7–11 Jul 2025
Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC)
Europe/London timezone

Constraining the MSP population in the Milky Way Centre using gamma-rays and neutrinos

8 Jul 2025, 14:41
12m
TLC116

TLC116

Talk Physical effects and multi-messenger signatures of energetic particles in galactic environments Physical effects and multi-messenger signatures of energetic particles in galactic environments

Speaker

Paul Chong Wa Lai (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London)

Description

The Galactic Centre is a complex environment. It hosts many compact objects and the most massive clouds of molecular gas in our Galaxy. Neutral and charged pions are produced when cosmic rays from energetic sources collide with particles inside the molecular clouds. When the pions decay, the clouds glow in gamma-rays and neutrinos. Gamma-rays could be from other sources, but neutrinos are almost exclusively produced in hadronic interactions and are unabsorbed in propagations. They are thus unambiguous markers of hadronic processes. Observing these neutrinos will allow us to answer some of the mysteries about the Galactic Centre. One unresolved puzzle is the origin of PeV cosmic rays, and millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are considered one of the candidates. In light of the development of the next generation of telescopes, such as KM3NeT, Baikal-GVD, and P-ONE, neutrinos will become a new tool for the study of the above problems. In this talk, we demonstrate how we can use neutrino and gamma-ray observations to constrain the properties of Galactic Centre millisecond pulsars.

Author

Paul Chong Wa Lai (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London)

Co-authors

Beatrice Crudele (UCL) Ellis Owen (RIKEN) Hayden Ping Hei Ng (ECAP/UCL) Kinwah Wu (UCL/MSSL) Matteo Agostini (UCL)

Presentation materials

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