Neutrino Fluxes from NUHM LSP Annihilations in the Sun

We extend our previous studies of the neutrino fluxes expected from neutralino LSP annihilations inside the Sun to include variants of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with squark, slepton and gaugino masses constrained to be universal at the GUT scale, but allowing one or two non-universal supersymmetry-breaking parameters contributing to the Higgs masses (NUHM1,2). As in the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal Higgs masses, there are large regions of the NUHM parameter space where the LSP density inside the Sun is not in equilibrium, so that the annihilation rate may be far below the capture rate, and there are also large regions where the capture rate is not dominated by spin-dependent LSP-proton scattering. The spectra possible in the NUHM are qualitatively similar to those in the CMSSM. We calculate neutrino-induced muon fluxes above a threshold energy of 10 GeV, appropriate for the IceCube/DeepCore detector, for points where the NUHM yields the correct cosmological relic density for representative choices of the NUHM parameters. We find that the IceCube/DeepCore detector can probe regions of the NUHM parameter space in addition to analogues of the focus-point strip and the tip of the coannihilation strip familiar from the CMSSM. These include regions with enhanced Higgsino-gaugino mixing in the LSP composition, that occurs where neutralino mass eigenstates cross over. On the other hand, rapid-annihilation funnel regions in general yield neutrino fluxes that are unobservably small

Measurement of the Cosmic Ray e+ plus e- Spectrum from 20 GeV to 1 TeV with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Designed as a high-sensitivity gamma-ray observatory, the Fermi Large Area Telescope is also an electron detector with a large acceptance exceeding 2 m{sup 2}sr at 300 GeV. Building on the gamma-ray analysis, we have developed an efficient electron detection strategy which provides sufficient background rejection for measurement of the steeply-falling electron spectrum up to 1 TeV. Our high precision data show that the electron spectrum falls with energy as E{sup -3.0} and does not exhibit prominent spectral features. Interpretations in terms of a conventional diffusive model as well as a potential local extra component are briefly discussed

Pulsed Gamma-Rays From the Millisecond Pulsar J0030+0451 with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

We report the discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from the nearby isolated millisecond pulsar PSR J0030+0451 with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly GLAST). This discovery makes PSR J0030+0451 the second millisecond pulsar to be detected in gamma-rays after PSR J0218+4232, observed by the EGRET instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The spin-down power {dot E} = 3.5 x 10{sup 33} ergs s{sup -1} is an order of magnitude lower than the empirical lower bound of previously known gamma-ray pulsars. The emission profile is characterized by two narrow peaks, respectively 0.07 {+-} 0.01 and 0.08 {+-} 0.02 wide, separated by 0.44 {+-} 0.02 in phase. The first gamma-ray peak falls 0.15 {+-} 0.01 after the main radio peak. The pulse shape is similar to that of the 'normal' gamma-ray pulsars. An exponentially cut-off power-law fit of the emission spectrum leads to an integral photon flux above 100 MeV of (6.76 {+-} 1.05 {+-} 1.35) x 10{sup -8} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} with cut-off energy (1.7 {+-} 0.4 {+-} 0.5) GeV. Based on its parallax distance of (300 {+-} 90) pc, we obtain a gamma-ray efficiency L{sub {gamma}}/{dot E} {approx_equal} 15% for the conversion of spin-down energy rate into gamma-ray radiation, assuming isotropic emission

Fermi LAT Observation of Diffuse Gamma-Rays Produced through Interactions Between Local Interstellar Matter and High Energy Cosmic Rays

Observations by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi mission of diffuse {gamma}-rays in a mid-latitude region in the third quadrant (Galactic longitude l from 200{sup o} to 260{sup o} and latitude |b| from 22{sup o} to 60{sup o}) are reported. The region contains no known large molecular cloud and most of the atomic hydrogen is within 1 kpc of the solar system. The contributions of {gamma}-ray point sources and inverse Compton scattering are estimated and subtracted. The residual {gamma}-ray intensity exhibits a linear correlation with the atomic gas column density in energy from 100 MeV to 10 GeV. The measured integrated {gamma}-ray emissivity is (1.63 {+-} 0.05) x 10{sup -26} photons s{sup -1}sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1} and (0.66 {+-} 0.02) x 10{sup -26} photons s{sup -1}sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1} above 100 MeV and above 300 MeV, respectively, with an additional systematic error of {approx}10%. The differential emissivity from 100 MeV to 10 GeV agrees with calculations based on cosmic ray spectra consistent with those directly measured, at the 10% level. The results obtained indicate that cosmic ray nuclei spectra within 1 kpc from the solar system in regions studied are close to the local interstellar spectra inferred from direct measurements at the Earth within {approx}10%

Boosted Objects: A Probe of Beyond the Standard Model Physics

We present the report of the hadronic working group of the BOOST2010 workshop held at the University of Oxford in June 2010. The first part contains a review of the potential of hadronic decays of highly boosted particles as an aid for discovery at the LHC and a discussion of the status of tools developed to meet the challenge of reconstructing and isolating these topologies. In the second part, we present new results comparing the performance of jet grooming techniques and top tagging algorithms on a common set of benchmark channels. We also study the sensitivity of jet substructure observables to the uncertainties in Monte Carlo predictions

The On-Orbit Calibrations for the Fermi Large Area Telescope

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope began its on-orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft boresight alignments. Here we describe on-orbit calibration results obtained using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions will be described in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch. These results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly released in August 2009

Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List

Following its launch in 2008 June, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi in three months produced a deeper and better resolved map of the {gamma}-ray sky than any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above 100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than {approx}10{sigma}) {gamma}-ray sources in these data. These are the best characterized and best localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) {gamma}-ray sources in the early mission data