Report of the Dark Energy Task Force

Dark energy appears to be the dominant component of the physical Universe, yet there is no persuasive theoretical explanation for its existence or magnitude. The acceleration of the Universe is, along with dark matter, the observed phenomenon that most directly demonstrates that our theories of fundamental particles and gravity are either incorrect or incomplete. Most experts believe that nothing short of a revolution in our understanding of fundamental physics will be required to achieve a full understanding of the cosmic acceleration. For these reasons, the nature of dark energy ranks among the very most compelling of all outstanding problems in physical science. These circumstances demand an ambitious observational program to determine the dark energy properties as well as possible

Large-Area Balloon-Borne Polarized Gamma Ray Observer (PoGO)

We are developing a new balloon-borne instrument (PoGO), to measure polarization of soft gamma rays (30-200 keV) using asymmetry in azimuth angle distribution of Compton scattering. PoGO is designed to detect 10% polarization in 100mCrab sources in a 6-8 hour observation and bring a new dimension to studies on gamma ray emission/transportation mechanism in pulsars, AGNs, black hole binaries, and neutron star surface. The concept is an adaptation to polarization measurements of well-type phoswich counter consisting of a fast plastic scintillator (the detection part), a slow plastic scintillator (the active collimator) and a BGO scintillator (the bottom anti-counter). PoGO consists of close-packed array of 217 hexagonal well-type phoswich counters and has a narrow field-of-view ({approx} 5 deg{sup 2}) to reduce possible source confusion. A prototype instrument has been tested in the polarized soft gamma-ray beams at Advanced Photon Source (ANL) and at Photon Factory (KEK). On the results, the polarization dependence of EGS4 has been validated and that of Geant4 has been corrected

Evidence for a Canonical GRB Afterglow Light Curve in the Swift/XRT Data

We present new observations of the early X-ray afterglows of the first 27 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected with the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT). The early X-ray afterglows show a canonical behavior, where the light curve broadly consists of three distinct power law segments: (1) an initial very steep decay ({infinity} t{sup -a} with 3 {approx}< a{sub 1} {approx}< 5) , followed by (2) a very shallow decay (0.2 {approx}< a{sub 2} {approx}< 0.8), and finally (3) a somewhat steeper decay (1 {approx}< a{sub 3} {approx}< 1.5). These power law segments are separated by two corresponding break times, 300 s {approx}< t{sub break,1} {approx}< 500 s and 10{sup 3} s {approx}< t{sub break,2} {approx}< 10{sup 4} s. On top of this canonical behavior of the early X-ray light curve, many events have superimposed X-ray flares, which are most likely caused by internal shocks due to long lasting sporadic activity of the central engine, up to several hours after the GRB. We find that the initial steep decay is consistent with it being the tail of the prompt emission, from photons that are radiated at large angles relative to our line of sight. The first break in the light curve (t{sub break,1}) takes place when the forward shock emission becomes dominant, with the intermediate shallow flux decay (a{sub 2}) likely caused by the continuous energy injection into the external shock. When this energy injection stops, a second break is then observed in the light curve (t{sub break,2}). This energy injection increases the energy of the afterglow shock by at least a factor of f {approx}> 4, and augments the already severe requirements for the efficiency of the prompt gamma-ray emission