has been theorized to be originated from nearby astrophysical sources, dark matter, or new modes of cosmic-ray secondary production. Amongst the astrophysical sources, pulsars as Geminga and PSR B0656+14 have been proposed to be contributors to this excess. The HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory reported the discovery of TeV gamma-ray emission extending several degrees around the positions of Geminga and PSR B0656+14 pulsars. Using the morphological and spectral measurements of these two VHE gamma-ray sources, we determine the diffusion coefficient of electrons escaping them and their contribution to the positron flux measured at Earth. For this assumption of isotropic diffusion, we find that neither of these sources make an appreciable contribution to the locally measured positron flux.
