High-Energy gamma-ray Astronomy and String Theory

There have been observations, first from the MAGIC Telescope (July 2005) and quite recently (September 2008) from the FERMI Satellite Telescope, on non-simultaneous arrival of high-energy photons from distant celestial sources. In each case, the highest energy photons were delayed, as compared to their lower-energy counterparts. Although the astrophysics at the source of these energetic photons is still not understood, and such non simultaneous arrival might be due to non simultaneous emission as a result of conventional physics effects, nevertheless, rather surprisingly, the observed time delays can also fit excellently some scenarios in quantum gravity, predicting Lorentz violating space-time "foam" backgrounds with a non-trivial subluminal vacuum refractive index suppressed linearly by a quantum gravity scale of the order of the reduced Planck mass. In this pedagogical talk, I discuss the MAGIC and FERMI findings in this context and I argue on a theoretical model of space-time foam in string/brane theory that can accommodate the findings of those experiments in agreement with all other stringent tests of Lorentz invariance. However, I stress the current ambiguities/uncertainties on the source mechanisms, which need to be resolved first before definite conclusions are reached regarding quantum gravity foam scenarios.Comment: 34 pages latex, 12 eps figures incorporated, uses special macros. Based on invited plenary talk at DICE 2008 Conference (Castiglioncello, Italy), September 22-26 200

Hints of an axion-like particle mixing in the GeV gamma-ray blazar data?

Axion-Like Particles (ALPs), if exist in nature, are expected to mix with photons in the presence of an external magnetic field. The energy range of photons which undergo strong mixing with ALPs depends on the ALP mass, on its coupling with photons as well as on the external magnetic field and particle density configurations. Recent observations of blazars by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope in the 0.1-300 GeV energy range show a break in their spectra in the 1-10 GeV range. We have modeled this spectral feature for the flat-spectrum radio quasar 3C454.3 during its November 2010 outburst, assuming that a significant fraction of the gamma rays convert to ALPs in the large scale jet of this blazar. Using theoretically motivated models for the magnetic field and particle density con figurations in the kiloparsec scale jet, outside the broad-line region, we find an ALP mass m(a) similar to (1 ¿ 3).10(-7) eV and coupling g(a gamma) similar to (1 ¿ 3).10(-10) GeV-1 after performing an illustrative statistical analysis of spectral data in four different epochs of emission. The precise values of m(a) and g(a gamma) depend weakly on the assumed particle density con figuration and are consistent with the current experimental bounds on these quantities. We apply this method and ALP parameters found from fitting 3C454.3 data to another flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS1222+216 (4C+21.35) data up to 400 GeV, as a consistency check, and found good fit. We find that the ALP-photon mixing effect on the GeV spectra may not be washed out for any reasonable estimate of the magnetic field in the intergalactic media

Stringy Space-Time Foam and High-Energy Cosmic Photons

In this review, I discuss briefly stringent tests of Lorentz-violating quantum space-time foam models inspired from String/Brane theories, provided by studies of high energy Photons from intense celestial sources, such as Active Galactic Nuclei or Gamma Ray Bursts. The theoretical models predict modifications to the radiation dispersion relations, which are quadratically suppressed by the string mass scale, and time delays in the arrival times of photons (assumed to be emitted more or less simultaneously from the source), which are proportional to the photon energy, so that the more energetic photons arrive later. Although the astrophysics at the source of these energetic photons is still not understood, and such non simultaneous arrivals, that have been observed recently, might well be due to non simultaneous emission as a result of conventional physics effects, nevertheless, rather surprisingly, the observed time delays can also fit excellently the stringy space-time foam scenarios, provided the space-time defect foam is inhomogeneous. The key features of the model, that allow it to evade a plethora of astrophysical constraints on Lorentz violation, in sharp contrast to other field-theoretic Lorentz-violating models of quantum gravity, are: (i) transparency of the foam to electrons and in general charged matter, (ii) absence of birefringence effects and (iii) a breakdown of the local effective lagrangian formalism.Comment: 26 pages Latex, 4 figures, uses special macros. Keynote Lecture in the International Conference "Recent Developments in Gravity" (NEB14), Ioannina (Greece) June 8-11 201

Determining Supersymmetric Parameters With Dark Matter Experiments

In this article, we explore the ability of direct and indirect dark matter experiments to not only detect neutralino dark matter, but to constrain and measure the parameters of supersymmetry. In particular, we explore the relationship between the phenomenological quantities relevant to dark matter experiments, such as the neutralino annihilation and elastic scattering cross sections, and the underlying characteristics of the supersymmetric model, such as the values of mu (and the composition of the lightest neutralino), m_A and tan beta. We explore a broad range of supersymmetric models and then focus on a smaller set of benchmark models. We find that by combining astrophysical observations with collider measurements, mu can often be constrained far more tightly than it can be from LHC data alone. In models in the A-funnel region of parameter space, we find that dark matter experiments can potentially determine m_A to roughly +/-100 GeV, even when heavy neutral MSSM Higgs bosons (A, H_1) cannot be observed at the LHC. The information provided by astrophysical experiments is often highly complementary to the information most easily ascertained at colliders.Comment: 46 pages, 76 figure

Nearest neighbor: the low-mass milky way satellite Tucana III*

We present Magellan/IMACS spectroscopy of the recently discovered Milky Way satellite Tucana III (Tuc III). We identify 26 member stars in Tuc III from which we measure a mean radial velocity of v hel = −102.3 ± 0.4 (stat.) ± 2.0 (sys.) km s-1, a velocity dispersion of 0.1 -0.1+0.7 km s-1, and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-2.42 -0.08+0.07. The upper limit on the velocity dispersion is σ < 1.5 km s-1 at 95.5% confidence, and the corresponding upper limit on the mass within the half-light radius of Tuc III is 9.0 × 104 M ⊙. We cannot rule out mass-to-light ratios as large as 240 M ⊙/L ⊙ for Tuc III, but much lower mass-to-light ratios that would leave the system baryon-dominated are also allowed. We measure an upper limit on the metallicity spread of the stars in Tuc III of 0.19 dex at 95.5% confidence. Tuc III has a smaller metallicity dispersion and likely a smaller velocity dispersion than any known dwarf galaxy, but a larger size and lower surface brightness than any known globular cluster. Its metallicity is also much lower than those of the clusters with similar luminosity. We therefore tentatively suggest that Tuc III is the tidally stripped remnant of a dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxy, but additional precise velocity and metallicity measurements will be necessary for a definitive classification. If Tuc III is indeed a dwarf galaxy, it is one of the closest external galaxies to the Sun. Because of its proximity, the most luminous stars in Tuc III are quite bright, including one star at V = 15.7 that is the brightest known member star of an ultra-faint satellite

Very-High-Energy gamma rays from a Distant Quasar: How Transparent Is the Universe?

The atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope MAGIC, designed for a low-energy threshold, has detected very-high-energy gamma rays from a giant flare of the distant Quasi-Stellar Radio Source (in short: radio quasar) 3C 279, at a distance of more than 5 billion light-years (a redshift of 0.536). No quasar has been observed previously in very-high-energy gamma radiation, and this is also the most distant object detected emitting gamma rays above 50 gigaelectron volts. Because high-energy gamma rays may be stopped by interacting with the diffuse background light in the universe, the observations by MAGIC imply a low amount for such light, consistent with that known from galaxy counts

Variable Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Microquasar LS I +61 303

Microquasars are binary star systems with relativistic radio-emitting jets. They are potential sources of cosmic rays and can be used to elucidate the physics of relativistic jets. We report the detection of variable gamma-ray emission above 100 gigaelectron volts from the microquasar LS I +61 303. Six orbital cycles were recorded. Several detections occur at a similar orbital phase, which suggests that the emission is periodic. The strongest gamma-ray emission is not observed when the two stars are closest to one another, implying a strong orbital modulation of the emission or absorption processes