288 research outputs found
X-ray observations of PSR B1259−63 near the 2007 periastron passage
PSR B1259−63 is a 48-ms radio pulsar in a highly eccentric 3.4-yr orbit with a Be star SS 2883. Unpulsed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission components are observed from the binary system. It is likely that the collision of the pulsar wind with the anisotropic wind of the Be star plays a crucial role in the generation of the observed non-thermal emission. The 2007 periastron passage was observed in unprecedented details with Suzaku, Swift, XMM-Newton and Chandra missions. We present here the results of this campaign and compare them with previous observations. With these data we are able, for the first time, to study the details of the spectral evolution of the source over a 2-month period of the passage of the pulsar close to the Be star. New data confirm the pre-periastron spectral hardening, with the photon index reaching a value smaller than 1.5, observed during a local flux minimum. If the observed X-ray emission is due to the inverse Compton (IC) losses of the 10-MeV electrons, then such a hard spectrum can be a result of Coulomb losses, or can be related to the existence of the low-energy cut-off in the electron spectrum. Alternatively, if the X-ray emission is a synchrotron emission of very high-energy electrons, the observed hard spectrum can be explained if the high-energy electrons are cooled by IC emission in Klein-Nishina regime. Unfortunately, the lack of simultaneous data in the TeV energy band prevents us from making a definite conclusion on the nature of the observed spectral hardening and, therefore, on the origin of the X-ray emissio
Fermion masses and quantum numbers from extra dimensions
We study the localization of fermions on a brane embedded in a space-time
with geometry. Quantum numbers of localized fermions are
associated with their rotation momenta around the brane. Fermions with
different quantum numbers have different higher-dimensional profiles. Fermion
masses and mixings, which are proportional to the overlap of higher-dimensional
profiles of the fermions, depend on the fermion quantum numbers.Comment: 14 page
Multi-wavelength observations of the binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 around the 2010-2011 periastron passage
We report on broad multi-wavelength observations of the 2010-2011 periastron
passage of the gamma-ray loud binary system PSR B1259-63. High resolution
interferometric radio observations establish extended radio emission trailing
the position of the pulsar. Observations with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space
Telescope reveal GeV gamma-ray flaring activity of the system, reaching the
spin-down luminosity of the pulsar, around 30 days after periastron. There are
no clear signatures of variability at radio, X-ray and TeV energies at the time
of the GeV flare. Variability around periastron in the H emission line,
can be interpreted as the gravitational interaction between the pulsar and the
circumstellar disk. The equivalent width of the H grows from a few days
before periastron until a few days later, and decreases again between 18 and 46
days after periastron. In near infrared we observe the similar decrease of the
equivalent width of Br line between the 40th and 117th day after the
periastron. For the idealized disk, the variability of the H line
represents the variability of the mass and size of the disk. We discuss
possible physical relations between the state of the disk and GeV emission
under assumption that GeV flare is directly related to the decrease of the disk
size.Comment: accepted to MNRA
Gamma-ray induced cascades and magnetic fields in intergalactic medium
We present the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of three-dimensional
electromagnetic cascade initiated by interactions of the multi-TeV gamma-rays
with the cosmological infrared/optical photon background in the intergalactic
medium. Secondary electrons in the cascade are deflected by the intergalactic
magnetic fields before they scatter on CMB photons. This leads to extended
0.1-10 degree scale emission at multi-GeV and TeV energies around extragalactic
sources of very-high-energy gamma-rays. The morphology of the extended emission
depends, in general, on the properties of magnetic fields in the intergalactic
medium. Using Monte-Carlo simulated data sets, we demonstrate that the decrease
of the size of extended source with the increase of energy allows to measure
weak magnetic fields with magnitudes in the range from < 1e-16 G to 1e-12 G if
they exist in the voids of the Large Scale Structure.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Brane Formation and Cosmological Constraint on the Number of Extra Dimensions
Special relativity is generalized to extra dimensions and quantized energy
levels of particles are obtained. By calculating the probability of particles'
motion in extra dimensions at high temperature of the early universe, it is
proposed that the branes may have not existed since the very beginning of the
universe, but formed later. Meanwhile, before the formation, particles of the
universe may have filled in the whole bulk, not just on the branes. This
scenario differs from that in the standard big bang cosmology in which all
particles are assumed to be in the 4D spacetime. So, in brane models, whether
our universe began from a 4D big bang singularity is questionable. A
cosmological constraint on the number of extra dimensions is also given which
favors .Comment: 11 pages, no figures. To appear in IJT
Active Galactic Nuclei under the scrutiny of CTA
Active Galactic Nuclei (hereafter AGN) produce powerful outflows which offer
excellent conditions for efficient particle acceleration in internal and
external shocks, turbulence, and magnetic reconnection events. The jets as well
as particle accelerating regions close to the supermassive black holes
(hereafter SMBH) at the intersection of plasma inflows and outflows, can
produce readily detectable very high energy gamma-ray emission. As of now, more
than 45 AGN including 41 blazars and 4 radiogalaxies have been detected by the
present ground-based gamma-ray telescopes, which represents more than one third
of the cosmic sources detected so far in the VHE gamma-ray regime. The future
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) should boost the sample of AGN detected in the
VHE range by about one order of magnitude, shedding new light on AGN population
studies, and AGN classification and unification schemes. CTA will be a unique
tool to scrutinize the extreme high-energy tail of accelerated particles in
SMBH environments, to revisit the central engines and their associated
relativistic jets, and to study the particle acceleration and emission
mechanisms, particularly exploring the missing link between accretion physics,
SMBH magnetospheres and jet formation. Monitoring of distant AGN will be an
extremely rewarding observing program which will inform us about the inner
workings and evolution of AGN. Furthermore these AGN are bright beacons of
gamma-rays which will allow us to constrain the extragalactic infrared and
optical backgrounds as well as the intergalactic magnetic field, and will
enable tests of quantum gravity and other "exotic" phenomena.Comment: 28 pages, 23 figure
Gamma-Ray Constraints on Maximum Cosmogenic Neutrino Fluxes and UHECR Source Evolution Models
The dip model assumes that the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) above
10 eV consist exclusively of protons and is consistent with the spectrum
and composition measure by HiRes. Here we present the range of cosmogenic
neutrino fluxes in the dip-model which are compatible with a recent
determination of the extragalactic very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray diffuse
background derived from 2.5 years of Fermi/LAT data. We show that the largest
fluxes predicted in the dip model would be detectable by IceCube in about 10
years of observation and are within the reach of a few years of observation
with the ARA project. In the incomplete UHECR model in which protons are
assumed to dominate only above 10 eV, the cosmogenic neutrino fluxes
could be a factor of 2 or 3 larger. Any fraction of heavier nuclei in the UHECR
at these energies would reduce the maximum cosmogenic neutrino fluxes. We also
consider here special evolution models in which the UHECR sources are assumed
to have the same evolution of either the star formation rate (SFR), or the
gamma-ray burst (GRB) rate, or the active galactic nuclei (AGN) rate in the
Universe and found that the last two are disfavored (and in the dip model
rejected) by the new VHE gamma-ray background.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, JHEP3.cls needed to typese
Effects of temperature on thick branes and the fermion (quasi-)localization
Following Campos's work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 141602 (2002)], we investigate
the effects of temperature on flat, de Sitter (dS), and anti-de Following
Campos's work [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{88}, 141602 (2002)], we investigate the
effects of temperature on flat, de Sitter (dS), and anti-de Sitter (AdS) thick
branes in five-dimensional (5D) warped spacetime, and on the fermion
(quasi-)localization. First, in the case of flat brane, when the critical
temperature reaches, the solution of the background scalar field and the warp
factor is not unique. So the thickness of the flat thick brane is uncertain at
the critical value of the temperature parameter, which is found to be lower
than the one in flat 5D spacetime. The mass spectra of the fermion Kaluza-Klein
(KK) modes are continuous, and there is a series of fermion resonances. The
number and lifetime of the resonances are finite and increase with the
temperature parameter, but the mass of the resonances decreases with the
temperature parameter. Second, in the case of dS brane, we do not find such a
critical value of the temperature parameter. The mass spectra of the fermion KK
modes are also continuous, and there is a series of fermion resonances. The
effects of temperature on resonance number, lifetime, and mass are the same
with the case of flat brane. Last, in the case of AdS brane, {the critical
value of the temperature parameter can less or greater than the one in the flat
5D spacetime.} The spectra of fermion KK modes are discrete, and the mass of
fermion KK modes does not decrease monotonically with increasing temperature
parameter.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, published versio
Software design for the control system for Small-Size Telescopes with single-mirror of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The Small-Size Telescope with single-mirror (SST-1M) is a 4 m Davies-Cotton
telescope and is among the proposed telescope designs for the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA). It is conceived to provide the high-energy ( few TeV)
coverage. The SST-1M contains proven technology for the telescope structure and
innovative electronics and photosensors for the camera. Its design is meant to
be simple, low-budget and easy-to-build industrially.
Each device subsystem of an SST-1M telescope is made visible to CTA through a
dedicated industrial standard server. The software is being developed in
collaboration with the CTA Medium-Size Telescopes to ensure compatibility and
uniformity of the array control. Early operations of the SST-1M prototype will
be performed with a subset of the CTA central array control system based on the
Alma Common Software (ACS). The triggered event data are time stamped,
formatted and finally transmitted to the CTA data acquisition.
The software system developed to control the devices of an SST-1M telescope
is described, as well as the interface between the telescope abstraction to the
CTA central control and the data acquisition system.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at
arXiv:1508.0589
Performance of a small size telescope (SST-1M) camera for gamma-ray astronomy with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The foreseen implementations of the Small Size Telescopes (SST) in CTA will
provide unique insights into the highest energy gamma rays offering fundamental
means to discover and under- stand the sources populating the Galaxy and our
local neighborhood. Aiming at such a goal, the SST-1M is one of the three
different implementations that are being prototyped and tested for CTA. SST-1M
is a Davies-Cotton single mirror telescope equipped with a unique camera
technology based on SiPMs with demonstrated advantages over classical
photomultipliers in terms of duty-cycle. In this contribution, we describe the
telescope components, the camera, and the trigger and readout system. The
results of the commissioning of the camera using a dedicated test setup are
then presented. The performances of the camera first prototype in terms of
expected trigger rates and trigger efficiencies for different night-sky
background conditions are presented, and the camera response is compared to
end-to-end simulations.Comment: All CTA contributions at arXiv:1709.0348
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