98 research outputs found
Toward a Universal Rule for the Reasonable Disposition of Surface Waters in California
In designing a rule of reasonableness for the disposition of surface waters in California, the California Supreme Court has expressly considered the competing policies of equity and the promotion of development. The Author argues that another policy, overall economic efficiency, should be given equal consideration as the other policies because it promotes efficient use of resources and encourages the parties to come to solutions that lessen potential damage. This Comment analyzes the rules announced in Locklin v. City of Lafayette and Keys v. Romley. The Author questions the need for two different rules and proposes an integrated rule that addresses the three relevant policy objectives
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to TeV photon emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud
A deep survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud at ∼0.1-100 TeV photon energies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array is planned. We assess the detection prospects based on a model for the emission of the galaxy, comprising the four known TeV emitters, mock populations of sources, and interstellar emission on galactic scales. We also assess the detectability of 30 Doradus and SN 1987A, and the constraints that can be derived on the nature of dark matter. The survey will allow for fine spectral studies of N 157B, N 132D, LMC P3, and 30 Doradus C, and half a dozen other sources should be revealed, mainly pulsar-powered objects. The remnant from SN 1987A could be detected if it produces cosmic-ray nuclei with a flat power-law spectrum at high energies, or with a steeper index 2.3-2.4 pending a flux increase by a factor of >3-4 over ∼2015-2035. Large-scale interstellar emission remains mostly out of reach of the survey if its >10 GeV spectrum has a soft photon index ∼2.7, but degree-scale 0.1-10 TeV pion-decay emission could be detected if the cosmic-ray spectrum hardens above >100 GeV. The 30 Doradus star-forming region is detectable if acceleration efficiency is on the order of 1−10 per cent of the mechanical luminosity and diffusion is suppressed by two orders of magnitude within <100 pc. Finally, the survey could probe the canonical velocity-averaged cross-section for self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles for cuspy Navarro-Frenk-White profiles
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to spectral signatures of hadronic PeVatrons with application to Galactic Supernova Remnants
The local Cosmic Ray (CR) energy spectrum exhibits a spectral softening at
energies around 3~PeV. Sources which are capable of accelerating hadrons to
such energies are called hadronic PeVatrons. However, hadronic PeVatrons have
not yet been firmly identified within the Galaxy. Several source classes,
including Galactic Supernova Remnants (SNRs), have been proposed as PeVatron
candidates. The potential to search for hadronic PeVatrons with the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) is assessed. The focus is on the usage of very high
energy -ray spectral signatures for the identification of PeVatrons.
Assuming that SNRs can accelerate CRs up to knee energies, the number of
Galactic SNRs which can be identified as PeVatrons with CTA is estimated within
a model for the evolution of SNRs. Additionally, the potential of a follow-up
observation strategy under moonlight conditions for PeVatron searches is
investigated. Statistical methods for the identification of PeVatrons are
introduced, and realistic Monte--Carlo simulations of the response of the CTA
observatory to the emission spectra from hadronic PeVatrons are performed.
Based on simulations of a simplified model for the evolution for SNRs, the
detection of a -ray signal from in average 9 Galactic PeVatron SNRs is
expected to result from the scan of the Galactic plane with CTA after 10 hours
of exposure. CTA is also shown to have excellent potential to confirm these
sources as PeVatrons in deep observations with hours of
exposure per source.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
Detection of very-high-energy {\gamma}-ray emission from the colliding wind binary {\eta} Car with H.E.S.S
Aims. Colliding wind binary systems have long been suspected to be
high-energy (HE; 100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) {\gamma}-ray emitters. {\eta} Car is
the most prominent member of this object class and is confirmed to emit
phase-locked HE {\gamma} rays from hundreds of MeV to ~100 GeV energies. This
work aims to search for and characterise the very-high-energy (VHE; E >100 GeV)
{\gamma}-ray emission from {\eta} Car around the last periastron passage in
2014 with the ground-based High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.). Methods.
The region around {\eta} Car was observed with H.E.S.S. between orbital phase p
= 0.78 - 1.10, with a closer sampling at p {\approx} 0.95 and p {\approx} 1.10
(assuming a period of 2023 days). Optimised hardware settings as well as
adjustments to the data reduction, reconstruction, and signal selection were
needed to suppress and take into account the strong, extended, and
inhomogeneous night sky background (NSB) in the {\eta} Car field of view.
Tailored run-wise Monte-Carlo simulations (RWS) were required to accurately
treat the additional noise from NSB photons in the instrument response
functions. Results. H.E.S.S. detected VHE {\gamma}-ray emission from the
direction of {\eta} Car shortly before and after the minimum in the X-ray
light-curve close to periastron. Using the point spread function provided by
RWS, the reconstructed signal is point-like and the spectrum is best described
by a power law. The overall flux and spectral index in VHE {\gamma} rays agree
within statistical and systematic errors before and after periastron. The
{\gamma}-ray spectrum extends up to at least ~400 GeV. This implies a maximum
magnetic field in a leptonic scenario in the emission region of 0.5 Gauss. No
indication for phase-locked flux variations is detected in the H.E.S.S. data.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, in press with A&
Observation of a sudden cessation of a very-high-energy gamma-ray flare in PKS 1510-089 with H.E.S.S. and MAGIC in May 2016
The flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) PKS 1510-089 is known for its complex multiwavelength behavior, and is one of only a few FSRQs detected at very high energy (VHE, E >100 GeV) -rays. VHE -ray observations with H.E.S.S. and MAGIC during late May and early June 2016 resulted in the detection of an unprecedented flare, which reveals for the first time VHE -ray intranight variability in this source. While a common variability timescale of 1.5 hr is found, there is a significant deviation near the end of the flare with a timescale of ∼ 20 min marking the cessation of the event. The peak flux is nearly two orders of magnitude above the low-level emission. For the first time, curvature is detected in the VHE -ray spectrum of PKS 1510-089, which is fully explained through absorption by the extragalactic background light. Optical R-band observations with ATOM reveal a counterpart of the -ray flare, even though the detailed flux evolution differs from the VHE lightcurve. Interestingly, a steep flux decrease is observed at the same time as the cessation of the VHE flare. In the high energy (HE, E >100 MeV) -ray band only a moderate flux increase is observed with Fermi-LAT, while the HE -ray spectrum significantly hardens up to a photon index of 1.6. A search for broad-line region (BLR) absorption features in the -ray spectrum indicates that the emission region is located outside of the BLR. Radio VLBI observations reveal a fast moving knot interacting with a standing jet feature around the time of the flare. As the standing feature is located ∼ 50 pc from the black hole, the emission region of the flare may have been located at a significant distance from the black hole. If this correlation is indeed true, VHE rays have been produced far down the jet where turbulent plasma crosses a standing shock.Accepted manuscrip
Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign
Abstract: In 2017, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration succeeded in capturing the first direct image of the center of the M87 galaxy. The asymmetric ring morphology and size are consistent with theoretical expectations for a weakly accreting supermassive black hole of mass ∼6.5 × 109 M ⊙. The EHTC also partnered with several international facilities in space and on the ground, to arrange an extensive, quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength campaign. This Letter presents the results and analysis of this campaign, as well as the multi-wavelength data as a legacy data repository. We captured M87 in a historically low state, and the core flux dominates over HST-1 at high energies, making it possible to combine core flux constraints with the more spatially precise very long baseline interferometry data. We present the most complete simultaneous multi-wavelength spectrum of the active nucleus to date, and discuss the complexity and caveats of combining data from different spatial scales into one broadband spectrum. We apply two heuristic, isotropic leptonic single-zone models to provide insight into the basic source properties, but conclude that a structured jet is necessary to explain M87’s spectrum. We can exclude that the simultaneous γ-ray emission is produced via inverse Compton emission in the same region producing the EHT mm-band emission, and further conclude that the γ-rays can only be produced in the inner jets (inward of HST-1) if there are strongly particle-dominated regions. Direct synchrotron emission from accelerated protons and secondaries cannot yet be excluded
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre
We provide an updated assessment of the power of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to search for thermally produced dark matter at the TeV scale, via the associated gamma-ray signal from pair-annihilating dark matter particles in the region around the Galactic centre. We find that CTA will open a new window of discovery potential, significantly extending the range of robustly testable models given a standard cuspy profile of the dark matter density distribution. Importantly, even for a cored profile, the projected sensitivity of CTA will be sufficient to probe various well-motivated models of thermally produced dark matter at the TeV scale. This is due to CTA's unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolutions, and the planned observational strategy. The survey of the inner Galaxy will cover a much larger region than corresponding previous observational campaigns with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. CTA will map with unprecedented precision the large-scale diffuse emission in high-energy gamma rays, constituting a background for dark matter searches for which we adopt state-of-the-art models based on current data. Throughout our analysis, we use up-to-date event reconstruction Monte Carlo tools developed by the CTA consortium, and pay special attention to quantifying the level of instrumental systematic uncertainties, as well as background template systematic errors, required to probe thermally produced dark matter at these energies
Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the new-generation ground-based observatory for γ astronomy, provides unique capabilities to address significant open questions in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. We study some of the salient areas of γ cosmology that can be explored as part of the Key Science Projects of CTA, through simulated observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and of their relativistic jets. Observations of AGN with CTA will enable a measurement of γ absorption on the extragalactic background light with a statistical uncertainty below 15% up to a redshift z=2 and to constrain or detect γ halos up to intergalactic-magnetic-field strengths of at least 0.3 pG . Extragalactic observations with CTA also show promising potential to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. The best limits on Lorentz invariance violation from γ astronomy will be improved by a factor of at least two to three. CTA will also probe the parameter space in which axion-like particles could constitute a significant fraction, if not all, of dark matter. We conclude on the synergies between CTA and other upcoming facilities that will foster the growth of γ cosmology.</p
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