2006A&A...451L..51H

The recently discovered extended very high energy gamma-ray (E>0.1 TeV=10¹¹ eV) emission from at least three pulsar wind nebula systems (MSH 15-52, G18.0-07, and Vela X) could be hinting at a possibly new class of objects which is called in the following ``TeV plerions''. In some of these systems, particle acceleration could be driven by ions in the relativistic pulsar wind. These ions are expected to produce gamma-ray emission via inelastic scattering with the ambient medium. The gamma-ray emission from the Vela TeV plerion associated with the pulsar PSR B0833-45 is investigated We calculate the gamma-ray emission in the framework of nucleonic gamma-ray production including the synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from primary and secondary electrons and compare the model with observational data. The spectra calculated in this model give a very good description of the gamma-ray data. The required energy in nuclei is W_p=1.3x10⁴⁹(n/0.6/cm3)^–1 erg for protons and W_Fe≃10⁴⁸erg for iron nuclei released in the pulsar wind. The secondary electrons produce optical to soft X-ray emission at the level of ≃10³²erg/s. We give a prediction for the ν_µ and ν_e neutrino emission including a simple parameterization of the ν_µ flux useful for calculating detection rates in next generation neutrino telescopes. The observed gamma-ray emission can be produced by a pulsar wind which carries a large fraction of the spin down luminosity in the form of relativistic nuclei. We predict the neutrino flux as a unique signature for this model. Based upon this prediction, the Vela TeV plerion would be one of the best known candidates for detection with next generation neutrino telescopes.