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Gamma-ray pulsars: polar cap or outer gap emission?

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Abstract

The power law spectra of the six knownγ-ray pulsars are seen to cut off at energies < 1 TeV so that no steady pulsed TeV component is observed from any knownγ-ray pulsar. In some cases we show that the cutoff is steeper than exponential, which is consistent with magnetic pair production above the polar cap region. The small upper limits on the ratio of TeV energy flux to optical - GeV energy flux is again consistent with the polar cap model, but appears to be inconsistent with inverse Compton controlled outer gaps.

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Nel, H.I., De Jager, O.C. Gamma-ray pulsars: polar cap or outer gap emission?. Astrophys Space Sci 230, 299–306 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00658187

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