Exploring the possible gluon condensation signature in gamma-ray emission from pulsars

Abstract

The very high energy gamma-ray emissions from pulsars are usually considered to be dominated by leptonic scenario since the hadronic flux is weak. We point out that the gluon condensation predicted by a nonlinear QCD evolution equation may greatly enhance the cross sections of proton-target interactions and give rise to a characteristic broken power law in the gamma-ray spectra. The result is used to explore the gluon condensation signature in the observed gamma-ray spectra from pulsars.

Comments: 24 pages, 14 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in JCAP