GeV Gamma-ray Research Articles

Search for Astrophysical Neutrinos from 1FLE Blazars with IceCube

The majority of astrophysical neutrinos have undetermined origins. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has observed astrophysical neutrinos but has not yet identified their sources. Blazars are promising source candidates, but previous searches for neutrino emission from populations of blazars detected in ≳GeV gamma rays have not observed any significant neutrino excess. Recent findings in multimessenger astronomy indicate that high-energy photons, coproduced with high-energy neutrinos, are likely to be absorbed and reemitted at lower energies. Thus, lower-energy photons may be better indicators of TeV–PeV neutrino production. This paper presents the first time-integrated stacking search for astrophysical neutrino emission from MeV-detected blazars in the first Fermi Large Area Telescope low energy (1FLE) catalog using ten years of IceCube muon–neutrino data. The results of this analysis are found to be consistent with a background-only hypothesis. Assuming an E−2 neutrino spectrum and proportionality between the blazars MeV gamma-ray fluxes and TeV–PeV neutrino flux, the upper limit on the 1FLE blazar energy-scaled neutrino flux is determined to be 1.64 × 10−12 TeV cm−2 s−1 at 90% confidence level. This upper limit is approximately 1% of IceCube’s diffuse muon–neutrino flux measurement.

High-energy Gamma Rays from Magnetically Arrested Disks in Nearby Radio Galaxies

The origins of the GeV gamma rays from nearby radio galaxies are unknown. Hadronic emission from magnetically arrested disks (MADs) around central black holes is proposed as a possible scenario. Particles are accelerated in a MAD by magnetic reconnection and stochastic turbulence acceleration. We pick out the 15 brightest radio galaxies in the GeV band from The Fourth Catalog of Active Galactic Nuclei Detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Data Release 2 and apply the MAD model. We find that we can explain the data in the GeV bands by the MAD model if the accretion rate is lower than 0.1% of the Eddington rate. For a higher accretion rate, GeV gamma rays are absorbed by two-photon interaction due to copious low-energy photons. If we assume another proposed prescription of the electron-heating rate by magnetic reconnection, the MAD model fails to reproduce the GeV data for the majority of our sample. This indicates that the electron-heating rate is crucial. We also apply the MAD model to Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) and find that GeV gamma rays observed at the Galactic center do not come from the MAD of Sgr A*. We estimate the cosmic ray (CR) intensity from Sgr A*, but it is too low to explain the high-energy CR intensity on Earth.

High-energy Emission Component, Population, and Contribution to the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background of Gamma-Ray-emitting Radio Galaxies

In this study, we systematically studied the X-ray to GeV gamma-ray spectra of 61 Fermi Large Area Telescope detected radio galaxies. We found an anticorrelation between peak frequency and peak luminosity in the high-energy spectral component of radio galaxies, similar to blazars. With this sample, we also constructed a gamma-ray luminosity function (GLF) of gamma-ray-loud radio galaxies. We found that blazar-like GLF shapes can reproduce their redshift and luminosity distribution, but the log N–log S relation prefers models with more low-z radio galaxies. Utilizing our latest GLF, the contribution of radio galaxies to the extragalactic gamma-ray background is found to be 1%–10%. We further investigated the nature of gamma-ray-loud radio galaxies. Compared to radio or X-ray flux-limited radio galaxy samples, the gamma-ray-selected sample tends to lack high radio power galaxies like FR II radio galaxies. We also found that only ∼10% of radio galaxies are GeV gamma-ray loud. Radio galaxies may contribute to the cosmic MeV gamma-ray background comparable to blazars if gamma-ray-quiet radio galaxies have X-ray to gamma-ray spectra like Cen A, with a small gamma-ray-to-X-ray flux ratio.

Detection of gamma-rays around SNR HB9 and its implications for the diffusive shock-acceleration history

Abstract We analyze the GeV gamma-ray emission data from the vicinity of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB9 (G160.9+2.6) from the Fermi-LAT 12 yr observations to quantify the evolution of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) in the SNR. In the vicinity of HB9, there are molecular clouds whose locations do not coincide with the SNR shell in the line of sight. We detect significant gamma-ray emissions above 1 GeV spatially coinciding with the two prominent cloud regions, as well as emission from the SNR shell, the latter of which is consistent with the results of previous studies. The energy spectrum above 1 GeV in each region is fitted with a simple power-law function of dN/dE ∝ E−Γ. The fitting result indicates harder spectra, with power-law indices of Γ = 1.84 ± 0.18 and 1.84 ± 0.14, than that at the SNR shell, with Γ = 2.55 ± 0.10. The observed spectra from the cloud regions are found to be consistent with the theoretically expected gamma-ray emissions originating in the protons that escaped from SNR HB9, where particles can be accelerated up to higher energies than those in the shell at present. The resultant diffusion coefficient in the vicinity of the SNR is comparable to that of the Galactic mean.

TeV and keV–MeV Excesses as Probes for Hadronic Process in BL Lacertaes

Abstract A hard TeV γ-ray component excess over the single-zone leptonic model prediction (TeV excess) is observed in the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of some BL Lacs. Its origin is uncertain. We revisit this issue with four BL Lacs (1ES 0229+200, 1ES 0347–121, 1ES 1101–232, and H2356–309), in which the TeV excess is detected in their intrinsic SEDs. We represent their SEDs with a single-zone leptohadronic model, where radiations of the electrons and protons as well as the cascade electrons produced by the γγ and pγ interactions within their jets are considered. We show that the observed SEDs below the GeV gamma-ray band are attributed to the synchrotron radiations and self-Compton process of the primary electrons, and the TeV excess is explained with the γ-ray emission from the pγ process via the π 0 decay. The cascade emission of the electrons produced via the γγ and pγ interactions results in a keV–MeV excess in the SEDs, illustrated as a bump or plateau. This extra photon field enhances the production of TeV photons from the p γ process, resulting in a reduction of the proton power by about one order of magnitude. However, the derived powers are still 3–4 orders of magnitude larger than the Eddington limit, being challenged by the current black hole accretion physics. Applying our model to Mrk 421, we propose that synergic observations with current and upcoming TeV and keV–MeV telescopes for its tentative TeV and MeV excesses can give insights to the hadronic process in its jet.

Dissecting the inner Galaxy with gamma-ray pixel count statistics

The nature of the GeV gamma-ray Galactic center excess (GCE) in the data of Fermi-LAT is still under investigation. Different techniques, such as template fitting and photon-count statistical methods, have been applied in the past few years in order to disentangle between a GCE coming from sub-threshold point sources or rather from diffuse emissions, such as the dark matter annihilation in the Galactic halo. A major limit to all these studies is the modeling of the Galactic diffuse foreground, and the impact of residual mis-modeled emission on the results’ robustness. We combine for the first time adaptive template fitting and pixel count statistical methods in order to assess the role of sub-threshold point sources to the GCE, while minimizing the mis-modelling of diffuse emission components. We reconstruct the flux distribution of point sources in the inner Galaxy well below the Fermi-LAT detection threshold, and measure their radial and longitudinal profiles. We find that point sources and diffuse emission from the Galactic bulge each contributes about 10% of the total emission therein, disclosing a potential sub-threshold point-source contribution to the GCE.

ALMA and NOEMA constraints on synchrotron nebular emission from embryonic superluminous supernova remnants and radio–gamma-ray connection

ABSTRACT Fast-rotating pulsars and magnetars have been suggested as the central engines of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and fast radio bursts, and this scenario naturally predicts non-thermal synchrotron emission from their nascent pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). We report results of high-frequency radio observations with ALMA and NOEMA for three SLSNe (SN 2015bn, SN 2016ard, and SN 2017egm), and present a detailed theoretical model to calculate non-thermal emission from PWNe with an age of ∼1−3 yr. We find that the ALMA data disfavours a PWN model motivated by the Crab nebula for SN 2015bn and SN 2017egm, and argue that this tension can be resolved if the nebular magnetization is very high or very low. Such models can be tested by future MeV–GeV gamma-ray telescopes such as AMEGO.

Galactic bulge millisecond pulsars shining in x rays: A γ -ray perspective

If the mysterious Fermi-LAT GeV gamma-ray excess is due to an unresolved population of millisecond pulsars (MSP) in the Galactic bulge, one expects this very same population to shine in X rays. For the first time, we address the question of what is the sensitivity of current X-ray telescopes to an MSP population in the Galactic bulge. To this end, we create a synthetic population of Galactic MSPs, building on an empirical connection between gamma- and X-ray MSP emission based on observed source properties. We compare our model with compact sources in the latest Chandra source catalog, applying selections based on spectral observables and optical astrometry with Gaia. We find a significant number of Chandra sources in the region of interest to be consistent with being bulge MSPs that are as yet unidentified. This motivates dedicated multi-wavelength searches for bulge MSPs: Some promising directions are briefly discussed.

Broadband High-energy Emission of the Gamma-Ray Binary System LS 5039: Spectral and Temporal Features Using NuSTAR and Fermi Observations

Abstract We report a detailed analysis of the hard X-ray and GeV gamma-ray spectra of LS 5039, one of the brightest gamma-ray binary system in the Galaxy. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observation covering its entire orbit in 2016 allowed us for the first time to study the orbital variability of the spectrum above 10 keV. The hard X-ray spectrum is well described with a single power-law component up to 78 keV. The X-ray flux showed a slight deviation from those observed previously with Suzaku in 2007. The fast X-ray brightening observed with Suzaku, around the inferior conjunction, was not observed in this observation. We also analyzed 11 yr of Fermi Large Area Telescope data of LS 5039. The GeV spectrum around the inferior conjunction was well described with two nonthermal components: a power law with a photon index of ∼3 and a cutoff power law with a cutoff energy of ∼2 GeV. The orbital flux variability also changed gradually around a few GeV. These results indicate that there are two emission components in the GeV band, and the dominant component above ∼1 GeV does not depend on the orbital phase. By combining these results, we update the spectral energy distribution of LS 5039 with the highest available statistics. Theoretical models proposed so far cannot explain the obtained multiwavelength spectrum, especially the emission from ∼1 to ∼400 MeV, and we discuss the possibility that particle acceleration in LS 5039 is different from the shock acceleration.

Cross-match between the Latest Swift-BAT and Fermi-LAT Catalogs

Abstract We report the results of a cross-match study between the hard X-ray and GeV gamma-ray catalogs, by making use of the latest 105 month Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and 10 yr Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) catalogs, respectively. The spatial cross-matching between the two catalogs results in the matching of 132 point-like sources, including ∼5% of false-match sources. Additionally, 24 sources that have been identified as the same identifications are matched. Among the 75 extended sources in the Fermi-LAT catalog, 31 sources have spatial coincidences with at least one Swift-BAT source inside their extent. All the matched sources consist of blazars (>60%), pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae (∼13%), radio galaxies (∼7%), binaries (∼5%), and others. Compared to the original catalogs, the matched sources are characterized by a double-peaked photon index distribution, higher flux, and larger gamma-ray variability index. This difference arises from the different populations of sources, particularly the large proportion of blazars (i.e., flat-spectrum radio quasar and BL Lac). We also report 13 cross-matched and unidentified sources. The matched sources in this study would be promising in the intermediate energy band between the hard X-ray and GeV gamma-ray observations, that is the unexplored MeV gamma-ray domain.

New Insights into Classical Novae

We survey our understanding of classical novae—nonterminal, thermonuclear eruptions on the surfaces of white dwarfs in binary systems. The recent and unexpected discovery of GeV gamma rays from Galactic novae has highlighted the complexity of novae and their value as laboratories for studying shocks and particle acceleration. We review half a century of nova literature through this new lens, and conclude the following: ▪ The basics of the thermonuclear runaway theory of novae are confirmed by observations. The white dwarf sustains surface nuclear burning for some time after runaway, and until recently, it was commonly believed that radiation from this nuclear burning solely determines the nova's bolometric luminosity. ▪ The processes by which novae eject material from the binary system remain poorly understood. Mass loss from novae is complex (sometimes fluctuating in rate, velocity, and morphology) and often prolonged in time over weeks, months, or years. ▪ The complexity of the mass ejection leads to gamma-ray-producing shocks internal to the nova ejecta. When gamma rays are detected (around optical maximum), the shocks are deeply embedded and the surrounding gas is very dense. ▪ Observations of correlated optical and gamma-ray light curves confirm that the shocks are radiative and contribute significantly to the bolometric luminosity of novae. Novae are therefore the closest and most common interaction-powered transients.

Optical reconstruction of dust in the region of supernova remnant RX J1713.7−3946 from astrometric data

The origin of the radiation observed in the region of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946, one of the brightest TeV emitters, has been debated since its discovery. The existence of atomic and molecular clouds in this object supports the idea that part of the GeV gamma rays in this region originate from proton-proton collisions. However, the observed column density of protons derived from gas observations cannot explain the whole emission. Yet there could be a fraction of protons contained in fainter structures that have note been detected so far. Here we search for faint objects in the line of sight of RX J1713.7-3946 using the principle of light extinction and the ESA/Gaia DR2 astrometric and photometric data. We reveal and locate with precision a number of dust clouds and note that only one appears to be in the vicinity of RX J1713.7-3946. We estimate the embedded mass to $M_{dust} = (7.0 \pm 0.6) \times 10^3 \, M_{\odot}$ which might be big enough to contain the missing protons. Finally, using the fact that the supernova remnant is expected to be located in a dusty environment and that there appears to be only one such structure in the vicinity of RX J1713.7-3946, we set a very precise constrain to the supernova remnant distance, at ($1.12 \pm 0.01$) kpc.

Modelling synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton emission of gamma-ray burst afterglows from radio to very-high energies

ABSTRACT Synchrotron radiation from a decelerating blastwave is a widely accepted model of radio to X-ray afterglow emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GeV gamma-ray emission detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the duration of which extends beyond the prompt gamma-ray emission phase is also compatible with broad features of afterglow emission. We revisit the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission model from a decelerating blastwave to fit multiwavelength data from three bright GRBs, namely GRB 190114C, GRB 130427A, and GRB 090510. We constrain the afterglow model parameters using the simultaneous fit of the spectral energy distributions at different times and light curves at different frequencies for these bursts. We find that a constant density interstellar medium is favoured for the short GRB 090510, while a wind-type environment is favoured for the long GRB 130427A and GRB 190114C. The sub-TeV component in GRB 190114C detected by MAGIC is the SSC emission in our modelling. Furthermore, we find that the SSC emission in the Thomson regime is adequate to fit the spectra and light curves of GRB 190114C. For the other two GRBs, lacking sub-TeV detection, the SSC emissions are also modelled in the Thomson regime. For the model parameters we have used, the γγ attenuation in the blastwave is negligible in the sub-TeV range compared to the redshift-dependent γγ attenuation in the extragalactic background light.

Explaining the extended GeV gamma-ray emission adjacent to HESS J1825-137

ABSTRACT HESS J1825-137 is one of the most powerful and luminous TeV gamma-ray pulsar wind nebulae (PWN). To the south of HESS J1825-137, Fermi-LAT observation revealed a new region of GeV gamma-ray emission with three apparent peaks (termed here, GeV-ABC). This study presents interstellar medium (ISM) data and spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling towards the GeV emission to understand the underlying particle acceleration. We considered several particle accelerator scenarios – the PWN associated with HESS J1825-137, the progenitor SNR also associated with HESS J1825-137, plus the gamma-ray binary system LS 5039. It was found that the progenitor SNR of HESS J1825-137 has insufficient energetics to account for all GeV emission. GeV-ABC may be a reflection of an earlier epoch in the history of the PWN associated with HESS 1825-137, assuming fast diffusion perhaps including advection. LS 5039 cannot meet the required energetics to be the source of particle acceleration. A combination of HESS J1825-137 and LS 5039 could be plausible sources.

Origin of the UV to X-Ray Emission of Radio Galaxy NGC 1275 Explored by Analyzing Its Variability

Abstract We analyze the ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray data of NGC 1275 obtained with Swift/UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT), X-ray Telescope (XRT), Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and Fermi Large Area Telescope over about 10 yr to investigate the origin of the nuclear emission from NGC 1275. We confirm that the UV and soft/hard X-ray fluxes gradually increased along with the GeV gamma rays. At times, short-term variations in the UV or soft X-ray spectral regions showed rapid variations correlated with the GeV gamma rays. However there was no significant correlation between the UV and soft X-rays. The UV spectrum had a narrow spectral shape that could be represented by single-temperature blackbody radiation. These results could possibly indicate that the long-term variability of UV and X-ray emissions is caused by the jet, while the emissions from the accretion disk contribute to the UV and X-ray bands to some extent.

A Two-zone Blazar Radiation Model for “Orphan” Neutrino Flares

Abstract In this work, we investigate the 2014–2015 neutrino flare associated with the blazar TXS 0506+056 and a recently discovered muon neutrino event IceCube-200107A in spatial coincidence with the blazar 4FGL J0955.1+3551, under the framework of a two-zone radiation model of blazars where an inner/outer blob close to/far from the supermassive black hole is invoked. An interesting feature that the two sources have in common is that no evidence of GeV gamma-ray activity is found during the neutrino detection period, probably implying a large opacity for GeV gamma rays in the neutrino production region. In our model, continuous particle acceleration/injection takes place in the inner blob at the jet base, where the hot X-ray corona of the supermassive black hole provides target photon fields for efficient neutrino production and strong GeV gamma-ray absorption. We show that this model can self-consistently interpret the neutrino emission from both blazars in a large parameter space. In the meantime, the dissipation processes in outer blob are responsible for the simultaneous multiwavelength emission of both sources. In agreement with previous studies of TXS 0506+056, an intense MeV emission from the induced electromagnetic cascade in the inner blob is robustly expected to accompany the neutrino flare in our model and could be used to test the model using the next-generation MeV gamma-ray detector in the future.

Probing Particle Acceleration through Broadband Early Afterglow Emission of MAGIC Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 190114C

Abstract Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cerenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) detected the gamma-ray afterglow of GRB 190114C, which can constrain microscopic parameters of the shock-heated plasma emitting non-thermal emission. Focusing on the early afterglow of this event, we numerically simulate the spectrum and multi-wavelength light curves with constant and wind-like circumstellar medium using a time-dependent code. Our results show that the electron acceleration timescale at the highest energies is likely shorter than 20 times the gyroperiod to reproduce the GeV gamma-ray flux and its spectral index reported by Fermi. This gives an interesting constraint on the acceleration efficiency for Weibel-mediated shocks. We also constrain the number fraction of non-thermal electrons f e, and the temperature of the thermal electrons. The early optical emission can be explained by the thermal synchrotron emission with f e ≲ 0.01. On the other hand, the X-ray light curves restrict efficient energy transfer from protons to the thermal electrons, and f e ∼ 1 is required if the energy fraction of the thermal electrons is larger than ∼10%. The parameter constraints obtained in this work give important clues to probing plasma physics with relativistic shocks.

X-ray evolution of the nova V959 Mon suggests a delayed ejection and a non-radiative shock

ABSTRACT X-ray observations of shocked gas in novae can provide a useful probe of the dynamics of the ejecta. Here we report on X-ray observations of the nova V959 Mon, which was also detected in GeV gamma-rays with the Fermi satellite. We find that the X-ray spectra are consistent with a two-temperature plasma model with non-solar abundances. We interpret the X-rays as due to shock interaction between the slow equatorial torus and the fast polar outflow that were inferred from radio observations of V959 Mon. We further propose that the hotter component, responsible for most of the flux, is from the reverse shock driven into the fast outflow. We find a systematic drop in the column density of the absorber between days 60 and 140, consistent with the expectations for such a picture. We present intriguing evidence for a delay of around 40 d in the expulsion of the ejecta from the central binary. Moreover, we infer a relatively small (a few times 10−6 M⊙) ejecta mass ahead of the shock, considerably lower than the mass of 104 K gas inferred from radio observations. Finally, we infer that the dominant X-ray shock was likely not radiative at the time of our observations, and that the shock power was considerably higher than the observed X-ray luminosity. It is unclear why high X-ray luminosity, closer to the inferred shock power, is never seen in novae at early times, when the shock is expected to have high enough density to be radiative.

A new lepto-hadronic model applied to the first simultaneous multiwavelength data set for Cygnus X–1

ABSTRACTCygnus X–1 is the first Galactic source confirmed to host an accreting black hole. It has been detected across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to GeV gamma-rays. The source’s radio through mid-infrared radiation is thought to originate from the relativistic jets. The observed high degree of linear polarization in the MeV X-rays suggests that the relativistic jets dominate in this regime as well, whereas a hot accretion flow dominates the soft X-ray band. The origin of the GeV non-thermal emission is still debated, with both leptonic and hadronic scenarios deemed to be viable. In this work, we present results from a new semi-analytical, multizone jet model applied to the broad-band spectral energy distribution of Cygnus X–1 for both leptonic and hadronic scenarios. We try to break this degeneracy by fitting the first-ever high-quality, simultaneous multiwavelength data set obtained from the CHOCBOX campaign (Cygnus X–1 Hard state Observations of a Complete Binary Orbit in X-rays). Our model parametrizes dynamical properties, such as the jet velocity profile, the magnetic field, and the energy density. Moreover, the model combines these dynamical properties with a self-consistent radiative transfer calculation including secondary cascades, both of leptonic and hadronic origin. We conclude that sensitive TeV gamma-ray telescopes like Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will definitively answer the question of whether hadronic processes occur inside the relativistic jets of Cygnus X–1.

A Serendipitous Discovery of GeV Gamma-Ray Emission from Supernova 2004dj in a Survey of Nearby Star-forming Galaxies with Fermi-LAT

Abstract The interaction between a supernova ejecta and the circumstellar medium drives a strong shock wave that accelerates particles (i.e., electrons and protons). The radio and X-ray emission observed after the supernova explosion can be interpreted as synchrotron emission from accelerated electrons. The accelerated protons are expected to produce GeV–TeV gamma-ray emission via proton–proton collisions, but the flux is usually low since only a small fraction of the supernova kinetic energy is converted into the shock energy at the very early time. The low gamma-ray flux of the nearest supernova explosion, SN 1987A, agrees with this picture. Here we report a serendipitous discovery of a fading GeV gamma-ray source in spatial coincidence with one of the nearest and brightest supernova—SN 2004dj from our gamma-ray survey of nearby star-forming galaxies with Fermi-LAT. The total gamma-ray energy released by SN 2004dj is about 6 × 1047 erg. We interpret this gamma-ray emission arising from the supernova ejecta interacting with a surrounding high-density shell, which decelerates the ejecta and converts ∼1% of the SN kinetic energy to relativistic protons.