How Fermi discovered the first Geminga-like pulsars
How Fermi discovered the first Geminga-like pulsars
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Original abstract
A number of questions plagued both the γ-ray and pulsar fields in the years preceding the launch of Fermi. One of these was whether Geminga, the first known radio-quiet pulsar, was simply an outlier in the general pulsar population, or rather the tip of a much larger iceberg; the harbinger of a large population of radio-quiet pulsars. More generally, the nature of the EGRET unidentified γ-ray sources was a lingering mystery. Could many of them be Geminga-like pulsars? If so, what would this imply about the pulsar high-energy emission mechanism? The discovery, in the first year of the Fermi mission, of a large population of radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars, simultaneously answered many of these questions. I summarize the developments leading up to the momentous discovery and discuss the many elements that made it possible. I end with a discussion of recent developments in the area of “blind searches" for γ-ray pulsars, and some thoughts on future prospects.