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Originally published in Science Express on 2 July 2009
Science 14 August 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5942, pp. 848 - 852
DOI: 10.1126/science.1176113
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Reports

A Population of Gamma-Ray Millisecond Pulsars Seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

A. A. Abdo,1,* M. Ackermann,2 M. Ajello,2 W. B. Atwood,3 M. Axelsson,4,5 L. Baldini,6 J. Ballet,7 G. Barbiellini,8,9 M. G. Baring,10 D. Bastieri,11,12 B. M. Baughman,13 K. Bechtol,2 R. Bellazzini,6 B. Berenji,2 G. F. Bignami,14 R. D. Blandford,2 E. D. Bloom,2 E. Bonamente,15,16 A. W. Borgland,2 J. Bregeon,6 A. Brez,6 M. Brigida,17,18 P. Bruel,19 T. H. Burnett,20 G. A. Caliandro,17,18 R. A. Cameron,2 F. Camilo,21 P. A. Caraveo,22 P. Carlson,4,23 J. M. Casandjian,7 C. Cecchi,15,16 Ö. Çelik,24 E. Charles,2 A. Chekhtman,1,25 C. C. Cheung,24 J. Chiang,2 S. Ciprini,15,16 R. Claus,2 I. Cognard,26 J. Cohen-Tanugi,27 L. R. Cominsky,28 J. Conrad,4,23,29,{dagger} R. Corbet,24,30 S. Cutini,31 C. D. Dermer,1 G. Desvignes,26 A. de Angelis,32 A. de Luca,14 F. de Palma,17,18 S. W. Digel,2 M. Dormody,3 E. do Couto e Silva,2 P. S. Drell,2 R. Dubois,2 D. Dumora,33,34 Y. Edmonds,2 C. Farnier,27 C. Favuzzi,17,18 S. J. Fegan,19 W. B. Focke,2 M. Frailis,32 P. C. C. Freire,35 Y. Fukazawa,36 S. Funk,2 P. Fusco,17,18 F. Gargano,18 D. Gasparrini,31 N. Gehrels,24,37 S. Germani,15,16 B. Giebels,19 N. Giglietto,17,18 F. Giordano,17,18 T. Glanzman,2 G. Godfrey,2 I. A. Grenier,7 M. H. Grondin,33,34 J. E. Grove,1 L. Guillemot,33,34,{ddagger} S. Guiriec,38 Y. Hanabata,36 A. K. Harding,24 M. Hayashida,2 E. Hays,24 G. Hobbs,39 R. E. Hughes,13 G. Jóhannesson,2 A. S. Johnson,2 R. P. Johnson,3 T. J. Johnson,24,37,{ddagger} W. N. Johnson,1 S. Johnston,39 T. Kamae,2 H. Katagiri,36 J. Kataoka,40 N. Kawai,41,42 M. Kerr,20,{ddagger} J. Knödlseder,43 M. L. Kocian,2 M. Kramer,44 M. Kuss,6 J. Lande,2 L. Latronico,6 M. Lemoine-Goumard,33,34 F. Longo,8,9 F. Loparco,17,18 B. Lott,33,34 M. N. Lovellette,1 P. Lubrano,15,16 G. M. Madejski,2 A. Makeev,1,25 R. N. Manchester,39 M. Marelli,22 M. N. Mazziotta,18 W. McConville,24,37 J. E. McEnery,24 M. A. McLaughlin,45 C. Meurer,4,29 P. F. Michelson,2 W. Mitthumsiri,2 T. Mizuno,36 A. A. Moiseev,37,46 C. Monte,17,18 M. E. Monzani,2 A. Morselli,47 I. V. Moskalenko,2 S. Murgia,2 P. L. Nolan,2 J. P. Norris,48 E. Nuss,27 T. Ohsugi,36 N. Omodei,6 E. Orlando,49 J. F. Ormes,48 D. Paneque,2 J. H. Panetta,2 D. Parent,33,34 V. Pelassa,27 M. Pepe,15,16 M. Pesce-Rollins,6 F. Piron,27 T. A. Porter,3 S. Rainò,17,18 R. Rando,11,12 S. M. Ransom,50 P. S. Ray,1 M. Razzano,6 N. Rea,51,52 A. Reimer,2,53 O. Reimer,2,53 T. Reposeur,33,34 S. Ritz,24 L. S. Rochester,2 A. Y. Rodriguez,52 R. W. Romani,2 M. Roth,20 F. Ryde,4,23 H. F. W. Sadrozinski,3 D. Sanchez,19 A. Sander,13 P. M. Saz Parkinson,3 J. D. Scargle,54 T. L. Schalk,3 C. Sgrò,6 E. J. Siskind,55 D. A. Smith,33,34,{ddagger} P. D. Smith,13 G. Spandre,6 P. Spinelli,17,18 B. W. Stappers,44 J. L. Starck,7 E. Striani,47,56 M. S. Strickman,1 D. J. Suson,57 H. Tajima,2 H. Takahashi,36 T. Tanaka,2 J. B. Thayer,2 J. G. Thayer,2 G. Theureau,26 D. J. Thompson,24 S. E. Thorsett,3 L. Tibaldo,11,12 D. F. Torres,52,58 G. Tosti,15,16 A. Tramacere,2,59 Y. Uchiyama,2 T. L. Usher,2 A. Van Etten,2 V. Vasileiou,30,46 C. Venter,24,60 N. Vilchez,43 V. Vitale,47,56 A. P. Waite,2 E. Wallace,20 P. Wang,2 K. Watters,2 N. Webb,43 P. Weltevrede,39 B. L. Winer,13 K. S. Wood,1 T. Ylinen,4,23,61 M. Ziegler3

Pulsars are born with subsecond spin periods and slow by electromagnetic braking for several tens of millions of years, when detectable radiation ceases. A second life can occur for neutron stars in binary systems. They can acquire mass and angular momentum from their companions, to be spun up to millisecond periods and begin radiating again. We searched Fermi Large Area Telescope data for pulsations from all known millisecond pulsars (MSPs) outside of globular clusters, using rotation parameters from radio telescopes. Strong gamma-ray pulsations were detected for eight MSPs. The gamma-ray pulse profiles and spectral properties resemble those of young gamma-ray pulsars. The basic emission mechanism seems to be the same for MSPs and young pulsars, with the emission originating in regions far from the neutron star surface.

1 Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
2 W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
3 Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
4 Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmo Particle Physics, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
5 Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
6 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy.
7 Laboratoire AIM, CEA/IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d’Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
8 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
9 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste, Italy.
10 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX 77251, USA.
11 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
12 Dipartimento di Fisica "G. Galilei," Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
13 Department of Physics, Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
14 Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.
15 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
16 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
17 Dipartimento di Fisica "M. Merlin" dell’Università e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy.
18 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, I-70126 Bari, Italy.
19 Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, École Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau, France.
20 Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
21 Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
22 INAF–Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
23 Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
24 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
25 George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
26 Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement, UMR 6115 CNRS, F45071 Orléans Cedex 02, and Station de Radioastronomie de Nançay, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS/INSU, F18330 Nançay, France.
27 Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS/IN2P3, Montpellier, France.
28 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA.
29 Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
30 University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
31 Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, I-00044 Frascati (Roma), Italy.
32 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Udine and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, Gruppo Collegato di Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy.
33 CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d’Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, 33175 Gradignan, France.
34 Université de Bordeaux, Centre d’Études Nucléaires Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, 33175 Gradignan, France.
35 Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, PR 00612, USA.
36 Department of Physical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
37 University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
38 University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA.
39 Australia Telescope National Facility, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Epping, NSW 1710, Australia.
40 Waseda University, 1104 Totsukamachi, Shinjukuku, Tokyo 1698050, Japan.
41 Cosmic Radiation Laboratory, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako, Saitama 3510198, Japan.
42 Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
43 Centre d’Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS/UPS, BP 44346, F-30128 Toulouse Cedex 4, France.
44 Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
45 Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
46 Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
47 Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma "Tor Vergata," I-00133 Roma, Italy.
48 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208, USA.
49 Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, 85748 Garching, Germany.
50 National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
51 Sterrenkundig Institut "Anton Pannekoek," 1098 SJ Amsterdam, Netherlands.
52 Institut de Ciencies de l’Espai (IEECCSIC), Campus UAB, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
53 Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, A6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
54 Space Sciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
55 NYCB RealTime Computing Inc., Lattingtown, NY 11560, USA.
56 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata," I-00133 Roma, Italy.
57 Department of Chemistry and Physics, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN 46323, USA.
58 Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain.
59 Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Fisica Spaziale, I-10133 Torino, Italy.
60 Unit for Space Physics, NorthWest University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
61 School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences, University of Kalmar, SE-391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.

* National Research Council Research Associate.

{dagger} Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Research Fellow, funded by a grant from the K. A. Wallenberg Foundation.

{ddagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: guillemo{at}cenbg.in2p3.fr (L.G.); tyrel.j.johnson{at}nasa.gov (T.J.J.); kerrm{at}u.washington.edu (M.K.); smith{at}cenbg.in2p3.fr (D.A.S.)

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