Multiwavelength Properties of Gamma-ray Emitting Binaries
M. Virginia McSwain
Lehigh University


There are a small but growing number of high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) that also exhibit gamma-ray emission at MeV-TeV energies. All of these "gamma-ray binaries" exhibit variable emission across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to TeV energies, that is modulated with the binary orbital period. The optical stellar companions in these gamma-ray binaries fall into a range of spectral classes: Wolf-Rayet, O main sequence, B supergiant, and Be. I will review the observed multiwavelength properties of two well-studied systems, LS I +61 303 and PSR B1259-63. Their high energy emission is probably powered by the collision of stellar wind or disk outflows with relativistic pulsar winds in a shock region. These sources present a unique opportunity to study particle acceleration in nearby, Galactic sources.

Date: Thursday, 10 October 2013
Time: 11:30
Where: Université de Montréal
  Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, local D-460
Contact: Noel Richardson