GeV Emission Research Articles

Synchrotron signature of a relativistic blast wave with decaying microturbulence

Microphysics of weakly magnetized relativistic collisionless shock waves, corroborated by recent high performance numerical simulations, indicate the presence of a microturbulent layer of large magnetic field strength behind the shock front, which must decay beyond some hundreds of skin depths. The present paper discusses the dynamics of such microturbulence, borrowing from these same numerical simulations, and calculates the synchrotron signature of a powerlaw of shock accelerated particles. The decaying microturbulent layer is found to leave distinct signatures in the spectro-temporal evolution of the spectrum $F_\nu \propto t^{-\alpha}\nu^{-\beta}$ of a decelerating blast wave, which are potentially visible in early multi-wavelength follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts. This paper also discusses the influence of the evolving microturbulence on the acceleration process, with particular emphasis on the maximal energy of synchrotron afterglow photons, which falls in the GeV range for standard gamma-ray burst parameters. Finally, this paper argues that the evolving microturbulence plays a key role in shaping the spectra of recently observed gamma-ray bursts with extended GeV emission, such as GRB090510.

A METHOD FOR LOCALIZING ENERGY DISSIPATION IN BLAZARS USING FERMI VARIABILITY

The distance of the Fermi-detected blazar gamma-ray emission site from the supermassive black hole is a matter of active debate. Here we present a method for testing if the GeV emission of powerful blazars is produced within the sub-pc scale broad line region (BLR) or farther out in the pc-scale molecular torus (MT) environment. If the GeV emission takes place within the BLR, the inverse Compton (IC) scattering of the BLR ultraviolet (UV) seed photons that produces the gamma-rays takes place at the onset of the Klein-Nishina regime. This causes the electron cooling time to become practically energy independent and the variation of the gamma-ray emission to be almost achromatic. If on the other hand the gamma-ray emission is produced farther out in the pc-scale MT, the IC scattering of the infrared (IR) MT seed photons that produces the gamma-rays takes place in the Thomson regime, resulting to energy-dependent electron cooling times, manifested as faster cooling times for higher Fermi energies. We demonstrate these characteristics and discuss the applicability and limitations of our method.

SMARTS OPTICAL AND INFRARED MONITORING OF 12 GAMMA-RAY BRIGHT BLAZARS

We present multiwavelength data for twelve blazars observed from 2008-2010 as part of an ongoing optical-infrared photometric monitoring project. Sources were selected to be bright, southern (dec < 20 deg) blazars observed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, with daily and weekly gamma-ray fluxes made available from the start of the Fermi mission. Light curves are presented for the twelve blazars in BVRJK at near-daily cadence. We find that optical and infrared fluxes are well correlated in all sources. Gamma-ray bright flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in our sample have optical/infrared emission correlated with gamma-rays consistent with inverse Compton-scattering models for GeV emission. In FSRQs, the variability amplitude decreases towards optical/IR wavelengths, consistent with the presence of a thermal emission component from the accretion disk varying on significantly longer timescales than the jet synchrotron emission. In BL Lac objects, variability is mainly constant across wavelengths, consistent with a weak or radiatively inefficient disk. FSRQs have redder optical-infrared colors when they are brighter, while BL Lac objects show no such trend. Several objects show complicated color-magnitude behavior: AO 0235+164 appears in two different states depending on whether it is gamma-ray bright or not. OJ 287 and 3C 279 show some hysteresis tracks in their color-magnitude diagrams. Individual flares may be achromatic or otherwise depart from the trend, suggesting different jet components becoming important at different times. We present a time-dependent spectral energy distribution of the bright FSRQ 3C 454.3 during its December 2009 flare, which is well fit by an external Compton model in the bright state, although day to day changes pose challenges to a simple one-zone model. All data from the SMARTS monitoring program are publicly available on our website.

FERMILARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 110625A

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that emit photons at GeV energies form a small but significant population of GRBs. However, the number of GRBs whose GeV-emitting period is simultaneously observed in X-rays remains small. We report gamma-ray observations of GRB 110625A using Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) in the energy range 100 MeV to 20 GeV. Gamma-ray emission at these energies was clearly detected using data taken between 180s and 580s after the burst, an epoch after the prompt emission phase. The GeV light curve differs from a simple power-law decay, and probably consists of two emission periods. Simultaneous Swift/XRT observations did not show flaring behaviors as in the case of GRB 100728A. We discuss the possibility that the GeV emission is the synchrotron self-Compton radiation of underlying ultraviolet flares.

GAMMA-RAY LIGHT CURVES FROM PULSAR MAGNETOSPHERES WITH FINITE CONDUCTIVITY

We investigate the shapes of \gamma-ray pulsar light curves using 3D pulsar magnetosphere models of finite conductivity. These models, covering the entire spectrum of solutions between vacuum and force-free magnetospheres, for the first time afford mapping the GeV emission of more realistic, dissipative pulsar magnetospheres. To this end we generate model light curves following two different approaches: (a) We employ the emission patterns of the slot and outer gap models in the field geometries of magnetospheres with different conductivity \sigma. (b) We define realistic trajectories of radiating particles in magnetospheres of different \sigma and compute their Lorentz factor under the influence of magnetospheric electric fields and curvature radiation-reaction; with these at hand we then calculate the emitted radiation intensity. The light curves resulting from these prescriptions are quite sensitive to the value of \sigma, especially in the second approach. While still not self-consistent, these results are a step forward in understanding the physics of pulsar \gamma-radiation.

ORIGIN OF THE GeV EMISSION DURING THE X-RAY FLARING ACTIVITY IN GRB 100728A

Recently, Fermi-LAT detected GeV emission during the X-ray flaring activity in GRB 100728A. We study various scenarios for its origin. The hard spectrum of the GeV emission favors the external inverse Compton (EIC) origin in which X-ray flare photons are up-scattered by relativistic electrons in the external forward shock. This EIC scenario, with anisotropic scattering effect taken into account, can reproduce the temporal and spectral properties of the GeV emission in GRB 100728A.

THE MORPHOLOGY OF HADRONIC EMISSION MODELS FOR THE GAMMA-RAY SOURCE AT THE GALACTIC CENTER

Recently, detections of a high-energy gamma-ray source at the position of the Galactic center have been reported by multiple gamma-ray telescopes, spanning the energy range between 100 MeV and 100 TeV. Analysis of these signals strongly suggests the TeV emission to have a morphology consistent with a point source up to the angular resolution of the HESS telescope (approximately 3 pc), while the point-source nature of the GeV emission is currently unsettled, with indications that it may be spatially extended. In the case that the emission is hadronic and in a steady state, we show that the expected gamma-ray morphology is dominated by the distribution of target gas, rather than by details of cosmic-ray injection and propagation. Specifically, we expect a significant portion of hadronic emission to coincide with the position of the circum-nuclear ring, which resides between 1-3 pc from the Galactic center. We note that the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be able to observe conclusive correlations between the morphology of the TeV gamma-ray source and the observed gas density, convincingly confirming or ruling out a hadronic origin for the gamma-ray emission.

THE COSMOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LUMINOUS TeV BLAZARS. I. IMPLICATIONS OF PLASMA INSTABILITIES FOR THE INTERGALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELD AND EXTRAGALACTIC GAMMA-RAY BACKGROUND

Inverse-Compton cascades initiated by energetic gamma rays (E>100 GeV) enhance the GeV emission from bright, extragalactic TeV sources. The absence of this emission from bright TeV blazars has been used to constrain the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF), and the stringent limits placed upon the unresolved extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB) by Fermi has been used to argue against a large number of such objects at high redshifts. However, these are predicated upon the assumption that inverse-Compton scattering is the primary energy-loss mechanism for the ultra-relativistic pairs produced by the annihilation of the energetic gamma rays on extragalactic background light photons. Here we show that for sufficiently bright TeV sources (isotropic-equivalent luminosities >10^{42} erg/s) plasma beam instabilities, specifically the "oblique" instability, present a plausible mechanism by which the energy of these pairs can be dissipated locally, heating the intergalactic medium. Since these instabilities typically grow on timescales short in comparison to the inverse-Compton cooling rate, they necessarily suppress the inverse-Compton cascades. As a consequence, this places a severe constraint upon efforts to limit the IGMF from the lack of a discernible GeV bump in TeV sources. Similarly, it considerably weakens the Fermi limits upon the evolution of blazar populations. Specifically, we construct a TeV-blazar luminosity function from those objects presently observed and find that it is very well described by the quasar luminosity function at z~0.1, shifted to lower luminosities and number densities, suggesting that both classes of sources are regulated by similar processes. Extending this relationship to higher redshifts, we show that the magnitude and shape of the EGRB above ~10 GeV is naturally reproduced with this particular example of a rapidly evolving TeV-blazar luminosity function.

A LEPTONIC MODEL OF STEADY HIGH-ENERGY GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM Sgr A*

Recent observations of Sgr A$^*$ by Fermi and HESS have detected steady gamma-ray emission in the GeV and TeV bands. We present a new model to explain the GeV gamma-ray emission by inverse Compton scattering by nonthermal electrons supplied by the NIR/X-ray flares of Sgr A$^*$. The escaping electrons from the flare regions accumulate in a region with a size of $\sim 10^{18}$ cm and magnetic fields of $\lesssim 10^{-4}$ G. Those electrons produce gamma-rays by inverse Compton scattering off soft photons emitted by stars and dust around the central black hole. By fitting the GeV spectrum, we find constraints on the magnetic field and the energy density of optical-UV radiation in the central 1 pc region around the supermassive black hole. While the GeV spectrum is well fitted by our model, the TeV $\gamma$-rays, whose spectral index is different from that of the GeV emission, may be from different sources such as pulsar wind nebulae.

Do Fermi Large Area Telescope observations imply very large Lorentz factors in gamma-ray burst outflows?

Recent detections of GeV photons in a few gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) imply huge bulk Lorentz factors to avoid a large γγ optical depth at high energy. Estimates can be as high as Γ≃ 103 in the most extreme cases. This puts severe constraints on models of the central engine and the jet acceleration in GRBs. These estimates are, however, obtained from a simplified single-zone model. We present here a more realistic calculation of the γγ opacity which takes into account the time, space and direction dependent photon field existing in an outflow with several relativistically moving emitting zones. The formalism is very general and can be applied to many models of the prompt GRB emission. We present results obtained for a numerical implementation in the framework of the internal shock model. We show the following results in this paper. (i) The minimum Lorentz factor Γmin in bright Fermi-LAT GRBs is reduced by a factor of ≃2–3 compared to previous estimates if the GeV and MeV emission are produced in the same region, and by an additional factor of ≃2–8 if the GeV emission is produced at larger radii. We provide an improved approximate formula for Γmin which is in good agreement with our numerical results and which can be directly applied to Fermi-LAT GRB data. (ii) A delayed onset of the GeV emission can be due to the time evolution of the opacity in a GRB outflow. As an illustration of these first two results, we present a synthetic GRB that reproduces most features of GRB 080916C with a mean Lorentz factor of ≃340, an optically thin regime for γγ opacity at 3 GeV in time bin ‘b’, a variability time-scale of ≃0.5 s in the MeV light curve and a delayed onset of ≃5 s of the GeV emission. (iii) The γγ opacity can smooth the short time-scale variability in the GeV light curve. This last result implies that the observed variability at high energy is not necessarily a good test to distinguish between an internal and an external origin for the GeV emission in GRBs.

LOCATING THE BLAZAR EMISSION SITE WITH FERMI VARIABILITY

This work presents a method for settling the following ongoing debate: is the GeV emission of powerful blazars produced inside the sub-pc size broad line region (BLR) or further out at scales of ~ 10 pc where the IR photon field of the dusty molecular torus dominates over that the UV field of the BLR? In the first case the GeV emission is most probably external Compton (EC) scattering of the ~ 10 eV BLR photons21, while in the second the seed photons for the EC GeV emission are the ~ 0.1 eV photons of the dust9 in the molecular torus8. The issue of the energy dissipation location is connected to the jet formation and collimation process25 and, as we argue here, can be resolved with Fermi spectral variability observations.

GAMMA RAYS FROM RADIO GALAXIES: FERMI/LAT OBSERVATIONS

We review the high energy properties of Misaligned AGNs associated with γ-ray sources detected by Fermi in 24 months of survey. Most of them are nearby emission low power radio galaxies (i.e FRIs) which probably have structured jets. On the contrary, high power radio sources (i.e FRIIs) with GeV emission are rare. The small number of FRIIs does not seem to be related to their higher redshifts. Assuming proportionality between the radio core flux and the γ-ray flux, several of them are expected to be bright enough to be detected above 100 MeV in spite of their distance. We suggest that beaming/jet structural differences are responsible for the detection rate discrepancy observed between FRIs and FRIIs.

A MAGNETAR-LIKE EVENT FROM LS I +61°303 AND ITS NATURE AS A GAMMA-RAY BINARY

We report on the Swift-BAT detection of a short burst from the direction of the TeV binary LS I +61 303, resembling those generally labelled as magnetar-like. We show that it is likely that the short burst was indeed originating from LS I +61 303 (although we cannot totally exclude the improbable presence of a far-away line-of-sight magnetar) and that it is a different phenomena with respect to the previously-observed ks-long flares from this system. Accepting as a hypothesis that LS I +61 303 is the first magnetar detected in a binary system, we study which are the implications. We find that a magnetar-composed LS I +61 303-system would most likely be (i.e., for usual magnetar parameters and mass-loss rate) subject to a flip-flop behavior, from a rotational powered regime (in apastron) to a propeller regime (in periastron) along each of the LS I +61 303, eccentric orbital motion. We prove that whereas near apastron an inter-wind shock can lead to the normally observed LS I +61 303behavior, with TeV emission, the periastron propeller is expected to efficiently accelerate particles only to sub-TeV energies. This flip-flop scenario would explain the system's behavior where a recurrent TeV emission was seen appearing near apastron only, the anti-correlation of GeV and TeV emission, and the long-term TeV variability (which seems correlated to LS I +61 303's super-orbital period), including the appearance of a low TeV-state. Finally, we qualitatively put the multi-wavelength phenomenology in context of our proposed model, and make some predictions for further testing.

Constraining the near-infrared background light from Population III stars using high-redshift gamma-ray sources

The Fermi satellite has detected GeV emission from a number of gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei at high redshift, z > 1.5. We examine the constraints that the detections of gamma rays from several of these sources place on the contribution of population-III stars to the extragalactic background light. Emission from these primordial stars, particularly redshifted Lyman-alpha emission, can interact with gamma rays to produce electron-positron pairs and create an optical depth to the propagation of gamma-ray emission, and the detection of emission above 10 GeV can therefore constrain the production of this background. We consider two initial mass functions for the early stars, and use derived SEDs for each to put upper limits on the star-formation rate density of massive early stars from redshifts 6 to 10. Our limits are complementary to those set on a high near-IR background flux by ground-based TeV-scale observations, and show that current data can limit star-formation in the late stages of reionization to less than 0.5 M_solar yr^-1 Mpc^-3. Our results also show that the total background flux from population-III stars must be considerably less than that from resolved galaxies at wavelengths below 1.5 microns.

LOWER BOUNDS ON INTERGALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELDS FROM SIMULTANEOUSLY OBSERVED GeV-TeV LIGHT CURVES OF THE BLAZAR Mrk 501

We derive lower bounds on intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs) from upper limits on the pair echo emission from the blazar Mrk 501, that is, delayed GeV emission from secondary $e^{-}e^{+}$ pairs produced via interactions of primary TeV gamma rays with the cosmic infrared background. Utilizing only simultaneous GeV-TeV light curves observed by VERITAS, MAGIC and {\it Fermi}-LAT during a multiwavelength campaign in 2009 that included a TeV flare, bounds are deduced on the IGMF strength of $B \gtrsim 10^{-20} {\rm G}$ at 90% confidence level for a field coherence length of 1 kpc. Since our analysis is based firmly on the observational data alone and nearly free of assumptions concerning the primary TeV flux in unobserved periods or spectral bands, our evaluation of the pair echo flux is conservative and the evidence for a non-zero IGMF is more robust compared to previous studies.

Nonthermal Emission of Tycho's Supernova Remnant

The time-dependent non-thermal particle and photon spectra are reproduced for a Type Ia SNR Tycho with radio, x-ray, GeV and TeV emission within the framework of the diffusive shock acceleration of the non-thermal particles. TeV photons can come from the inverse Compton scattering of relativistic electrons and from the π0-decay process in proton-proton interaction. The results show that (1) the hadronic case can model the observed multiwavelength spectrum well and, peculiarly, the π0-decay process appears to be necessary to explain the GeV emission; and (2) magnetic field amplification is vital in the SNR.

BROAD-LINE RADIO GALAXIES OBSERVED WITHFERMI-LAT: THE ORIGIN OF THE GeV γ-RAY EMISSION

We report on a detailed investigation of the gamma-ray emission from 18 broad line radio galaxies (BLRGs) based on two years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data. We confirm the previously reported detections of 3C 120 and 3C 111 in the GeV photon energy range; a detailed look at the temporal characteristics of the observed gamma-ray emission reveals in addition possible flux variability in both sources. No statistically significant gamma-ray detection of the other BLRGs was however found in the considered dataset. Though the sample size studied is small, what appears to differentiate 3C 111 and 3C 120 from the BLRGs not yet detected in gamma-rays is the particularly strong nuclear radio flux. This finding, together with the indications of the gamma-ray flux variability and a number of other arguments presented, indicate that the GeV emission of BLRGs is most likely dominated by the beamed radiation of relativistic jets observed at intermediate viewing angles. In this paper we also analyzed a comparison sample of high accretion-rate Seyfert 1 galaxies, which can be considered radio-quiet counterparts of BLRGs, and found none were detected in gamma-rays. A simple phenomenological hybrid model applied for the broad-band emission of the discussed radio-loud and radio-quiet type 1 active galaxies suggests that the relative contribution of the nuclear jets to the accreting matter is > 1 percent on average for BLRGs, whilst <0.1 percent for Seyfert 1 galaxies.

DISCOVERY OF GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM THE SUPERNOVA REMNANT Kes 17 WITH FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE

We report the discovery of GeV emission at the position of supernova remnant Kes 17 by using the data from the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Kes 17 can be clearly detected with a significance of ~12 sigma in the 1 - 20 GeV range. Moreover, a number of gamma-ray sources were detected in its vicinity. The gamma-ray spectrum of Kes 17 can be well described by a simple power-law with a photon index of ~ 2.4. Together with the multi-wavelength evidence for its interactions with the nearby molecular cloud, the gamma-ray detection suggests that Kes 17 is a candidate acceleration site for cosmic-rays.

GRB 080916C AND THE HIGH-ENERGY EMISSION IN THE FIRESHELL SCENARIO

In this paper we discuss a possible explanation for the high energy emission (up to ~ GeV) seen in GRB 080916C. We propose that the GeV emission is originated by the collision between relativistic baryons in the fireshell after the transparency and the nucleons located in molecular clouds near the burst site. This collision should give rise pion production, whose immediate decay provides high energy photons, neutrinos and leptons. Using a public code (SYBILL) we simulate these relativistic collisions in their simple form, so that we can draw our preliminar results in this paper. We will present moreover our hypothesis that the delayed onset of this emission identifies in a complete way the P-GRB emission.

Cosmic rays in the surroundings of SNR G35.6−0.4

HESS J1858+020 is a TeV gamma-ray source that was reported not to have any clear cataloged counterpart at any wavelength. However, it has been recently proposed that this source is indirectly associated with the radio source, re-identified as a supernova remnant (SNR), G35.6-0.4. The latter is found to be middle-aged ($\sim 30$ kyr) and to have nearby molecular clouds (MCs). HESS J1858+020 was proposed to be the result of the interaction of protons accelerated in the SNR shell with target ions residing in the clouds. The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) First Source Catalog does not list any source coincident with the position of HESS J1858+020, but some lie close. Here, we analyse more than 2 years of data obtained with the Fermi-LAT for the region of interest, and consider whether it is indeed possible that the closest LAT source, 1FGL J1857.1+0212c, is related to HESS J1858+020. We conclude it is not, and we impose upper limits on the GeV emission originating from HESS J1858+020. Using a simplified 3D model for the cosmic-ray propagation out from the shell of the SNR, we consider whether the interaction between SNR G35.6-0.4 and the MCs nearby could give rise to the TeV emission of HESS J1858+020 without producing a GeV counterpart. If so, the pair of SNR/TeV source with no GeV detection would be reminiscent of other similarly-aged SNRs, such as some of the TeV hotspots near W28, for which cosmic-ray diffusion may be used to explain their multi-frequency phenomenology. However, for HESS J1858+020, we found that although the phase space in principle allows for such GeV--TeV non-correlation to appear, usual and/or observationally constrained values of the parameters (e.g., diffusion coefficients and cloud-SNR likely distances) would disfavor it.