Diffuse Γ-ray Research Articles

Contribution of the Cygnus Bubble to the Galactic Cosmic Ray Spectrum and Diffuse γ-Ray Emissions

Since the discovery of cosmic rays (CRs) over a century ago, their origin has remained a mystery and a key research question. Recently, the LHAASO experiment identified the first CR superacceleration source, the Cygnus bubble, which can accelerate CRs to energies exceeding 10 PeV. A pertinent question is how much the Cygnus bubble contributes to the CR spectrum observed on Earth. With the aim of answering that question, a 3D propagation analysis was conducted on CRs in this study. The Cygnus bubble was incorporated into our propagation model in order to determine its contributions to the observed spectra. First, we calculated the spectrum and spatial morphology of the Cygnus bubble to reproduce the observed LHAASO data. Subsequently, we calculated the diffuse γ-ray emissions produced by the CRs from the Cygnus bubble and the energy spectrum of the CR particles near Earth after propagation. Finally, we utilized a CR spatial-dependent propagation model to calculate the large-scale CR energy spectrum and the resulting diffuse γ-ray emissions. Our results indicate that (1) the Cygnus bubble contributes minimally to the CR spectrum observed on Earth, (2) the emissions produced by the CR particles from the Cygnus bubble dominate the diffuse γ-ray emissions in that region, and (3) the structural fluctuations of the diffuse γ-ray emissions observed by LHAASO are likely due to the local CR halo. We anticipate that LHAASO will identify more CR halo sources to validate our model.

Constraining the hadronic properties of star-forming galaxies above 1 GeV with 15-years Fermi-LAT data

Star-forming and starburst galaxies (SFGs and SBGs) are considered to be powerful emitters of non-thermal γ-rays and neutrinos, due to their intense phases of star-formation activity, which should confine high-energy Cosmic-Rays (CRs) inside their environments. On this regard, the Fermi-LAT collaboration has found a correlation between the γ-ray and infrared luminosities for a sample of local sources. Yet, the physics behind these non-thermal emission is still under debate. We provide novel constraints on the tight relation between γ-rays and star formation rate (SFR) exploiting 15 years of public Fermi-LAT data. Thus, we probe the calorimetric fraction Fcal of high-energy protons in SFGs and SBGs, namely, the fraction of high-energy protons actually producing high-energy γ-rays and neutrinos. Further, we extrapolate this information to their diffuse γ-ray and neutrino emissions constraining their contribution to the extra-galactic gamma-ray background (EGB) and the diffuse neutrino flux. Using the publicly-available fermitools, we analyse 15.3 years of γ-ray between 1-1000 GeV data for 70 sources, 56 of which were not previously detected. We relate this emission to a theoretical model for SBGs in order to constrain Fcal for each source and then study its correlation with the star formation rate of the sources. Firstly, we find at 4σ level an indication of γ-ray emission for other two SBGs, namely M 83 and NGC 1365. By contrast, we find that, even with the new description of background, the significance for the γ-ray emission of M 33 (initially reported as discovered) still stands at ~ 4σ (as already reported by previous works).Along with previous findings, the flux of each detected source is consistent with a ~ E -2.3/2.4 spectrum, compatible with the injected CR flux inferred in the Milky-Way. We also notice that the correlation between Fcal and the SFR is in accordance with the expected scaling relation for CR escape dominated by advection. We remark that undiscovered sources strongly constrain Fcal at 95% CL, providing fundamental information when we interpret the results as common properties of SFGs and SBGs. Finally, we find that these sources might contribute (12 ± 3)% to the EGB, while the corresponding diffuse neutrino flux strongly depends on the spectral index distribution along the source class.

GeV γ-ray emission in the field of young massive star cluster RCW 38

ABSTRACT We report the detection of γ-ray emission by the Fermi Large Area Telescope towards the young massive star cluster RCW 38 in the 1–500 GeV photon energy range. We found spatially extended GeV emission towards the direction of RCW 38, which is best modelled by a Gaussian disc of 0.23° radius with a significance of the extension of ∼11.4σ. Furthermore, the spatial correlation with the ionized and molecular gas content favours the hadronic origin of the γ-ray emission. The γ-ray spectrum of RCW 38 has a relatively hard photon index of 2.44 ± 0.03, which is similar to other young massive star clusters. We argue that the diffuse GeV γ-ray emission in this region likely originates from the interaction of accelerated protons in the stellar cluster with the ambient gas.

Galactic Diffuse γ-Ray Emission from GeV to PeV Energies in Light of Up-to-date Cosmic-Ray Measurements

Diffuse γ-ray emission between 10 and 1000 TeV from the Galactic plane was recently measured by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). These observations will help tremendously in constraining the propagation and interaction of cosmic rays in the Milky Way. Additionally, new measurements of cosmic-ray spectra reach a very high precision of up to 100 TeV energies, revealing multiple spectral structures of various species. In this work, based on up-to-date measurements of local cosmic-ray spectra and a simplified propagation setup, we confront a model prediction of diffuse γ-ray emission with measurements of diffuse γ-rays. To better constrain the low-energy part of the model, we analyze the 14.6 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) data to extract the Galactic diffuse emission between 1 and 500 GeV from the same sky regions of LHAASO, after subtracting the contribution from known sources and the isotropic diffuse γ-ray background. The joint Fermi-LAT and LHAASO spectra thus cover a very wide energy range from 1 GeV to 1 PeV with small gaps from 0.5 to 10 TeV. Compared with the prediction, we find that clear excesses between several GeV and ∼60 TeV of the diffuse emission exist. Possible reasons to explain the excesses may include unresolved sources or more complicated propagation models. We illustrate that an exponential cutoff power-law component with an index of −2.40 and a cutoff energy of ∼30 TeV is able to account for such excesses.

Measurement of Ultra-High-Energy Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission of the Galactic Plane from 10TeV to 1PeV with LHAASO-KM2A.

The diffuse Galactic γ-ray emission, mainly produced via interactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar medium and/or radiation field, is a very important probe of the distribution, propagation, and interaction of cosmic rays in the MilkyWay. In this Letter, we report the measurements of diffuse γ rays from the Galactic plane between 10TeV and 1PeV energies, with the square kilometer array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO). Diffuse emissions from the inner (15°<l<125°, |b|<5°) and outer (125°<l<235°, |b|<5°) Galactic plane are detected with 29.1σ and 12.7σ significance, respectively. The outer Galactic plane diffuse emission is detected for the first time in the very- to ultra-high-energy domain (E>10 TeV). The energy spectrum in the inner Galaxy regions can be described by a power-law function with an index of -2.99±0.04, which is different from the curved spectrum as expected from hadronic interactions between locally measured cosmic rays and the line-of-sight integrated gas content. Furthermore, the measured flux is higher by a factor of ∼3 than the prediction. A similar spectrum with an index of -2.99±0.07 is found in the outer Galaxy region, and the absolute flux for 10≲E≲60 TeV is again higher than the prediction for hadronic cosmic ray interactions. The latitude distributions of the diffuse emission are consistent with the gas distribution, while the longitude distributions show clear deviation from the gas distribution. The LHAASO measurements imply that either additional emission sources exist or cosmic ray intensities have spatial variations.

γ-Ray and ultra-high energy neutrino background suppression due to solar radiation

The Sun emits copious amounts of photons and neutrinos in an approximately spatially isotropic distribution. Diffuse γ-rays and ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos from extragalactic sources may subsequently interact and annihilate with the emitted solar photons and neutrinos respectively. This will in turn induce an anisotropy in the cosmic ray (CR) background due to attenuation of the γ-ray and UHE neutrino flux by the solar radiation. Measuring this reduction, therefore, presents a simple and powerful astrophysical probe of electroweak interactions. In this letter we compute such anisotropies, which at the Earth (Sun) can be at least ≃5×10−3(1)% and ≃1×10−16(2×10−14)% for TeV scale γ-rays and PeV scale UHE neutrinos respectively. We briefly discuss observational prospects for experiments such as the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (Fermi LAT), High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) detector, The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) and IceCube. The potential for measuring γ-ray attenuation at orbital locations of other active satellites such as the Parker Solar Probe and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is also explored.

Possible contribution of X-ray binary jets to the Galactic cosmic ray and neutrino flux

ABSTRACT For over a century, the identification of high-energy cosmic ray (CR) sources remains an open question. For Galactic CRs with energy up to 1015 eV, supernova remnants (SNRs) have traditionally been thought the main candidate source. However, recent TeV γ-ray observations have questioned the SNR paradigm. Propagating CRs are deflected by the Galactic magnetic field, hence, γ-rays and neutrinos produced via inelastic hadronic interactions are the only means for unveiling the CR sources. In this work, we study the γ-ray and neutrino emission produced by CRs accelerated inside Galactic jets of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries (BHXBs). We calculate the intrinsic neutrino emission of two prototypical BHXBs , Cygnus X–1 and GX 339–4, for which we have high-quality, quasi-simultaneous multiwavelength spectra. Based on these prototypical sources, we discuss the likelihood of the 35 known Galactic BHXBs to be efficient CR accelerators. Moreover, we estimate the potential contribution to the CR spectrum of a viable population of BHXBs that reside in the Galactic plane. When these BHXBs go into outburst, they may accelerate particles up to hundreds of TeV that contribute to the diffuse γ-ray and neutrino spectra while propagating in the Galactic medium. Using HERMES, an open-source code that calculates the hadronic processes along the line of sight, we discuss the contribution of BHXBs to the diffuse γ-ray and neutrino fluxes, and compare these to their intrinsic γ-ray and neutrino emissions. Finally, we discuss the contribution of BHXBs to the observed spectrum of Galactic CRs.

Constraining the Position of the Knee in the Galactic Cosmic-Ray Spectrum with Ultra-high-energy Diffuse γ-Rays

The diffuse γ-ray emission was measured up to 957 TeV by the Tibet-ASγ experiment recently. Assuming that it is produced by the hadronic interaction between cosmic-ray nuclei and the interstellar medium, it requires that the cosmic-ray nuclei should be accelerated well beyond PeV energies. Measurements of the cosmic-ray spectra for different species show diverse results at present. The Tibet experiments showed that the spectrum of proton plus helium has an early knee below PeV. If this is correct, the diffuse γ-ray emission would suggest an additional component of Galactic cosmic rays above PeV energies. This second component may originate from a source population of so-called PeVatrons revealed by recent ultra-high-energy γ-ray observations and could contribute to the cosmic-ray fluxes up to the energy of the second knee. On the other hand, the KASCADE measurement showed that the knee of protons is higher than PeV. In this case, the diffuse γ-rays observed by Tibet-ASγ can be well accounted for by only one cosmic-ray component. These two scenarios (i.e., the Tibet and KASCADE knees) could be distinguished by the spectral structures of diffuse γ-rays and cosmic-ray nuclei. Future measurements of spectra of individual nuclei by HERD and LHAASO experiments and diffuse γ-rays by LHAASO can jointly constrain these two scenarios.

Diffuse γ-ray emission around the massive star forming region of Carina Nebula Complex

ABSTRACT We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) detection of the γ-ray emission toward the massive star forming region of Carina Nebula Complex (CNC). Using the latest source catalogue and diffuse background models, we found that the GeV γ-ray emission in this region can be resolved into three different components. The GeV γ-ray emission from the central point source is considered to originate from the η Carina (η Car). We further found the diffuse GeV γ-ray emission around the CNC which can be modelled by two Gaussian discs with radii of 0.4○ (region A) and 0.75○ (region B), respectively. The GeV γ-ray emission from both the regions A and B have good spatial consistency with the derived molecular gas in projection on the sky. The GeV γ-ray emission of region A reveals a characteristic spectral shape of the pion-decay process, which indicates that the γ-rays are produced by the interactions of hadronic cosmic rays with ambient gas. The γ-rays spectrum of region B has a hard photon index of 2.12 ± 0.02, which is similar to other young massive star clusters. We argue that the diffuse GeV γ-ray emission in region A and region B likely originate from the interaction of accelerated protons in clusters with the ambient gas.

Constraining the Baryon Loading Factor of AGN Jets: Implication from the γ-Ray Emission of the Coma Cluster

Abstract High-energy cosmic rays (CRs) can be accelerated in the relativistic jets of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) powered by supermassive black holes. The baryon loading efficiency onto relativistic CR baryons from the accreting black holes is poorly constrained by observations so far. In this paper, we suggest that the γ-ray emission of galaxy clusters can be used to study the baryon loading factor of AGN jets, since CRs injected by AGN jets are completely confined in the galaxy clusters and sufficiently interact with the intracluster medium via a hadronic process, producing diffuse γ-rays. We study the propagation of CRs in the galaxy clusters and calculate the radial distribution of the γ-rays in the galaxy cluster with different injection rates from AGNs. By comparison with the γ-ray flux and upper limits of the Coma cluster measured by Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, we find the upper limit of the average baryon loading factor (defined as the efficiency with which the gravitational energy is converted into relativistic particles) to be η p,grav &lt; 0.1. The upper limit is much lower than that required to account for diffuse neutrino flux in the conventional blazar models.

A hard spectrum diffuse γ-ray component associated with H II gas in the Galactic plane

We analyzed 12-year Fermi Large Area Telescope γ-ray data in the inner Galaxy centered at (l = 30°, b = 0°) and (l = 330°, b = 0°). We found significant hardening of the spectrum of the diffuse γ-ray emission in these regions as previously reported. We further deduced that the diffuse γ rays can be divided into two components from the likelihood analysis. One component is associated with the total gas column density and reveals a soft spectrum, while the other is associated with the H II gas and presents a hard spectrum. Assuming the diffuse γ-ray emissions are mainly produced through the interaction between cosmic rays (CRs) and the ambient gas, these two components are produced by the CR populations with spectral indices of 2.8 (“soft”) and 2.3 (“hard”), respectively. We argue that the hard CR population may come from the vicinity of the CR accelerators. The soft CR population has a similar spectral shape and density as measured in the solar neighborhood, which implies a uniform CR “sea” with a similar density and spectral shape in the Galaxy.

New limit on high Galactic latitude PeV γ-ray flux from Tibet ASγ data

The Tibet ASγ collaboration has recently reported the detection of γ-rays with energies up to Peta-electronvolt from parts of the Galactic plane. We note that the analysis of γ-ray flux by the Tibet-ASγ experiment also implies an upper bound on the diffuse γ-ray flux from high Galactic latitudes (|b|&gt; 20°) in the energy range between 100 TeV and 1 PeV. This bound is up to an order of magnitude stronger than previously derived bounds from GRAPES3, KASCADE, and CASA-MIA experiments. We discuss the new Tibet-ASγ limit on the high Galactic latitude γ-ray flux in the context of possible mechanisms of multi-messenger (γ-ray and neutrino) emission from nearby cosmic ray sources, dark matter decays, and the large-scale cosmic ray halo of the Milky Way.

When freeze-out occurs due to a non-Boltzmann suppression: a study of degenerate dark sector

Exponential suppression or commonly known as the Boltzmann suppression in the number density of dark matter is the key ingredient for creating chemical imbalance prior to the usual thermal freeze-out. A degenerate/quasi-degenerate dark sector can experience a different exponential suppression in the number density analogous to the radioactive decay law leading to a delayed freeze-out mechanism of dark matter known as the co-decaying dark matter. In this work, we study the dynamics of a multicomponent dark matter from thermally decoupled degenerate dark sector in a hidden U(1)X extension of the Standard Model. We compute the relic density of dark matter frozen-out through the co-decaying mechanism by solving four coupled Boltzmann equations. We demonstrate how temperature T′ of the dark sector changes due to all types of 3 → 2 and 2 → 2 interactions along with the eternal expansion of the Universe. We find that 3 → 2 interactions enhance T′ by producing energetic particles in the dark sector while the excess heat is transferred by 2 → 2 interactions to the entire dark sector. As the direct detection is possible only through the feeble portal couplings, we investigate the neutrino and γ-ray signals from dark matter annihilation via one step cascade processes and compare our results with the measured fluxes of atmospheric neutrinos by Super-Kamiokande and diffuse γ-rays by Fermi-LAT, EGRET, INTEGRAL collaborations. We find that the present scenario easily evades all the existing bounds from atmospheric neutrino and diffuse γ-ray observations for degenerate dark sector. However, the constraints are significant for quasi degenerate scenario.

PeV–EeV Neutrinos from Gamma-Ray Blazars due to Ultrahigh-energy Cosmic-Ray Propagation

Abstract Blazars are potential sources of cosmic-ray acceleration up to ultrahigh energies (E ≳ 1018 eV). For an efficient cosmic-ray injection from blazars, pγ collisions with extragalactic background light (EBL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) can produce neutrino spectra with peaks near to PeV and EeV energies, respectively. In this work, we analyze the contribution of these neutrinos to the diffuse background measured by the IceCube neutrino observatory. The fraction of neutrino luminosity originating from individual redshift ranges is calculated using the distribution of BL Lacs and FSRQs provided in the Fermi-LAT 4LAC catalog. Furthermore, we use a luminosity-dependent density evolution to find the neutrino flux of unresolved blazars. The results obtained in our model indicate that as much as ≈10% of the flux upper bound at a few PeV energies can arise from cosmic-ray interactions with EBL. The same interactions will also produce secondary electrons and photons, initiating electromagnetic cascades. The resultant photon spectrum is limited by the isotropic diffuse γ-ray flux measured between 100 MeV and 820 GeV. The latter, together with the observed cosmic-ray flux at E &gt; 1016.5 eV, can constrain the baryonic loading factor, depending on the maximum cosmic-ray acceleration energy.

Mapping large-scale diffuse γ-ray emission in the 10−100 TeV band with Cherenkov telescopes

Context. Measurement of diffuse γ-ray emission from the Milky Way with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) is difficult because of the high level of charged cosmic ray background and the small field of view. Aims. We show that such a measurement is nevertheless possible in the energy band 10−100 TeV. Methods. The minimal charged particle background for IACTs is achieved by selecting the events to be used for the analyses of the cosmic ray electrons. Tight cuts on the event quality in these event selections allow us to obtain a sufficiently low background level to allow measurement of the diffuse Galactic γ-ray flux above 10 TeV. We calculated the sensitivities of different types of IACT arrays for the Galactic diffuse emission measurements and compared them with the diffuse γ-ray flux from different parts of the sky measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope below 3 TeV and with the astrophysical neutrino signal measured by IceCube telescope. Results. We show that deep exposure of existing IACT systems is sufficient for detection of the diffuse flux from all the Galactic Plane up to Galactic latitude |b| ∼ 5°. The Medium Size Telescope array of the CTA will be able to detect the diffuse flux up 30° Galactic latitude. Its sensitivity will be sufficient for detection of the γ-ray counterpart of the Galactic component of the IceCube astrophysical neutrino signal above 10 TeV. We also propose that a dedicated IACT system composed of small but wide-field-of-view telescopes could be used to map the 10−100 TeV diffuse γ-ray emission from across the whole sky. Conclusions. Detection and detailed study of diffuse Galactic γ-ray emission in the previously unexplored 10−100 TeV energy range is possible with the IACT technique. This is important for identification of the Galactic component of the astrophysical neutrino signal and for understanding the propagation of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium.

Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Emissions due to Cosmic-Ray Protons Accelerated at Intracluster Shocks in Galaxy Clusters

Abstract We examine the cosmic-ray protons (CRp) accelerated at collisionless shocks in galaxy clusters using cosmological structure formation simulations. We find that in the intracluster medium (ICM) within the virial radius of simulated clusters, only ∼7% of shock kinetic energy flux is dissipated by the shocks that are expected to accelerate CRp—that is, supercritical, quasi-parallel (Q ∥) shocks with sonic Mach number M s ≥ 2.25. The rest is dissipated at subcritical shocks and quasi-perpendicular shocks, both of which may not accelerate CRp. Adopting the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) model recently presented in Ryu et al., we quantify the DSA of CRp in simulated clusters. The average fraction of the shock kinetic energy transferred to CRp via DSA is assessed at ∼(1–2) × 10−4. We also examine the energization of CRp through reacceleration using a model based on the test-particle solution. Assuming that the ICM plasma passes through shocks three times on average through the history of the universe and that CRp are reaccelerated only at supercritical Q ∥-shocks, the CRp spectrum flattens by ∼0.05–0.1 in slope and the total amount of CRp energy increases by ∼40%–80% from reacceleration. We then estimate diffuse γ-ray and neutrino emissions, resulting from inelastic collisions between CRp and thermal protons. The predicted γ-ray emissions from simulated clusters lie mostly below the upper limits set by Fermi-LAT for observed clusters. The neutrino fluxes toward nearby clusters would be ≲10−4 of the IceCube flux at E ν = 1 PeV and ≲10−6 of the atmospheric neutrino flux in the energy range of E ν ≤ 1 TeV.

Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission at TeV energy

Context. Measuring the diffuse Galactic γ-ray flux in the TeV range is difficult for ground-based γ-ray telescopes because of the residual cosmic-ray background, which is higher than the γ-ray flux by several orders of magnitude. Its detection is also challenging for space-based telescopes because of low signal statistics. Aims. We characterise the diffuse TeV flux from the Galaxy using decade-long exposures of the Fermi Large Area Telescope. Methods. Considering that the level of diffuse Galactic emission in the TeV band approaches the level of residual cosmic-ray background, we estimated the level of residual cosmic-ray background in the SOURCEVETO event selection and verified that the TeV diffuse Galactic emission flux is well above the residual cosmic-ray background up to high Galactic latitude regions. Results. We study spectral and imaging properties of the diffuse TeV signal from the Galactic plane. We find much stronger emission from the inner Galactic plane than in previous HESS telescope estimates (lower bound). We also find a significant difference in the measurement of the Galactic longitude and latitude profiles of the signal measured by Fermi and HESS. These discrepancies are presumably explained by the fact that regions of background estimate in HESS have non-negligible γ-ray flux. Comparing Fermi measurements with those of ARGO-YBJ, we find better agreement, with the notable exception of the Cygnus region, where we find much higher flux (by a factor 1.5). We also measure the TeV diffuse emission spectrum up to high Galactic latitude and show that the spectra of different regions of the sky have spectral slopes consistent with Γ = 2.34 ± 0.04, which is harder than the slope of the locally observed spectrum of cosmic rays with energies 10–100 TeV, which produce TeV diffuse emission on their way through the interstellar medium. We discuss the possible origin of the hard slope of the TeV diffuse emission. Conclusions. Fermi/LAT provides reliable measurements of the diffuse Galactic emission spectrum in the TeV range, which are almost background free at low Galactic latitudes. The diffuse flux becomes comparable to the residual cosmic-ray background at Galactic latitudes |b| &gt; 50°. Its measurement in these regions might suffer from systematic uncertainty stemming from the uncertainty of our phenomenological model of the residual cosmic-ray background in the Pass 8 Fermi/LAT data.

Detection of virial shocks in stacked Fermi-LAT galaxy clusters

Galaxy clusters are thought to grow by accreting mass through large-scale, strong, yet elusive, virial shocks. Such a shock is expected to accelerate relativistic electrons, thus generating a spectrally-flat leptonic virial-ring. However, until now, only the nearby Coma cluster has shown evidence for a γ-ray virial ring. We stack Fermi-LAT data for the 112 most massive, high latitude, extended clusters, enhancing the ring sensitivity by rescaling clusters to their virial radii and utilizing the expected flat energy spectrum. In addition to a central unresolved, hard signal (detected at the ∼ 5.8σ confidence level), probably dominated by AGN, we identify (at the 5.8σ confidence level) a bright, spectrally-flat γ-ray ring at the expected virial shock position. The ring signal implies that the shock deposits ∼ 0.6% (with an interpretation uncertainty factor ∼2) of the thermal energy in relativistic electrons over a Hubble time. This result, consistent with the Coma signal, validates and calibrates the virial shock model, and indicates that the cumulative emission from such shocks significantly contributes to the diffuse extragalactic γ-ray and low-frequency radio backgrounds.

A new gamma-ray source unveiled by AGILE in the region of Orion

Context. Diffuse galactic γ-ray emission is produced by the interaction of cosmic rays (CRs) with the interstellar environment. The study of γ-ray emission is therefore a powerful tool that can be used to investigate the origin of CRs and the processes through which they are accelerated. Aims. Our aim is to gain deeper insights into the nature of γ-ray emission in the region of Orion, which is one of the best studied sites of ongoing star formation, by analysing data from the AGILE satellite. Because of the large amount of interstellar medium (ISM) present in it, the diffuse γ-ray emission expected from the Orion region is relatively high. Its separation from the galactic plane also ensures a very small contribution from foreground or background emission, which makes it an ideal site for studying the processes of particle acceleration in star-forming environments. Methods. The AGILE data are modelled through a template that quantifies the γ-ray diffuse emission expected from atomic and molecular hydrogen. Other sources of emission, such as inverse Compton (IC) scattering in interstellar radiation fields (ISRF) and extragalactic background, can be modelled as an isotropic contribution. Results. Gamma-ray emission exceeding the amount expected by the diffuse emission model is detected with a high level of significance. The main excess is in the high-longitude part of Orion A, which confirms previous results from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. A thorough analysis of this feature suggests a connection between the observed γ-ray emission and the B0.5 Ia star κ Orionis. Conclusions. We present the results of the investigation of γ-ray diffuse galactic emission from the region of Orion. The comparison between modelled and observed emission points towards the existence of higher-than-expected γ-ray flux from a 1° radius region centred in κ Orionis, compatible with the site where stellar wind collides with the ISM. Scattering on dark gas and cosmic-ray acceleration at the shock between the two environments are both discussed as possible explanations, with the latter hypothesis being supported by the hardness of the energy spectrum of the emission. If confirmed, this would be the first direct detection of γ-ray emission from the interaction between ISM and a single star’s stellar wind.

Extragalactic diffuse γ-rays from dark matter annihilation: revised prediction and full modelling uncertainties

Recent high-energy data from Fermi-LAT on the diffuse γ-ray background have been used to set among the best constraints on annihilating TeV cold dark matter candidates. In order to assess the robustness of these limits, we revisit and update the calculation of the isotropic extragalactic γ-ray intensity from dark matter annihilation. The emission from halos with masses ⩾ 1010 M⊙ provides a robust lower bound on the predicted intensity. The intensity including smaller halos whose properties are extrapolated from their higher mass counterparts is typically 5 times higher, and boost from subhalos yields an additional factor ∼ 1.5. We also rank the uncertainties from all ingredients and provide a detailed error budget for them. Overall, our fiducial intensity is a factor 5 lower than the one derived by the Fermi-LAT collaboration in their latest analysis. This indicates that the limits set on extragalactic dark matter annihilations could be relaxed by the same factor. We also calculate the expected intensity for self-interacting dark matter in massive halos and find the emission reduced by a factor 3 compared to the collisionless counterpart. The next release of the CLUMPY code will provide all the tools necessary to reproduce and ease future improvements of this prediction.