| 1. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation from Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with Six Years of Fermi Large Area Telescope Data
- 2015
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 115:23
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) of the Milky Way are some of the most dark matter (DM) dominated objects known. We report on gamma-ray observations of Milky Way dSphs based on six years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data processed with the new PASS8 event-level analysis. None of the dSphs are significantly detected in gamma rays, and we present upper limits on the DM annihilation cross section from a combined analysis of 15 dSphs. These constraints are among the strongest and most robust to date and lie below the canonical thermal relic cross section for DM of mass less than or similar to 100 GeV annihilating via quark and tau-lepton channels.
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| 2. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(författare)
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Gamma-ray flaring activity from the gravitationally lensed blazar PKS 1830-211 observed by Fermi LAT
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 799:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Large Area Telescope ( LAT) on board the FermiGamma- ray Space Telescope routinely detects the MeV- peaked flat- spectrum radio quasar PKS 1830- 211 ( z = 2.507). Its apparent isotropic. - ray luminosity ( E > 100 MeV), averaged over 3 years of observations and peaking on 2010 October 14/ 15 at 2.9 x 1050 erg s- 1, makes it among the brightest high- redshift Fermi blazars. No published model with a single lens can account for all of the observed characteristics of this complex system. Based on radio observations, one expects time- delayed variability to follow about 25 days after a primary flare, with flux about a factor of 1.5 less. Two large. - ray flares of PKS 1830- 211 have been detected by the LAT in the considered period, and no substantial evidence for such a delayed activity was found. This allows us to place a lower limit of about 6 on the. - ray flux ratio between the two lensed images. Swift XRT observations from a dedicated Target of Opportunity program indicate a hard spectrum with no significant correlation of X- ray flux with the. - ray variability. The spectral energy distribution can be modeled with inverse Compton scattering of thermal photons from the dusty torus. The implications of the LAT data in terms of variability, the lack of evident delayed flare events, and different radio and. - ray flux ratios are discussed. Microlensing effects, absorption, size and location of the emitting regions, the complex mass distribution of the system, an energy- dependent inner structure of the source, and flux suppression by the lens galaxy for one image path may be considered as hypotheses for understanding our results.
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| 3. |
- Abdollahi, S., et al.
(författare)
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A gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star formation history
- 2018
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 362:6418, s. 1031-1034
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for gamma rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant gamma-ray sources. We measured this attenuation using 739 active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This allowed us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star formation history of the Universe over 90% of cosmic time. Our star formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift z similar to 2. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of reionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at z similar to 6.
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| 4. |
- Abdollahi, S., et al.
(författare)
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The Second Catalog of Flaring Gamma-Ray Sources from the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 846:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the second catalog of flaring gamma-ray sources (2FAV) detected with the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool that blindly searches for transients over the entire sky observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. With respect to the first FAVA catalog, this catalog benefits from a larger data set, the latest LAT data release (Pass 8), as well as from an improved analysis that includes likelihood techniques for a more precise localization of the transients. Applying this analysis to the first 7.4 years of Fermi observations, and in two separate energy bands 0.1-0.8 GeV and 0.8-300 GeV, a total of 4547 flares were detected with significance greater than 6s (before trials), on the timescale of one week. Through spatial clustering of these flares, 518 variable gamma-ray sources were identified. Based on positional coincidence, likely counterparts have been found for 441 sources, mostly among the blazar class of active galactic nuclei. For 77 2FAV sources, no likely gamma-ray counterpart has been found. For each source in the catalog, we provide the time, location, and spectrum of each flaring episode. Studying the spectra of the flares, we observe a harder-when-brighter behavior for flares associated with blazars, with the exception of BL Lac flares detected in the low-energy band. The photon indexes of the flares are never significantly smaller than 1.5. For a leptonic model, and under the assumption of isotropy, this limit suggests that the spectrum of freshly accelerated electrons is never harder than p similar to 2.
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| 5. |
- Acero, F., et al.
(författare)
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODEL OF GALACTIC INTERSTELLAR EMISSION FOR STANDARD POINT-SOURCE ANALYSIS OF FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DATA
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 223:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most of the celestial. rays detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope originate from the interstellar medium when energetic cosmic rays interact with interstellar nucleons and photons. Conventional point-source and extended-source studies rely on the modeling of this diffuse emission for accurate characterization. Here, we describe the development of the Galactic Interstellar Emission Model (GIEM), which is the standard adopted by the LAT Collaboration and is publicly available. This model is based on a linear combination of maps for interstellar gas column density in Galactocentric annuli and for the inverse-Compton emission produced in the Galaxy. In the GIEM, we also include large-scale structures like Loop. I and the Fermi bubbles. The measured gas emissivity spectra confirm that the cosmic-ray proton density decreases with Galactocentric distance beyond 5 kpc from the Galactic Center. The measurements also suggest a softening of the proton spectrum with Galactocentric distance. We observe that the Fermi bubbles have boundaries with a shape similar to a catenary at latitudes below 20 degrees and we observe an enhanced emission toward their base extending in the north and south Galactic directions and located within similar to 4 degrees of the Galactic Center.
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| 6. |
- Acero, F., et al.
(författare)
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THE FIRST FERMI LAT SUPERNOVA REMNANT CATALOG
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 224:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To uniformly determine the properties of supernova remnants (SNRs) at high energies, we have developed the first systematic survey at energies from 1 to 100 GeV using data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Based on the spatial overlap of sources detected at GeV energies with SNRs known from radio surveys, we classify 30 sources as likely GeV SNRs. We also report 14 marginal associations and 245 flux upper limits. A mock catalog in which the positions of known remnants are scrambled in Galactic longitude allows us to determine an upper limit of 22% on the number of GeV candidates falsely identified as SNRs. We have also developed a method to estimate spectral and spatial systematic errors arising from the diffuse interstellar emission model, a key component of all Galactic Fermi LAT analyses. By studying remnants uniformly in aggregate, we measure the GeV properties common to these objects and provide a crucial context for the detailed modeling of individual SNRs. Combining our GeV results with multiwavelength (MW) data, including radio, X-ray, and TeV, we demonstrate the need for improvements to previously sufficient, simple models describing the GeV and radio emission from these objects. We model the GeV and MW emission from SNRs in aggregate to constrain their maximal contribution to observed Galactic cosmic rays.
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| 7. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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2FHL : THE SECOND CATALOG OF HARD FERMI-LAT SOURCES
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 222:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a catalog of sources detected above 50 GeV by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) in 80 months of data. The newly delivered Pass. 8 event-level analysis allows the detection and characterization of sources in the 50 GeV-2 TeV energy range. In this energy band, Fermi-LAT. has detected 360 sources, which constitute the second catalog of hard Fermi-LAT. sources (2FHL). The improved angular resolution enables the precise localization of point sources (similar to 1.' 7 radius at 68% C.L.) and the detection and characterization of spatially extended sources. We find that 86% of the sources can be associated with counterparts at other wavelengths, of which the majority (75%) are active galactic nuclei and the rest (11%) are Galactic sources. Only 25% of the 2FHL sources have been previously detected by Cherenkov telescopes, implying that the 2FHL provides a reservoir of candidates to be followed up at very high energies. This work closes the energy gap between the observations performed at GeV energies by Fermi-LAT. on orbit and the observations performed at higher energies by Cherenkov telescopes from the ground.
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| 8. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Deep view of the Large Magellanic Cloud with six years of Fermi-LAT observations
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 586
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The nearby Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provides a rare opportunity of a spatially resolved view of an external star-forming galaxy in gamma-rays. The LMC was detected at 0.1-100 GeV as an extended source with CGRO/EGRET and using early observations with the Fermi-LAT. The emission was found to correlate with massive star-forming regions and to be particularly bright towards 30 Doradus. Aims. Studies of the origin and transport of cosmic rays (CRs) in the Milky Way are frequently hampered by line-of-sight confusion and poor distance determination. The LMC offers a complementary way to address these questions by revealing whether and how the gamma-ray emission is connected to specific objects, populations of objects, and structures in the galaxy. Methods. We revisited the gamma-ray emission from the LMC using about 73 months of Fermi-LAT P7REP data in the 0.2-100 GeV range. We developed a complete spatial and spectral model of the LMC emission, for which we tested several approaches: a simple geometrical description, template-fitting, and a physically driven model for CR-induced interstellar emission. Results. In addition to identifying PSR J0540-6919 through its pulsations, we find two hard sources positionally coincident with plerion N 157B and supernova remnant N 132D, which were also detected at TeV energies with H.E.S.S. We detect an additional soft source that is currently unidentified. Extended emission dominates the total flux from the LMC. It consists of an extended component of about the size of the galaxy and additional emission from three to four regions with degree-scale sizes. If it is interpreted as CRs interacting with interstellar gas, the large-scale emission implies a large-scale population of similar to 1-100 GeV CRs with a density of similar to 30% of the local Galactic value. On top of that, the three to four small-scale emission regions would correspond to enhancements of the CR density by factors 2 to 6 or higher, possibly more energetic and younger populations of CRs compared to the large-scale population. An alternative explanation is that this is emission from an unresolved population of at least two dozen objects, such as pulsars and their nebulae or supernova remnants. This small-scale extended emission has a spatial distribution that does not clearly correlate with known components of the LMC, except for a possible relation to cavities and supergiant shells. Conclusions. The Fermi-LAT GeV observations allowed us to detect individual sources in the LMC. Three of the newly discovered sources are associated with rare and extreme objects. The 30 Doradus region is prominent in GeV gamma-rays because PSR J0540-6919 and N 157B are strong emitters. The extended emission from the galaxy has an unexpected spatial distribution, and observations at higher energies and in radio may help to clarify its origin.
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| 9. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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FERMI-LAT OBSERVATIONS OF THE LIGO EVENT GW150914
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 823:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has an instantaneous field of view (FoV) covering similar to 1/5 of the sky and it completes a survey of the entire sky in high-energy gamma-rays every 3 hr. It enables searches for transient phenomena over timescales from milliseconds to years. Among these phenomena could be electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) sources. In this paper, we present a detailed study of the LAT observations relevant to Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) event GW150914, which is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and has been interpreted as being due to the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The localization region for GW150914 was outside the LAT FoV at the time of the GW signal. However, as part of routine survey observations, the LAT observed the entire LIGO localization region within similar to 70 minutes of the trigger and thus enabled a comprehensive search for a.-ray counterpart to GW150914. The study of the LAT data presented here did not find any potential counterparts to GW150914, but it did provide limits on the presence of a transient counterpart above 100 MeV on timescales of hours to days over the entire GW150914 localization region.
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| 10. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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FERMI LAT STACKING ANALYSIS OF SWIFT LOCALIZED GRBs
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 822:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We perform a comprehensive stacking analysis of data collected by the Fermi. Large Area Telescope (LAT) of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) localized by the Swift. spacecraft, which were not detected by the LAT but which fell within the instrument's field of view at the time of trigger. We examine a total of 79 GRBs by comparing the observed counts over a range of time intervals to that expected from designated background orbits, as well as by using a joint likelihood technique to model the expected distribution of stacked counts. We find strong evidence for subthreshold emission at MeV to GeV energies using both techniques. This observed excess is detected during intervals that include and exceed the durations typically characterizing the prompt emission observed at keV energies and lasts at least 2700 s after the co-aligned burst trigger. By utilizing a novel cumulative likelihood analysis, we find that although a burst's prompt gamma-ray and afterglow X-ray flux both correlate with the strength of the subthreshold emission, the X-ray afterglow flux measured by Swift's X-ray Telescope at 11 hr post trigger correlates far more significantly. Overall, the extended nature of the subthreshold emission and its connection to the burst's afterglow brightness lend. further support to the external forward shock origin of the late-time emission detected by the LAT. These results suggest that the extended high-energy emission observed by the LAT may be a relatively common feature but remains undetected in a majority of bursts owing. to instrumental threshold effects.
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