11,668 research outputs found
Gamma-ray emission from globular clusters
Over the last few years, the data obtained using the Large Area Telescope
(LAT) aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has provided new insights on
high-energy processes in globular clusters, particularly those involving
compact objects such as Millisecond Pulsars (MSPs). Gamma-ray emission in the
100 MeV to 10 GeV range has been detected from more than a dozen globular
clusters in our galaxy, including 47 Tucanae and Terzan 5. Based on a sample of
known gamma-ray globular clusters, the empirical relations between gamma-ray
luminosity and properties of globular clusters such as their stellar encounter
rate, metallicity, and possible optical and infrared photon energy densities,
have been derived. The measured gamma-ray spectra are generally described by a
power law with a cut-off at a few gigaelectronvolts. Together with the
detection of pulsed gamma-rays from two MSPs in two different globular
clusters, such spectral signature lends support to the hypothesis that
gamma-rays from globular clusters represent collective curvature emission from
magnetospheres of MSPs in the clusters. Alternative models, involving
Inverse-Compton (IC) emission of relativistic electrons that are accelerated
close to MSPs or pulsar wind nebula shocks, have also been suggested.
Observations at >100 GeV by using Fermi/LAT and atmospheric Cherenkov
telescopes such as H.E.S.S.-II, MAGIC-II, VERITAS, and CTA will help to settle
some questions unanswered by current data.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, J. Astron. Space Sci., in pres
Axion Dark Matter and Cosmological Parameters
We observe that photon cooling after big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) but
before recombination can remove the conflict between the observed and
theoretically predicted value of the primordial abundance of Li. Such
cooling is ordinarily difficult to achieve. However, the recent realization
that dark matter axions form a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) provides a
possible mechanism, because the much colder axions may reach thermal contact
with the photons. This proposal predicts a high effective number of neutrinos
as measured by the cosmic microwave anisotropy spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, one figure. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.,
incorporating useful comments by the referees and emphasizing that photon
cooling by axion BEC is a possibility, not a certaint
A NuSTAR Observation of the Gamma-ray Emitting Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1723-2837
We report on the first NuSTAR observation of the gamma-ray emitting
millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1723-2837. X-ray radiation up to 79 keV is
clearly detected and the simultaneous NuSTAR and Swift spectrum is well
described by an absorbed power-law with a photon index of ~1.3. We also find
X-ray modulations in the 3-10 keV, 10-20 keV, 20-79 keV, and 3-79 keV bands at
the 14.8-hr binary orbital period. All these are entirely consistent with
previous X-ray observations below 10 keV. This new hard X-ray observation of
PSR J1723-2837 provides strong evidence that the X-rays are from the
intrabinary shock via an interaction between the pulsar wind and the outflow
from the companion star. We discuss how the NuSTAR observation constrains the
physical parameters of the intrabinary shock model.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 5 pages, 3 figure
Swift, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations of PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213
We report our recent Swift, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton X-ray and Lijiang optical
observations on PSR J2032+4127/MT91 213, the gamma-ray binary candidate with a
period of 45-50 years. The coming periastron of the system was predicted to be
in November 2017, around which high-energy flares from keV to TeV are expected.
Recent studies with Chandra and Swift X-ray observations taken in 2015/16
showed that its X-ray emission has been brighter by a factors of ~10 than that
before 2013, probably revealing some on-going activities between the pulsar
wind and the stellar wind. Our new Swift/XRT lightcurve shows no strong
evidence of a single vigorous brightening trend, but rather several strong
X-ray flares on weekly to monthly timescales with a slowly brightening
baseline, namely the low state. The NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observations taken
during the flaring and the low states, respectively, show a denser environment
and a softer power-law index during the flaring state, implying that the pulsar
wind interacted with stronger stellar winds of the companion to produce the
flares. These precursors would be crucial in studying the predicted giant
outburst from this extreme gamma-ray binary during the periastron passage in
late 2017.Comment: 6 pages, including 3 figures and 2 tables. Accepted for publication
in Ap
Gamma-ray emission from the globular clusters Liller 1, M80, NGC 6139, NGC 6541, NGC 6624, and NGC 6752
Globular clusters (GCs) are emerging as a new class of gamma-ray emitters,
thanks to the data obtained from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. By now,
eight GCs are known to emit gamma-rays at energies >100~MeV. Based on the
stellar encounter rate of the GCs, we identify potential gamma-ray emitting GCs
out of all known GCs that have not been studied in details before. In this
paper, we report the discovery of a number of new gamma-ray GCs: Liller 1, NGC
6624, and NGC 6752, and evidence for gamma-ray emission from M80, NGC 6139, and
NGC 6541, in which gamma-rays were found within the GC tidal radius. With one
of the highest metallicity among all GCs in the Milky Way, the gamma-ray
luminosity of Liller 1 is found to be the highest of all known gamma-ray GCs.
In addition, we confirm a previous report of significant gamma-ray emitting
region next to NGC 6441. We briefly discuss the observed offset of gamma-rays
from some GC cores. The increasing number of known gamma-ray GCs at distances
out to ~10 kpc is important for us to understand the gamma-ray emitting
mechanism and provides an alternative probe to the underlying millisecond
pulsar populations of the GCs.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; ApJ, in pres
Discovery of {\gamma}-ray pulsation and X-ray emission from the black widow pulsar PSR J2051-0827
We report the discovery of pulsed {\gamma}-ray emission and X-ray emission
from the black widow millisecond pulsar PSR J2051-0827 by using the data from
the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and
the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer array (ACIS-S) on the Chandra X-ray
Observatory. Using 3 years of LAT data, PSR J2051-0827 is clearly detected in
{\gamma}-ray with a signicance of \sim 8{\sigma} in the 0.2 - 20 GeV band. The
200 MeV - 20 GeV {\gamma}-ray spectrum of PSR J2051-0827 can be modeled by a
simple power- law with a photon index of 2.46 \pm 0.15. Significant (\sim
5{\sigma}) {\gamma}-ray pulsations at the radio period were detected. PSR
J2051-0827 was also detected in soft (0.3-7 keV) X-ray with Chandra. By
comparing the observed {\gamma}-rays and X-rays with theoretical models, we
suggest that the {\gamma}-ray emission is from the outer gap while the X-rays
can be from intra-binary shock and pulsar magnetospheric synchrotron emissions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ on Jan 28, 201
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