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  • Observation of Pulsed [gamm...
    Aliu, E; Biland, A; Oya, I; de Ona Wilhelmi, E

    Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 11/2008, Letnik: 322, Številka: 5905
    Journal Article

    One fundamental question about pulsars concerns the mechanism of their pulsed electromagnetic emission. Measuring the high-end region of a pulsar's spectrum would shed light on this question. By developing a new electronic trigger, we lowered the threshold of the Major Atmospheric gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope to 25 giga-electron volts. In this configuration, we detected pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar that were greater than 25 giga-electron volts, revealing a relatively high cutoff energy in the phase-averaged spectrum. This indicates that the emission occurs far out in the magnetosphere, hence excluding the polar-cap scenario as a possible explanation of our measurement. The high cutoff energy also challenges the slot-gap scenario. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT