Constraints on the Intergalactic Magnetic Field Strength from γ-Ray Observations of GRB 221009A

Abstract

Characteristics of the cascade gamma-ray signal resulting from very-high-energy gamma-ray sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, can be used to constrain the strength and structure of intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs). There has been a debate on whether GRB 190114C, the first gamma-ray burst with observed TeV photons, can constrain the IGMF. Recently, LHAASO detected the brightest-of-all-time GRB 221009A, which has much larger energy in the TeV band, and the spectrum extends to energy above 10 TeV, providing an unprecedented opportunity to study IGMF. We perform a Monte Carlo simulation of the cascade process with the public ELMAG code, considering the TeV data of GRB 221009A observed by LHAASO. By comparing the resulting cascade emission with the flux limit obtained from Fermi-LAT observations, we infer a limit of B ≥ 10−18.5 G for IGMF. Though this limit may not be as strong as the limit from blazars, it serves as an independent constraint on IGMF from a new class of TeV sources.