Constraining Galactic dark matter with gamma-ray pixel counts statistics

Gamma-ray searches for new physics such as dark matter are often driven by investigating the composition of the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB). Classic approaches to EGB decomposition manifest in resolving individual point sources and dissecting the intensity spectrum of the remaining unresolved component. Furthermore, statistical methods have recently been proven to outperform the sensitivity of classic source detection algorithms in finding point-source populations in the unresolved flux regime. In this article, we employ the 1-point photon count statistics of eight years of Fermi-LAT data to resolve the population of extragalactic point sources and to decompose the diffuse isotropic background contribution for Galactic latitudes |b|>30 deg. We use three adjacent energy bins between 1 and 10 GeV. For the first time, we extend the analysis to incorporate a potential contribution from annihilating dark matter smoothly distributed in the Galaxy. We investigate the sensitivity reach of 1-point statistics for constraining the thermally-averaged self-annihilation cross section of dark matter, using different template models for the Galactic foreground emission. Given the official Fermi-LAT interstellar emission model, we set upper bounds on the DM self-annihilation cross section that are comparable with the constraints obtained by other indirect detection methods, in particular by the stacking analysis of several dwarf spheroidal galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 table; v2: major changes improving the selection of the RO

Multi-messenger constraints to the local emission of cosmic-ray electrons

The data on the inclusive flux of cosmic positrons and electrons ($e^++e^{-}$) have been recently collected from GeV to tens of TeV energies by several experiments with unprecedented precision. In addition, the Fermi-LAT Collaboration has provided a new energy spectrum for the upper bounds on the $e^++e^{-}$ dipole anisotropy. This observable can bring information on the emission from local Galactic sources, notably measured with high precision at radio frequencies. We develop a framework in which $e^-$ and $e^+$ measured at Earth from GeV up to tens of TeV energies have a composite origin. A dedicated analysis is deserved to Vela YZ and Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnants (SNRs), for which we consider two different models for the injection of $e^-$. We investigate the consistency of these models using the three physical observables: the radio flux from Vela YZ and Cygnus Loop at all the available frequencies, the $e^++e^-$ flux from five experiments from the GeV to tens of TeV energy, the $e^++e^-$ dipole anisotropy upper limits from 50 GeV to about 1 TeV. We find that the radio flux for these nearby SNRs strongly constraints the properties of the injection electron spectrum, partially compatible with the looser constraints derived from the $e^+ + e^-$ flux data. We also perform a multi-wavelength multi-messenger analysis by fitting simultaneously the radio flux on Vela YZ and Cygnus Loop and the $e^+ + e^-$ flux, and checking the outputs against the $e^+ + e^-$ dipole anisotropy data. Remarkably, we find a model which is compatible with all the $e^++e^-$ flux data, the radio data for Vela YZ and Cygnus Loop, and with the anisotropy upper bounds. We show the severe constraints imposed by the most recent data on the $e^+ + e^-$ dipole anisotropy.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the JCAP. Changes in v3: discussion and results extended to include an evolutionary model for the injection of cosmic-ray electrons in SNR

Il Peso del turismo che non appare e la pressione turistica sugli ambiti di paesaggio costieri del Nord Sardegna

L'area costiera del Nord Sardegna sembra essere in sofferenza una elevata frequentazione di turisti estivi e da qui l'interesse a verificare la pressione a cui sono sottoposti gli ambiti di paesaggio che la individuano in considerazione, anche, di quel turismo che "non appare" e che trova nelle residenze destinate alle vacanze il principale motivo della sua esistenza. Gli otto ambiti di analisi sono, così, "Monteleone"(n. 12), "Alghero" (n. 13), "Golfo dell' Asinara" (n. 14), "Bassa valle del Coghinas" (n. 15), "Gallura costiera nord-occidentale" (n. 16), "Gallura costiera nordorientale" (n. 17), "Golfo di Olbia" (n. 18) e "Budoni-San Teodoro" (n. 19). I primi quattro segnano il tratto costiero qui denominato "Sardegna nord-occidentale" e i rimanenti costituiscono la "Sardegna nord-orientale": insieme queste aree di piano insistono, sostanzialmente, sulle province di Sassari e di Olbia-Tempio

Transforming waste into wellness: Enhancing well-being through domestic food upcycling

This research focuses on a specific technique aimed at reducing household food waste: food upcycling, or the practice of creatively preparing new dishes (e.g., French toast) using leftovers (e.g., stale bread). We posit that engaging in domestic food upcycling activities not only helps reduce food waste but also enhances consumers’ psychological well-being. We conducted three studies: a qualitative study (N = 92) aimed at providing initial insights into the association between domestic food upcycling and psychological well-being; a survey (N = 100) aimed at identifying the most prominent barriers to domestic food upcycling; and an experimental study (N = 272) aimed at assessing educational interventions designed to overcome the most prominent barriers identified in Study 2 and promote domestic food upcycling via perceptions of improved well-being. The results have important implications for both policymakers and the food industr

Finding a Secure Place in the Home during the First COVID-19 Lockdown: A Pattern-Oriented Analysis

In challenging times, home is frequently the primary basis of environmental self-regulation processes, individual and relational coping, and well-being. This study aimed to identify multiple types of security experiences at home during the first lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from 757 Hungarian adults who completed the online, modified form of the Emotional Map of the Home Interview method in 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants imagined their homes, chose the place of security in their homes and rated their personal experiences (i.e., experiences of agency, communion, self-recovery, and distress) related to these places. Latent profile analysis of personal experiences revealed four types of relational-environmental self-regulation in secure places: “security in active self-recovery,” “security in detachment,” “security in doing and feeling good enough,” and “security in stress and compensation.” Profile membership was predicted by age, gender, and indices of psychological support and well-being. Results suggest that finding psychological security in the home is a multifaceted phenomenon that may be partly affected by the perception of the broader social-ecological context. Identifying subpopulations vulnerable to the challenges of the pandemic may help researchers and practitioners provide better support in times of local and global crises

Novel interpretation of the latest AMS-02 cosmic-ray electron spectrum

The latest AMS-02 data on cosmic ray electrons show a break in the energy spectrum around 40 GeV, with a change in the slope of about 0.1. We perform a combined fit to the newest AMS-02 positron and electron flux data above 10 GeV using a semi-analytical diffusion model where sources includes production of pairs from pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), electrons from supernova remnants (SNRs) and both species from spallation of hadronic cosmic rays with interstellar medium atoms. We demonstrate that within our setup the change of slope in the AMS-02 electron data is well explained by the interplay between the flux contributions from SNRs and from PWNe. In fact, the relative contribution to the data of these two populations changes by a factor of about 13 from 10 to 1000 GeV. The PWN contribution has a significance of at least $4\sigma$, depending on the model used for the propagation, interstellar radiation field and energy losses. We checked the stability of this result against low-energy effects by solving numerically the transport equation. as well as adding possible breaks in the injection spectrum of SNRs. The effect of the energy losses alone, when the inverse Compton scattering is properly computed within a fully numerical treatment of the Klein-Nishina cross section, cannot explain the break in the $e^-$ flux data, as recently proposed in the literature.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures and supplemental material. Phys.Rev.D 104 (2021) 8, 08301

Evidences of low-diffusion bubbles around Galactic pulsars

Recently, a few-degrees extended $\gamma$-ray halo in the direction of Geminga pulsar has been detected by HAWC, Milagro and Fermi-LAT. These observations can be interpreted with positrons ($e^+$) and electrons ($e^-$) accelerated by Geminga pulsar wind nebula (PWN), released in a Galactic environment with a low diffusion coefficient ($D_0$), and inverse Compton scattering (ICS) with the interstellar radiation fields. We inspect here how the morphology of the ICS $\gamma$-ray flux depends on the energy, the pulsar age and distance, and the strength and extension of the low-diffusion bubble. In particular we show that $\gamma$-ray experiments with a peak of sensitivity at TeV energies are the most promising ones to detect ICS halos. We perform a study of the sensitivity of HAWC, HESS and the future CTA experiment finding that, with efficiencies of the order of a few %, the first two experiments should have already detected a few tens of ICS halos while the latter will increase the number of detections by a factor of 4. We then consider a sample of sources associated to PWNe and detected in the HESS Galactic plane survey and in the second HAWC catalog. We use the information available in these catalogs for the $\gamma$-ray spatial morphology and flux of these sources to inspect the value of $D_0$ around them and the $e^{\pm}$ injection spectrum. All sources are detected as extended with a $\gamma$-ray emission extended about $15-80$ pc. Assuming that most of the $e^{\pm}$ accelerated by these sources have been released in the interstellar medium, the diffusion coefficient is $2-30 \cdot 10^{26}$ cm$^2$/s at 1 TeV, i.e. two orders of magnitude smaller than the value considered to be the average in the Galaxy. These observations imply that Galactic PWNe have low-diffusion bubbles with a size of at least 80 pc.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures. Phys.Rev.D 101 (2020) 10, 10303