| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Abdalla, H., et al.
(författare)
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Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 1475-7516. ; :2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the new-generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, provides unique capabilities to address significant open questions in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. We study some of the salient areas of gamma-ray cosmology that can be explored as part of the Key Science Projects of CTA, through simulated observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and of their relativistic jets. Observations of AGN with CTA will enable a measurement of gamma-ray absorption on the extragalactic background light with a statistical uncertainty below 15% up to a redshift z = 2 and to constrain or detect gamma-ray halos up to intergalactic-magnetic-field strengths of at least 0.3 pG. Extragalactic observations with CTA also show promising potential to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. The best limits on Lorentz invariance violation from gamma-ray astronomy will be improved by a factor of at least two to three. CTA will also probe the parameter space in which axion-like particles could constitute a significant fraction, if not all, of dark matter. We conclude on the synergies between CTA and other upcoming facilities that will foster the growth of gamma-ray cosmology.
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| 3. |
- Abdalla, H., et al.
(författare)
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Gamma-ray blazar spectra with HESS II mono analysis : The case of PKS2155-304 and PG1553+113
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 600
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The addition of a 28 m Cherenkov telescope (CT5) to the H.E.S.S. array extended the experiment's sensitivity to lower energies. The lowest energy threshold is obtained using monoscopic analysis of data taken with CT5, providing access to gamma-ray energies below 100 GeV for small zenith angle observations. Such an extension of the instrument's energy range is particularly beneficial for studies of active galactic nuclei with soft spectra, as expected for those at a redshift >= 0.5. The high-frequency peaked BL Lac objects PKS 2155-304 (z = 0.116) and PG 1553 + 113 (0.43 < z < 0.58) are among the brightest objects in the gamma-ray sky, both showing clear signatures of gamma-ray absorption at E > 100 GeV interpreted as being due to interactions with the extragalactic background light (EBL). Aims. The aims of this work are twofold: to demonstrate the monoscopic analysis of CT5 data with a low energy threshold, and to obtain accurate measurements of the spectral energy distributions (SED) of PKS 2155-304 and PG 1553 + 113 near their SED peaks at energies approximate to 100 GeV. Methods. Multiple observational campaigns of PKS 2155 304 and PG 1553 + 113 were conducted during 2013 and 2014 using the full H.E.S.S. II instrument (CT1-5). A monoscopic analysis of the data taken with the new CT5 telescope was developed along with an investigation into the systematic uncertainties on the spectral parameters which are derived from this analysis. Results. Using the data from CT5, the energy spectra of PKS 2155 304 and PG 1553 + 113 were reconstructed down to conservative threshold energies of 80 GeV for PKS 2155 304, which transits near zenith, and 110 GeV for the more northern PG 1553 + 113. The measured spectra, well fitted in both cases by a log-parabola spectral model ( with a 5.0 similar to statistical preference for non-zero curvature for PKS 2155 304 and 4.5 sigma for PG 1553+113), were found consistent with spectra derived from contemporaneous Fermi-LAT data, indicating a sharp break in the observed spectra of both sources at E approximate to 100 GeV. When corrected for EBL absorption, the intrinsic H.E.S.S. II mono and Fermi-LAT spectrum of PKS 2155 304 was found to show significant curvature. For PG 1553+113, however, no significant detection of curvature in the intrinsic spectrum could be found within statistical and systematic uncertainties.
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| 4. |
- Acero, F., et al.
(författare)
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Prospects for Cherenkov Telescope Array Observations of the Young Supernova Remnant RX J1713.7-3946
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 840:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We perform simulations for future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) observations of RX J1713.7-3946, a young supernova remnant (SNR) and one of the brightest sources ever discovered in very high energy (VHE) gamma rays. Special attention is paid to exploring possible spatial (anti) correlations of gamma rays with emission at other wavelengths, in particular X-rays and CO/H I emission. We present a series of simulated images of RX J1713.7-3946 for CTA based on a set of observationally motivated models for the gamma-ray emission. In these models, VHE gamma rays produced by high-energy electrons are assumed to trace the nonthermal X-ray emission observed by XMM-Newton, whereas those originating from relativistic protons delineate the local gas distributions. The local atomic and molecular gas distributions are deduced by the NANTEN team from CO and H I observations. Our primary goal is to show how one can distinguish the emission mechanism(s) of the gamma rays (i.e., hadronic versus leptonic, or a mixture of the two) through information provided by their spatial distribution, spectra, and time variation. This work is the first attempt to quantitatively evaluate the capabilities of CTA to achieve various proposed scientific goals by observing this important cosmic particle accelerator.
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| 5. |
- Abdo, A. A., et al.
(författare)
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FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF MISALIGNED ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 720:1, s. 912-922
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Analysis is presented for 15 months of data taken with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope for 11 non-blazar active galactic nuclei (AGNs), including seven FRI radio galaxies and four FRII radio sources consisting of two FRII radio galaxies and two steep spectrum radio quasars. The broad line FRI radio galaxy 3C 120 is reported here as a gamma-ray source for the first time. The analysis is based on directional associations of LAT sources with radio sources in the 3CR, 3CRR, and MS4 (collectively referred to as 3C-MS) catalogs. Seven of the eleven LAT sources associated with 3C-MS radio sources have spectral indices larger than 2.3 and, except for the FRI radio galaxy NGC 1275 that shows possible spectral curvature, are well described by a power law. No evidence for time variability is found for any sources other than NGC 1275. The gamma-ray luminosities of FRI radio galaxies are significantly smaller than those of the BL Lac objects detected by the LAT, whereas the gamma-ray luminosities of the FRII sources are quite similar to those of FSRQs, which could reflect different beaming factors for the gamma-ray emission. A core dominance (CD) study of the 3CRR sample indicates that sources closer to the jet axis are preferentially detected with the Fermi LAT, insofar as the gamma-ray-detected misaligned AGNs have larger CD at a given average radio flux. The results are discussed in view of the AGN unification scenario.
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| 6. |
- Abdollahi, S., et al.
(författare)
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Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 247:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog (4FGL) of gamma-ray sources. Based on the first eight years of science data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission in the energy range from 50 MeV to 1 TeV, it is the deepest yet in this energy range. Relative to the 3FGL catalog, the 4FGL catalog has twice as much exposure as well as a number of analysis improvements, including an updated model for the Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission, and two sets of light curves (one-year and two-month intervals). The 4FGL catalog includes 5064 sources above 4 sigma significance, for which we provide localization and spectral properties. Seventy-five sources are modeled explicitly as spatially extended, and overall, 358 sources are considered as identified based on angular extent, periodicity, or correlated variability observed at other wavelengths. For 1336 sources, we have not found plausible counterparts at other wavelengths. More than 3130 of the identified or associated sources are active galaxies of the blazar class, and 239 are pulsars.
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| 7. |
- Acero, F., et al.
(författare)
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FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE THIRD SOURCE CATALOG
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 218:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the third Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) source catalog (3FGL) of sources in the 100 MeV-300 GeV range. Based on the first 4 yr of science data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission, it is the deepest yet in this energy range. Relative to the Second Fermi LAT catalog, the 3FGL catalog incorporates twice as much data, as well as a number of analysis improvements, including improved calibrations at the event reconstruction level, an updated model for Galactic diffuse.-ray emission, a refined procedure for source detection, and improved methods for associating LAT sources with potential counterparts at other wavelengths. The 3FGL catalog includes 3033 sources above 4 sigma significance, with source location regions, spectral properties, and monthly light curves for each. Of these, 78 are flagged as potentially being due to imperfections in the model for Galactic diffuse emission. Twenty-five sources are modeled explicitly as spatially extended, and overall 238 sources are considered as identified based on angular extent or correlated variability (periodic or otherwise) observed at other wavelengths. For 1010 sources we have not found plausible counterparts at other wavelengths. More than 1100 of the identified or associated sources are active galaxies of the blazar class; several other classes of non-blazar active galaxies are also represented in the 3FGL. Pulsars represent the largest Galactic source class. From source counts of Galactic sources we estimate that the contribution of unresolved sources to the Galactic diffuse emission is similar to 3% at 1 GeV.
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| 8. |
- Ajello, M., et al.
(författare)
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3FHL : The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 232:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a catalog of sources detected above 10 GeV by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the first 7 years of data using the Pass 8 event-level analysis. This is the Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources (3FHL), containing 1556 objects characterized in the 10 GeV-2 TeV energy range. The sensitivity and angular resolution are improved by factors of 3 and 2 relative to the previous LAT catalog at the same energies (1FHL). The vast majority of detected sources (79%) are associated with extragalactic counterparts at other wavelengths, including 16 sources located at very high redshift (z > 2). Of the sources, 8% have Galactic counterparts and 13% are unassociated (or associated with a source of unknown nature). The high-latitude sky and the Galactic plane are observed with a flux sensitivity of 4.4 to 9.5 x 10(-11) ph cm(-2) s(-1), respectively (this is approximately 0.5% and 1% of the Crab Nebula flux above 10 GeV). The catalog includes 214 new gamma-ray sources. The substantial increase in the number of photons (more than 4 times relative to 1FHL and 10 times to 2FHL) also allows us to measure significant spectral curvature for 32 sources and find flux variability for 163 of them. Furthermore, we estimate that for the same flux limit of 10(-12) erg cm(-2) s(-1), the energy range above 10 GeV has twice as many sources as the range above 50 GeV, highlighting the importance, for future Cherenkov telescopes, of lowering the energy threshold as much as possible.
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| 9. |
- Ackermann, M., et al.
(författare)
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THE THIRD CATALOG OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI DETECTED BY THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 810:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The third catalog of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected by the Fermi-LAT (3LAC) is presented. It is based on the third Fermi-LAT catalog (3FGL) of sources detected between 100 MeV and 300 GeV with a Test Statistic greater than 25, between 2008 August 4 and 2012 July 31. The 3LAC includes 1591 AGNs located at high Galactic latitudes (vertical bar b vertical bar > 10 degrees), a 71% increase over the second catalog based on 2 years of data. There are 28 duplicate associations, thus 1563 of the 2192 high-latitude gamma-ray sources of the 3FGL catalog are AGNs. Most of them (98%) are blazars. About half of the newly detected blazars are of unknown type, i.e., they lack spectroscopic information of sufficient quality to determine the strength of their emission lines. Based on their gamma-ray spectral properties, these sources are evenly split between flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and BL Lacs. The most abundant detected BL Lacs are of the high-synchrotron-peaked (HSP) type. About 50% of the BL Lacs have no measured redshifts. A few new rare outliers (HSP-FSRQs and high-luminosity HSP BL Lacs) are reported. The general properties of the 3LAC sample confirm previous findings from earlier catalogs. The fraction of 3LAC blazars in the total population of blazars listed in BZCAT remains non-negligible even at the faint ends of the BZCAT-blazar radio, optical, and X-ray flux distributions, which hints that even the faintest known blazars could eventually shine in gamma-rays at LAT-detection levels. The energy-flux distributions of the different blazar populations are in good agreement with extrapolation from earlier catalogs.
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| 10. |
- 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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