Gamma-ray binaries are massive stars with compact object companions that are observed to emit most of their energy in the gamma-ray range .
One of these binaries is known to contain a radio pulsar , PSR B1259-63 .
Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from particles accelerated beyond the light cylinder in striped pulsar winds has been proposed to explain the X-ray to high energy ( HE , > 100 MeV ) gamma-ray emission from isolated pulsars .
This pulsar model extends naturally to binary environments , where seed photons for inverse Compton scattering are provided by the companion star .
Here , we investigate the possibility of gamma-ray emission from PSR B1259-63 in the framework of the striped pulsar wind model .
The orbital geometry of PSR B1259-63 is well constrained by observations and the double radio pulse suggests an almost orthogonal rotator so that the solid angle covered by the striped region is close to 4 \pi .
We calculate the orbital and rotational phase-resolved spectral variability and light-curves to expect .
We find that the recent detection by the Fermi /LAT of PSR B1259-63 close to periastron can be explained by a striped wind if the emission arises from a large range of radii ( \geq 1000 r _ { L } ) .
We constrain the particle density number at the light-cylinder n _ { L } \approx 7 \times 10 ^ { 15 } \textrm { m } ^ { -3 } .
The re-brightening a month after periastron passage could be due to interaction with additional seed photons from the trailing pulsar wind nebula .
Striped winds may also be at work in the gamma-ray binaries LS I +61 \degr 303 and LS 5039 , both of which have HE gamma-ray spectra reminiscent of those of pulsars and fluxes modulated on the orbital period .
Gamma-ray pulsations are expected .
Some gamma-ray binaries should be faint in HE gamma rays ( HESS J0632+057 ) because the line-of-sight does not cross the striped wind region .