| 1. |
- Adrian-Martinez, S., et al.
(författare)
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A first search for coincident gravitational waves and high energy neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.
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| 2. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(författare)
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The characterization of Virgo data and its impact on gravitational-wave searches
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Classical and Quantum Gravity. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6382 .- 0264-9381. ; 29:15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Between 2007 and 2010 Virgo collected data in coincidence with the LIGO and GEO gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. These data have been searched for GWs emitted by cataclysmic phenomena in the universe, by non-axisymmetric rotating neutron stars or from a stochastic background in the frequency band of the detectors. The sensitivity of GW searches is limited by noise produced by the detector or its environment. It is therefore crucial to characterize the various noise sources in a GW detector. This paper reviews the Virgo detector noise sources, noise propagation, and conversion mechanisms which were identified in the three first Virgo observing runs. In many cases, these investigations allowed us to mitigate noise sources in the detector, or to selectively flag noise events and discard them from the data. We present examples from the joint LIGO-GEO-Virgo GW searches to show how well noise transients and narrow spectral lines have been identified and excluded from the Virgo data. We also discuss how detector characterization can improve the astrophysical reach of GW searches.
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| 3. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Einstein@Home all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S5 data
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents results of an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range [50, 1190] Hz and with frequency derivative range of similar to[-20, 1.1] x 10(-10) Hz s(-1) for the fifth LIGO science run (S5). The search uses a noncoherent Hough-transform method to combine the information from coherent searches on time scales of about one day. Because these searches are very computationally intensive, they have been carried out with the Einstein@Home volunteer distributed computing project. Postprocessing identifies eight candidate signals; deeper follow-up studies rule them out. Hence, since no gravitational wave signals have been found, we report upper limits on the intrinsic gravitational wave strain amplitude h(0). For example, in the 0.5 Hz-wide band at 152.5 Hz, we can exclude the presence of signals with h(0) greater than 7.6 x 10(-25) at a 90% confidence level. This search is about a factor 3 more sensitive than the previous Einstein@Home search of early S5 LIGO data.
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| 4. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(författare)
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Parameter estimation for compact binary coalescence signals with the first generation gravitational-wave detector network
- 2013
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Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 88:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events. Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters, such as component masses, spins, sky location and distance, that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources. However, accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data, uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors. Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run, including a "blind injection'' where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration. We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron-star and black-hole binary parameter space over the component mass range 1M(circle dot)-25M(circle dot) and the full range of spin parameters. The cases reported in this study provide a snapshot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors.
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| 5. |
- Aasi, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspiral, merger, and ringdown in LIGO-Virgo data from 2009-2010
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report a search for gravitational waves from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes (BBH) with total mass between 25 and 100 solar masses, in data taken at the LIGO and Virgo observatories between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010. The maximum sensitive distance of the detectors over this period for a (20, 20)M-circle dot coalescence was 300 Mpc. No gravitational wave signals were found. We thus report upper limits on the astrophysical coalescence rates of BBH as a function of the component masses for nonspinning components, and also evaluate the dependence of the search sensitivity on component spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum. We find an upper limit at 90% confidence on the coalescence rate of BBH with nonspinning components of mass between 19 and 28M(circle dot) of 3:3 x 10(-7) mergers Mpc(-3) yr(-1).
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| 6. |
- Evans, P. A., et al.
(författare)
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Swift Follow-up Observations of Candidate Gravitational-wave Transient Events
- 2012
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Ingår i: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 203:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their 2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network of GW detectors (within less than 10 minutes) and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift observatory (within 12 hr). Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background. Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind injection challenge." With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime, multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of sensitivity for the present and future instruments.
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| 7. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The analysis searches for transients of duration less than or similar to 1 s over the frequency band 64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization, direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3 events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate density per year and Mpc(3) for sample populations of standard-candle sources. As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range similar to 5 x 10(-22) Hz(-1/2) to similar to 1 x 10(-20) Hz(-1/2). The combination of the two joint runs entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of interferometric detectors.
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| 8. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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First low-latency LIGO plus Virgo search for binary inspirals and their electromagnetic counterparts
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 541
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The detection and measurement of gravitational-waves from coalescing neutron-star binary systems is an important science goal for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. In addition to emitting gravitational-waves at frequencies that span the most sensitive bands of the LIGO and Virgo detectors, these sources are also amongst the most likely to produce an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational-wave emission. A joint detection of the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic signals would provide a powerful new probe for astronomy. Methods. During the period between September 19 and October 20, 2010, the first low-latency search for gravitational-waves from binary inspirals in LIGO and Virgo data was conducted. The resulting triggers were sent to electromagnetic observatories for followup. We describe the generation and processing of the low-latency gravitational-wave triggers. The results of the electromagnetic image analysis will be described elsewhere. Results. Over the course of the science run, three gravitational-wave triggers passed all of the low-latency selection cuts. Of these, one was followed up by several of our observational partners. Analysis of the gravitational-wave data leads to an estimated false alarm rate of once every 6.4 days, falling far short of the requirement for a detection based solely on gravitational-wave data.
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| 9. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts during LIGO Science Run 6 and Virgo Science Runs 2 and 3
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X. ; 760:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of a search for gravitational waves associated with 154 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that were detected by satellite-based gamma-ray experiments in 2009-2010, during the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. We perform two distinct searches: a modeled search for coalescences of either two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, and a search for generic, unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts. We find no evidence for gravitational-wave counterparts, either with any individual GRB in this sample or with the population as a whole. For all GRBs we place lower bounds on the distance to the progenitor, under the optimistic assumption of a gravitational-wave emission energy of 10(-2) M-circle dot c(2) at 150 Hz, with a median limit of 17 Mpc. For short-hard GRBs we place exclusion distances on binary neutron star and neutron-star-black-hole progenitors, using astrophysically motivated priors on the source parameters, with median values of 16 Mpc and 28 Mpc, respectively. These distance limits, while significantly larger than for a search that is not aided by GRB satellite observations, are not large enough to expect a coincidence with a GRB. However, projecting these exclusions to the sensitivities of Advanced LIGO and Virgo, which should begin operation in 2015, we find that the detection of gravitational waves associated with GRBs will become quite possible.
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| 10. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Search for gravitational waves from intermediate mass binary black holes
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of a weakly modeled burst search for gravitational waves from mergers of nonspinning intermediate mass black holes in the total mass range 100-450 M-circle dot and with the component mass ratios between 1: and 4:1. The search was conducted on data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between November of 2005 and October of 2007. No plausible signals were observed by the search which constrains the astrophysical rates of the intermediate mass black holes mergers as a function of the component masses. In the most efficiently detected bin centered on 88 + 88 M-circle dot, for nonspinning sources, the rate density upper limit is 0.13 per Mpc(3) per Myr at the 90% confidence level.
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| 11. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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Upper limits on a stochastic gravitational-wave background using LIGO and Virgo interferometers at 600-1000 Hz
- 2012
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Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of many incoherent sources of gravitational waves, of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. This background is a target for the current generation of ground-based detectors. In this article we present the first joint search for a stochastic background using data from the LIGO and Virgo interferometers. In a frequency band of 600-1000 Hz, we obtained a 95% upper limit on the amplitude of Omega(GW)(f) = Omega(3)(f/900 Hz)(3), of Omega(3) < 0.32, assuming a value of the Hubble parameter of h(100) = 0.71. These new limits are a factor of seven better than the previous best in this frequency band.
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| 12. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
-
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the full S5 LIGO data
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 50-800 Hz and with the frequency time derivative in the range of 0 through -6 x 10(-9) Hz/s. Such a signal could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly nonaxisymmetric isolated neutron star in our Galaxy. After recent improvements in the search program that yielded a 10x increase in computational efficiency, we have searched in two years of data collected during LIGO's fifth science run and have obtained the most sensitive all-sky upper limits on gravitational-wave strain to date. Near 150 Hz our upper limit on worst-case linearly polarized strain amplitude h(0) is 1 x 10(-24), while at the high end of our frequency range we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 3.8 x 10(-24) for all polarizations and sky locations. These results constitute a factor of 2 improvement upon previously published data. A new detection pipeline utilizing a loosely coherent algorithm was able to follow up weaker outliers, increasing the volume of space where signals can be detected by a factor of 10, but has not revealed any gravitational-wave signals. The pipeline has been tested for robustness with respect to deviations from the model of an isolated neutron star, such as caused by a low-mass or long-period binary companion.
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| 13. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 539
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. A transient astrophysical event observed in both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) channels would yield rich scientific rewards. A first program initiating EM follow-ups to possible transient GW events has been developed and exercised by the LIGO and Virgo community in association with several partners. In this paper, we describe and evaluate the methods used to promptly identify and localize GW event candidates and to request images of targeted sky locations. Methods. During two observing periods (Dec. 17, 2009 to Jan. 8, 2010 and Sep. 2 to Oct. 20, 2010), a low-latency analysis pipeline was used to identify GW event candidates and to reconstruct maps of possible sky locations. A catalog of nearby galaxies and Milky Way globular clusters was used to select the most promising sky positions to be imaged, and this directional information was delivered to EM observatories with time lags of about thirty minutes. A Monte Carlo simulation has been used to evaluate the low-latency GW pipeline's ability to reconstruct source positions correctly. Results. For signals near the detection threshold, our low-latency algorithms often localized simulated GW burst signals to tens of square degrees, while neutron star/neutron star inspirals and neutron star/black hole inspirals were localized to a few hundred square degrees. Localization precision improves for moderately stronger signals. The correct sky location of signals well above threshold and originating from nearby galaxies may be observed with similar to 50% or better probability with a few pointings of wide-field telescopes.
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| 14. |
- Abadie, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for gravitational waves from low mass compact binary coalescence in LIGO's sixth science run and Virgo's science runs 2 and 3
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries using LIGO and Virgo observations between July 7, 2009, and October 20, 2010. We searched for signals from binaries with total mass between 2 and 25M(circle dot); this includes binary neutron stars, binary black holes, and binaries consisting of a black hole and neutron star. The detectors were sensitive to systems up to 40 Mpc distant for binary neutron stars, and further for higher mass systems. No gravitational-wave signals were detected. We report upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence as a function of total mass, including the results from previous LIGO and Virgo observations. The cumulative 90% confidence rate upper limits of the binary coalescence of binary neutron star, neutron star-black hole, and binary black hole systems are 1.3 x 10(-4), 3.1 x 10(-5), and 6.4 x 10(-6) Mpc(-3) yr(-1), respectively. These upper limits are up to a factor 1.4 lower than previously derived limits. We also report on results from a blind injection challenge.
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| 15. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi Large Area Telescope constraints on the gamma-ray opacity of the universe
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 723:2, s. 1082-1096
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The extragalactic background light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above similar to 10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope on board Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z similar to 3, and GRBs with redshift up to z similar to 4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the universe at various energies and redshifts and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. can be ruled out with high confidence.
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| 16. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(författare)
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The large observatory for x-ray timing
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9780819496126
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.
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| 17. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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DETECTION OF A SPECTRAL BREAK IN THE EXTRA HARD COMPONENT OF GRB 090926A
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 729:2, s. 114-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the observation of the bright, long gamma-ray burst, GRB 090926A, by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope (LAT) instruments on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. GRB 090926A shares several features with other bright LAT bursts. In particular, it clearly shows a short spike in the light curve that is present in all detectors that see the burst, and this in turn suggests that there is a common region of emission across the entire Fermi energy range. In addition, while a separate high-energy power-law component has already been observed in other gamma-ray bursts, here we report for the first time the detection with good significance of a high-energy spectral break (or cutoff) in this power-law component around 1.4 GeV in the time-integrated spectrum. If the spectral break is caused by opacity to electron-positron pair production within the source, then this observation allows us to compute the bulk Lorentz factor for the outflow, rather than a lower limit.
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| 18. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi observations of GRB 090510 : A short-hard gamma-ray burst with an additional, hard power-law component from 10 keV to GeV energies
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 716:2, s. 1178-1190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present detailed observations of the bright short-hard gamma-ray burst GRB 090510 made with the Gammaray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi observatory. GRB 090510 is the first burst detected by the LAT that shows strong evidence for a deviation from a Band spectral fitting function during the prompt emission phase. The time-integrated spectrum is fit by the sum of a Band function with E-peak = 3.9 +/- 0.3 MeV, which is the highest yet measured, and a hard power-law component with photon index -1.62 +/- 0.03 that dominates the emission below approximate to 20 keV and above approximate to 100 MeV. The onset of the high-energy spectral component appears to be delayed by similar to 0.1 s with respect to the onset of a component well fit with a single Band function. A faint GBM pulse and a LAT photon are detected 0.5 s before the main pulse. During the prompt phase, the LAT detected a photon with energy 30.5(-2.6)(+5.8) GeV, the highest ever measured from a short GRB. Observation of this photon sets a minimum bulk outflow Lorentz factor, Gamma greater than or similar to 1200, using simple.. opacity arguments for this GRB at redshift z = 0.903 and a variability timescale on the order of tens of ms for the approximate to 100 keV-few MeV flux. Stricter high confidence estimates imply Gamma greater than or similar to 1000 and still require that the outflows powering short GRBs are at least as highly relativistic as those of long-duration GRBs. Implications of the temporal behavior and power-law shape of the additional component on synchrotron/synchrotron self-Compton, external-shock synchrotron, and hadronic models are considered.
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| 19. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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FERMI OBSERVATIONS OF HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM GRB 090217A
- 2010
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Ingår i: ASTROPHYS J LETT. - 2041-8205. ; 717:2, s. L127-L132
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Fermi observatory is advancing our knowledge of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) through pioneering observations at high energies, covering more than seven decades in energy with the two on-board detectors, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). Here, we report on the observation of the long GRB 090217A which triggered the GBM and has been detected by the LAT with a significance greater than 9 sigma. We present the GBM and LAT observations and on-ground analyses, including the time-resolved spectra and the study of the temporal profile from 8 keV up to similar to 1 GeV. All spectra are well reproduced by a Band model. We compare these observations to the first two LAT-detected, long bursts GRB 080825C and GRB 080916C. These bursts were found to have time-dependent spectra and exhibited a delayed onset of the high-energy emission, which are not observed in the case of GRB 090217A. We discuss some theoretical implications for the high-energy emission of GRBs.
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| 20. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(författare)
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The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT)
- 2012
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Ingår i: Experimental Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 34:2, s. 415-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-time-resolution X-ray observations of compact objects provide direct access to strong-field gravity, to the equation of state of ultradense matter and to black hole masses and spins. A 10 m(2)-class instrument in combination with good spectral resolution is required to exploit the relevant diagnostics and answer two of the fundamental questions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Cosmic Vision Theme "Matter under extreme conditions", namely: does matter orbiting close to the event horizon follow the predictions of general relativity? What is the equation of state of matter in neutron stars? The Large Observatory For X-ray Timing (LOFT), selected by ESA as one of the four Cosmic Vision M3 candidate missions to undergo an assessment phase, will revolutionise the study of collapsed objects in our galaxy and of the brightest supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. Thanks to an innovative design and the development of large-area monolithic silicon drift detectors, the Large Area Detector (LAD) on board LOFT will achieve an effective area of similar to 12 m(2) (more than an order of magnitude larger than any spaceborne predecessor) in the 2-30 keV range (up to 50 keV in expanded mode), yet still fits a conventional platform and small/medium-class launcher. With this large area and a spectral resolution of < 260 eV, LOFT will yield unprecedented information on strongly curved spacetimes and matter under extreme conditions of pressure and magnetic field strength.
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| 21. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(författare)
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LOFT - The large observatory for x-ray timing
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering. - 9780819491442 ; , s. 84432D-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3 launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultradense matter. These primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1 degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV, with a 10 m2 peak effective area and an energy resolution of 260 eV at 6 keV. The WFM will operate in the same energy range as the LAD, enabling simultaneous monitoring of a few-steradian wide field of view, with an angular resolution of <5 arcmin. The LAD and WFM experiments will allow us to investigate variability from submillisecond QPO's to yearlong transient outbursts. In this paper we report the current status of the project.
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| 22. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi Detection of γ-Ray Emission from the M2 Soft X-Ray Flare on 2010 June 12
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 745:2, s. 144-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) M2-class solar flare, SOL2010-06-12T00: 57, was modest in many respects yet exhibited remarkable acceleration of energetic particles. The flare produced an similar to 50 s impulsive burst of hard X-and gamma-ray emission up to at least 400 MeV observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope experiments. The remarkably similar hard X-ray and high-energy gamma-ray time profiles suggest that most of the particles were accelerated to energies greater than or similar to 300 MeV with a delay of similar to 10 s from mildly relativistic electrons, but some reached these energies in as little as similar to 3 s. The gamma-ray line fluence from this flare was about 10 times higher than that typically observed from this modest GOES class of X-ray flare. There is no evidence for time-extended >100 MeV emission as has been found for other flares with high-energy gamma-rays.
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| 23. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi-LAT Observations of the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 130427A
- 2014
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 343:6166, s. 42-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The observations of the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A by the Large Area Telescope aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope provide constraints on the nature of these unique astrophysical sources. GRB 130427A had the largest fluence, highest-energy photon (95 GeV), longest gamma-ray duration (20 hours), and one of the largest isotropic energy releases ever observed from a GRB. Temporal and spectral analyses of GRB 130427A challenge the widely accepted model that the nonthermal high-energy emission in the afterglow phase of GRBs is synchrotron emission radiated by electrons accelerated at an external shock.
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| 24. |
- Preece, R., et al.
(författare)
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The First Pulse of the Extremely Bright GRB 130427A : A Test Lab for Synchrotron Shocks
- 2014
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 343:6166, s. 51-54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A is one of the most energetic GRBs ever observed. The initial pulse up to 2.5 seconds is possibly the brightest well-isolated pulse observed to date. A fine time resolution spectral analysis shows power-law decays of the peak energy from the onset of the pulse, consistent with models of internal synchrotron shock pulses. However, a strongly correlated power-law behavior is observed between the luminosity and the spectral peak energy that is inconsistent with curvature effects arising in the relativistic outflow. It is difficult for any of the existing models to account for all of the observed spectral and temporal behaviors simultaneously.
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| 25. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Constraining The High-Energy Emission From Gamma-Ray Bursts With Fermi
- 2012
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 754:2, s. 121-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine 288 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) that fell within the field of view of Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) during the first 2.5 years of observations, which showed no evidence for emission above 100 MeV. We report the photon flux upper limits in the 0.1-10 GeV range during the prompt emission phase as well as for fixed 30 s and 100 s integrations starting from the trigger time for each burst. We compare these limits with the fluxes that would be expected from extrapolations of spectral fits presented in the first GBM spectral catalog and infer that roughly half of the GBM-detected bursts either require spectral breaks between the GBM and LAT energy bands or have intrinsically steeper spectra above the peak of the nu F-nu spectra (E-pk). In order to distinguish between these two scenarios, we perform joint GBM and LAT spectral fits to the 30 brightest GBM-detected bursts and find that a majority of these bursts are indeed softer above E-pk than would be inferred from fitting the GBM data alone. Approximately 20% of this spectroscopic subsample show statistically significant evidence for a cutoff in their high-energy spectra, which if assumed to be due to gamma gamma attenuation, places limits on the maximum Lorentz factor associated with the relativistic outflow producing this emission. All of these latter bursts have maximum Lorentz factor estimates that are well below the minimum Lorentz factors calculated for LAT-detected GRBs, revealing a wide distribution in the bulk Lorentz factor of GRB outflows and indicating that LAT-detected bursts may represent the high end of this distribution.
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