GLAST observations of pulsar wind nebulae
Résumé
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will soon provide a new perspective on gamma-ray emission mechanisms in PWNe. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) will have unprecedented sensitivity in the MeV-GeV energy range and the upper energy reach extends to 300 GeV, overlapping with ground-based gamma-ray telescopes. PWNe have become a common phenomenon at TeV energies and some of these are expected to be detectable by the LAT. The high-energy emission is generally attributed to inverse-Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background by electrons accelerated in the termination of the pulsar wind. The spectral maximum has been seen for several PWNe in the TeV band, but is expected to occur at lower frequencies for others. Cases where the combined GeV and TeV observations can detect or constrain the inverse-Compton peak are of particular interest for study of the injected particle spectrum and history. We will discuss expectations for the LAT based on the current observations of PWNe and explore the potential impact on the understanding of particle acceleration in these sources.