Gamma-Ray Pulsars: Modeling and Searches

Using a likelihood analysis (updated since McLaughlin & Cordes 2000) and EGRET detections, upper limits and diffuse background measurements, we find a best-fit luminosity law for the gamma-ray pulsar population. We find that roughly 30 of the 170 unidentified EGRET sources are likely to be pulsars. This is roughly twice the number of known radio pulsars which are plausibly associated with unidentified EGRET sources. We predict that AGILE will detect roughly 70 pulsars as point sources, including 12 which will be able to be detected in blind periodicity searches. GLAST should detect roughly 1200 pulsars (including only 200 currently known radio pulsars), 210 of which will be able to be detected in blind searches. We discuss methods of searching for pulsars in gamma-ray data and present results from our searches for gamma-ray periodicities from new radio pulsars associated with unidentified EGRET sources.