On the confinement of electron-positrons in gamma-ray halos around pulsars: kinetic simulations
A. Marcowith*,
I. Plotnikov,
A.J. van Marle,
C. Guépin and
P. Martin*: corresponding author
Pre-published on:
September 23, 2025
Published on:
December 30, 2025
Abstract
The HAWC collaboration has recently uncovered a new class of gamma-ray source around evolved pulsars: the gamma-ray halos. The origin of these halos is still uncertain and debated. In this study, we conduct 1D particle-in-cell (PIC) and particle-in-cell-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a hot super-Alfvénic electron-positron (e-e+) beam pervading a cold electron-proton (e-p+) background. We investigate the growth and the saturation of the resonant streaming instability triggered by the e-e+ beam. We confirm quasi-linear growth rates and a saturated amplitude of waves to be consistent with a momentum exchange criterion between the decelerating beam and growing magnetic waves. We discuss how these results transpose to the case of e-e+ confinement around evolved pulsars. We explicitly discuss the case of Geminga.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0079
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