In the very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray wave band, pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe)represent to date the most populous class of Galactic sources. Nevertheless,the details of the energy conversion mechanisms in the vicinity of pulsars arenot well understood, nor is it known which pulsars are able to drive PWNe andemit high-energy radiation. In this paper we present a systematic study of aconnection between pulsars and VHE gamma-ray sources based on a deep survey ofthe inner Galactic plane conducted with the High Energy Stereoscopic System(H.E.S.S.). We find clear evidence that pulsars with large spin-down energyflux are associated with VHE gamma-ray sources. This implies that these pulsarsemit on the order of 1% of their spin-down energy as TeV gamma-rays.
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