Active galactic nuclei at gamma-ray energies

Active Galactic Nuclei can be copious extragalactic emitters of MeV-GeV-TeV gamma rays, a phenomenon linked to the presence of relativistic jets powered by a super-massive black hole in the center of the host galaxy. Most of gamma-ray emitting active galactic nuclei, with more than 1500 known at GeV energies, and more than 60 at TeV energies, are called "blazars". The standard blazar paradigm features a jet of relativistic magnetized plasma ejected from the neighborhood of a spinning and accreting super-massive black hole, close to the observer direction. Two classes of blazars are distinguished from observations: the flat-spectrum radio-quasar class (FSRQ) is characterized by strong external radiation fields, emission of broad optical lines, and dust tori. The BL Lac class (from the name of one of its members, BL Lacertae) corresponds to weaker advection-dominated flows with gamma-ray spectra dominated by the inverse Compton effect on synchrotron photons. This paradigm has been very successful for modeling the broadband spectral energy distributions of blazars. However, many fundamental issues remain, including the role of hadronic processes and the rapid variability of those BL Lac objects whose synchrotron spectrum peaks at UV or X-ray frequencies. A class of gamma-ray--emitting radio galaxies, which are thought to be the misaligned counterparts of blazars, has emerged from the results of the Fermi-Large Area Telescope and of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes. Blazars and their misaligned ounterparts make up most of the >100 MeV extragalactic gamma ray background (EGB), and are uspected of being the sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The future "Cherenkov Telescope Array", in synergy with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope and a wide range of telescopes in space and on he ground, will write the next chapter of blazar physics.Comment: 27 pages, 28 figures, in a topical review on gamma-ray astronomy above 100 MeV, to be published in Comptes Rendus Physique de l'Acad\'emie des Sciences (CRAS

HARPO: a TPC as a gamma-ray telescope and polarimeter

A gas Time Projection Chamber can be used for gamma-ray astronomy with excellent angular-precision and sensitivity to faint sources, and for polarimetry, through the measurement of photon conversion to $e^+e^-$ pairs. We present the expected performance in simulations and the recent development of a demonstrator for tests in a polarized photon beam.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Ultraviolet to gamma ray, Montr\'eal, Canada 2014. v2: note added in proof. Copyright 2014 SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibite

Gamma-ray and radio properties of six pulsars detected by the fermi large area telescope

We report the detection of pulsed γ-rays for PSRs J0631+1036, J0659+1414, J0742-2822, J1420-6048, J1509-5850, and J1718-3825 using the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST). Although these six pulsars are diverse in terms of their spin parameters, they share an important feature: their γ-ray light curves are (at least given the current count statistics) single peaked. For two pulsars, there are hints for a double-peaked structure in the light curves. The shapes of the observed light curves of this group of pulsars are discussed in the light of models for which the emission originates from high up in the magnetosphere. The observed phases of the γ-ray light curves are, in general, consistent with those predicted by high-altitude models, although we speculate that the γ-ray emission of PSR J0659+1414, possibly featuring the softest spectrum of all Fermi pulsars coupled with a very low efficiency, arises from relatively low down in the magnetosphere. High-quality radio polarization data are available showing that all but one have a high degree of linear polarization. This allows us to place some constraints on the viewing geometry and aids the comparison of the γ-ray light curves with high-energy beam models

A contribution to gamma-ray astronomy of GeV-TeV Active Galaxies with Fermi and H.E.S.S.

More than a century after their discovery, the origin of the most energetic cosmic rays and the nature of the accelerator producing them, remain a largely open question. The quest of their origin through a wide variety of observations has not only provided a wealth of clues, but also some fascinating new insights on ways the Universe has found to outperform with regard to more than one aspect what our terrestrial laboratories are capable of. The direct detection of the most energetic events exceeding 1020 eV is however complicated because of the extremely low fluxes, the deflective effects of cosmic magnetic fields, and the short distance they can travel without interacting with the CMBR. Good detection rates are achievable at lower energies but then neutral messengers, generated in interactions in the vicinity of where particle acceleration occurs, have to be searched for. The promising neutrino astronomy (with the sun and SN1987A as only cosmic sources so far) and gravitational radiation astronomy being still in their infancy, one has to resort to the more copious gamma-rays. These have the inconvenience of mostly washing out information about the primary particle which generated it and having a limited horizon at the highest energies, but come with the bonus that high-energy gamma-ray detectors can achieve an order of magnitude better spatial resolution than the other forms of cosmic rays, making them very effective to perform astronomical measurements, i.e. associating a specific position in the sky with the observed emission and performing an association with a class of known objects. In the case of Active Galaxies, an obvious class of cosmic accelerators, the gamma-ray spectra and variability probe the acceleration mechanism closer than any direct observation currently available. Photons are also prone to propagation effects over cosmological distances - which is a blessed nuisance since it hinders the knowledge of the emitted radiation but also probes the intergalactic fields well enough despite the lack of knowledge on the intrinsic source. A better understanding of particle acceleration occuring in active galaxies in particular, and of the origin of the most energetic cosmic rays in general, requires thorough research of multi-wavelength observations and their relationships with the most energetic gamma-rays.L'astronomie des rayons g de haute (E > 100MeV, HE) et de très haute énergie (E 100GeV, VHE) ont effectué des progrès considérables en moins d'une décennie. Le nombre de sources émettrices dans ce régime d'énergie a augmenté de plus d'un ordre de grandeur, de nouvelles classes d'émetteurs ont été découvertes et des nouvelles sous-classes ont été établies basées sur l'émission gamma, et les sources connues sont à présent résolues à des échelles spatiales ou temporelles sans précédent révélant de nouvelles propriétés. Les noyaux actifs de galaxie (AGN) sont l'une des classes d'émetteurs les plus énergétiques, dont le pic de puissance émis dans le spectre électromagnétique peut dans certains cas dépasser la capacité de mesure des instruments actuels, et dont l'investigation requiert la maîtrise simultanée du ciel g HE et VHE qu'apportent les expériences Cerenkov au sol (atmospheric Cerenkov telescope, ou ACT) et le satellite Fermi