Date of Award

January 2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physics & Astrophysics

First Advisor

Wayne Barkhouse

Abstract

PSR J0537-6910 is a pulsar located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, within the supernova remnant N 157B. An energetic millisecond pulsar often likened to the Crab Nebula pulsar PSR B0531+21, PSR J0537-6910 is known for its high spin-down luminosity and prolific glitching. Its surrounding supernova remnant, N 157B, is an active pulsar wind nebula (PWN) in which the material of the supernova remnant is energized by the emission from PSR J0537-6910. In 2011 the Crab Nebula lit up in gamma rays, the bright flare presumably originating from the PWN and theorized to be caused by magnetic reconnection. This led to a question: do other similar PWN such as N 157B also experience flares? In this thesis I investigate the gamma-ray emission from N 157B, looking for evidence of gamma-ray flaring from this PWN. Although a month in October 2019 showed unusually high emission, further analysis on a weekly timescale showed no significant evidence of flaring activity.

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