1. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(author)
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FERMI/LARGE AREA TELESCOPE BRIGHT GAMMA-RAY SOURCE LIST
- 2009
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In: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 183:1, s. 46-66
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Following its launch in 2008 June, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi in three months produced a deeper and better resolved map of the gamma-ray sky than any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above 100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than similar to 10 sigma) gamma-ray sources in these data. These are the best characterized and best localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) gamma-ray sources in the early mission data.
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2. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(author)
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Fermi Observations of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from GRB 080916C
- 2009
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In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 323:5922, s. 1688-1693
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are highly energetic explosions signaling the death of massive stars in distant galaxies. The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Observatory together record GRBs over a broad energy range spanning about 7 decades of gamma-ray energy. In September 2008, Fermi observed the exceptionally luminous GRB 080916C, with the largest apparent energy release yet measured. The high-energy gamma rays are observed to start later and persist longer than the lower energy photons. A simple spectral form fits the entire GRB spectrum, providing strong constraints on emission models. The known distance of the burst enables placing lower limits on the bulk Lorentz factor of the outflow and on the quantum gravity mass.
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3. |
- Aharonian, F., et al.
(author)
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SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS OF PKS 2155-304 WITH HESS, FERMI, RXTE, AND ATOM : SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS AND VARIABILITY IN A LOW STATE
- 2009
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 696:2, s. L150-L155
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the first simultaneous observations that cover the optical, X-ray, and high-energy gamma-ray bands of the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304. The gamma-ray bands were observed for 11 days, between 2008 August 25 and 2008 September 6 (MJD 54704-54715), jointly with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the HESS atmospheric Cherenkov array, providing the first simultaneous MeV-TeV spectral energy distribution (SED) with the new generation of gamma-ray telescopes. The ATOM telescope and the RXTE and Swift observatories provided optical and X-ray coverage of the low-energy component over the same time period. The object was close to the lowest archival X-ray and very high energy (VHE; > 100 GeV) state, whereas the optical flux was much higher. The light curves show relatively little (similar to 30%) variability overall when compared to past flaring episodes, but we find a clear optical/VHE correlation and evidence for a correlation of the X-rays with the high-energy spectral index. Contrary to previous observations in the flaring state, we do not find any correlation between the X-ray and VHE components. Although synchrotron self-Compton models are often invoked to explain the SEDs of BL Lac objects, the most common versions of these models are at odds with the correlated variability we find in the various bands for PKS 2155-304.
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4. |
- Adler, S. S., et al.
(author)
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High transverse momentum eta meson production in p+p, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV
- 2007
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In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 75:2
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of eta mesons in the range p(T)approximate to 2-12 GeV/c have been measured at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.35) by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in p+p,d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV. The eta mesons are reconstructed through their eta ->gamma gamma channel for the three colliding systems as well as through the eta ->pi(0)pi(+)pi(-) decay mode in p+p and d+Au collisions. The nuclear modification factor in d+Au collisions, R-dAu(p(T))approximate to 1.0-1.1, suggests at most only modest p(T) broadening ("Cronin enhancement"). In central Au+Au reactions, the eta yields are significantly suppressed, with R-AuAu(p(T))approximate to 0.2. The ratio of eta to pi(0) yields is approximately constant as a function of p(T) for the three colliding systems in agreement with the high-p(T) world average of R-eta/pi(0)approximate to 0.5 in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions for a wide range of center-of-mass energies (root sNN approximate to 3-1800 GeV) as well as, for high scaled momentum x(p), in e(+)e(-) annihilations at root s=91.2 GeV. These results are consistent with a scenario where high-p(T) eta production in nuclear collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is largely unaffected by initial-state effects but where light-quark mesons (pi(0),eta) are equally suppressed due to final-state interactions of the parent partons in the dense medium produced in Au+Au reactions.
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5. |
- Adler, S. S., et al.
(author)
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Dense-medium modifications to jet-induced hadron pair distributions in Au+Au collisions at root(NN)-N-S=200 GeV
- 2006
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 97:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Azimuthal correlations of jet-induced high-p(T) charged hadron pairs are studied at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV. The distribution of jet-associated partner hadrons (1.0 < p(T)< 2.5 GeV/c) per trigger hadron (2.5 < p(T)< 4.0 GeV/c) is found to vary with collision centrality, in both shape and yield, indicating a significant effect of the nuclear collision medium on the jet fragmentation process.
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6. |
- Adler, S. S., et al.
(author)
-
Detailed study of high-p(T) neutral pion suppression and azimuthal anisotropy in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN) =200 GeV
- 2007
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In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 76:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Measurements of neutral pion (pi(0)) production at midrapidity in root s(NN)=200 GeV Au+Au collisions as a function of transverse momentum, p(T), collision centrality, and angle with respect to reaction plane are presented. The data represent the final pi(0) results from the PHENIX experiment for the first RHIC Au+Au run at design center-of-mass energy. They include additional data obtained using the PHENIX Level-2 trigger with more than a factor of 3 increase in statistics over previously published results for p(T)>6 GeV/c. We evaluate the suppression in the yield of high-p(T) pi(0)'s relative to pointlike scaling expectations using the nuclear modification factor R-AA. We present the p(T) dependence of R-AA for nine bins in collision centrality. We separately integrate R-AA over larger p(T) bins to show more precisely the centrality dependence of the high-p(T) suppression. We then evaluate the dependence of the high-p(T) suppression on the emission angle Delta phi of the pions with respect to event reaction plane for seven bins in collision centrality. We show that the yields of high-p(T) pi(0)'s vary strongly with Delta phi, consistent with prior measurements 1,2. We show that this variation persists in the most peripheral bin accessible in this analysis. For the peripheral bins we observe no suppression for neutral pions produced aligned with the reaction plane, whereas the yield of pi(0)'s produced perpendicular to the reaction plane is suppressed by a factor of similar to 2. We analyze the combined centrality and Delta phi dependence of the pi(0) suppression in different p(T) bins using different possible descriptions of parton energy loss dependence on jet path-length averages to determine whether a single geometric picture can explain the observed suppression pattern.
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7. |
- Adler, S. S., et al.
(author)
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Evidence for a long-range component in the pion emission source in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV
- 2007
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 98:13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k(T) give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a halo of secondary pions from resonance emissions is explored.
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8. |
- Adler, S. S., et al.
(author)
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Measurement of single muons at forward rapidity in p+p collisions at root s=200 GeV and implications for charm production
- 2007
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In: Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology. - 1550-2368. ; 76:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Muon production at forward rapidity (1.5 <=|eta|<= 1.8) has been measured by the PHENIX experiment over the transverse momentum range 1 <= p(T)<= 3 GeV/c in root s=200 GeV p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. After statistically subtracting contributions from light hadron decays an excess remains which is attributed to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e. charm quarks or, at high p(T), bottom quarks. The resulting muon spectrum from heavy flavor decays is compared to PYTHIA and a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation. PYTHIA is used to determine the charm quark spectrum that would produce the observed muon excess. The corresponding differential cross section for charm quark production at forward rapidity is determined to be d sigma(c (c) over bar)/dy|(y=1.6)=0.243 +/- 0.013(stat.)+/- 0.105(data syst.)(-0.087)(+0.049)(PYTHIA syst.) mb.
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9. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(author)
-
EARLY FERMI GAMMA-RAY SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF THE QUASAR 3C 454.3
- 2009
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 699:1, s. 817-823
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This is the first report of Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope observations of the quasar 3C 454.3, which has been undergoing pronounced long-term outbursts since 2000. The data from the Large Area Telescope, covering 2008 July 7-October 6, indicate strong, highly variable.-ray emission with an average flux of similar to 3 x 10 (6) photons cm(-2) s(-1), for energies > 100 MeV. The gamma-ray flux is variable, with strong, distinct, symmetrically shaped flares for which the flux increases by a factor of several on a timescale of about 3 days. This variability indicates a compact emission region, and the requirement that the source is optically thin to pair production implies relativistic beaming with Doppler factor delta > 8, consistent with the values inferred from Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations of superluminal expansion (delta similar to 25). The observed gamma-ray spectrum is not consistent with a simple power law, but instead steepens strongly above similar to 2 GeV, and is well described by a broken power law with photon indices of similar to 2.3 and similar to 3.5 below and above the break, respectively. This is the first direct observation of a break in the spectrum of a high-luminosity blazar above 100 MeV, and it is likely direct evidence for an intrinsic break in the energy distribution of the radiating particles. Alternatively, the spectral softening above 2 GeV could be due to gamma-ray absorption via photon-photon pair production on the soft X-ray photon field of the host active galactic nucleus, but such an interpretation would require the dissipation region to be located very close (less than or similar to 100 gravitational radii) to the black hole, which would be inconsistent with the X-ray spectrum of the source.
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10. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(author)
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Measurement of the Cosmic Ray e(+)+e(-) Spectrum from 20 GeV to 1 TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope
- 2009
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 102:Article number: 181101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Designed as a high-sensitivity gamma-ray observatory, the Fermi Large Area Telescope is also an electron detector with a large acceptance exceeding 2 m(2) sr at 300 GeV. Building on the gamma-ray analysis, we have developed an efficient electron detection strategy which provides sufficient background rejection for measurement of the steeply falling electron spectrum up to 1 TeV. Our high precision data show that the electron spectrum falls with energy as E-3.0 and does not exhibit prominent spectral features. Interpretations in terms of a conventional diffusive model as well as a potential local extra component are briefly discussed.
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