Clan structure analysis and new physics signals in pp collisions at LHC

The study of possible new physics signals in global event properties in pp collisions in full phase space and in rapidity intervals accessible at LHC is presented. The main characteristic is the presence of an elbow structure in final charged particle MD's in addition to the shoulder observed at lower c.m. energies.Comment: 9 pages, talk given at Focus on Multiplicity (Bari, Italy, June 2004

Scenarios for multiplicity distributions in pp collisions in the TeV energy region

Possible scenarios based on available experimental data and phenomenological knowledge of the GeV energy region are extended to the TeV energy region in the framework of the weighted superposition mechanism of soft and semi-hard events. KNO scaling violations, forward-backward multiplicity correlations, Hq vs. q oscillations and shoulder structures are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, talk given at "Focus on Multiplicity" (Bari, Italy, June 2004

Forward-backward multiplicity correlations and leakage parameter behaviour in asymmetric high energy collisions

Continuing previous work, forward-backward multiplicity correlations are studied in asymmetric collisions in the framework of the weighted superposition mechanism of different classes of events. New parameters for the asymmetric clan distribution and for the particle leakage from clans in one hemisphere to the opposite one are introduced to effectively classify different classes of collisions. This tool should be used to explore forward-backward multiplicity correlations in AB and pA collisions in present and future experiments at RHIC and LHC.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, latex 2e with amsmat

A double radio halo in the close pair of galaxy clusters Abell 399 and Abell 401

Radio halos are faint radio sources usually located at the center of merging clusters of galaxies. These diffuse radio sources are rare, having so far been found only in about 30 clusters of galaxies, suggesting that particular conditions are needed to form and maintain them. It is interesting to investigate the presence of radio halos in close pairs of interacting clusters in order to possibly clarify their origin in relation to the evolutionary state of the merger. In this work, we study the case of the close pair of galaxy clusters A399 and A401. A401 is already known to contain a faint radio halo, while a hint of diffuse emission in A399 has been suggested based on the NVSS. To confirm this possibility, we analyzed deeper Very Large Array observations at 1.4 GHz of this cluster. We find that the central region of A399 is permeated by a diffuse low-surface brightness radio emission that we classify as a radio halo with a linear size of about 570 kpc and a central brightness of 0.3 micro-Jy/arcsec^2. Indeed, given their comparatively small projected distance of about 3 Mpc, the pair of galaxy clusters A401 and A399 can be considered as the first example of double radio halo system. The discovery of this double halo is extraordinary given the rarity of these radio sources in general and given that current X-ray data seem to suggest that the two clusters are still in a pre-merger state. Therefore, the origin of the double radio halo is likely to be attributed to the individual merging histories of each cluster separately, rather than to the result of a close encounter between the two systems.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The physics of the radio emission in the quiet side of the AGN population with the SKA

Despite targets of many multiwavelength campaigns, the main physical processes at work in AGN are still under debate. In particular the origin of the radio emission and the mechanisms involved are among the open questions in astrophysics. In the radio-loud AGN population the radio emission is linked to the presence of bipolar outflows of relativistic jets. However, the large majority of the AGN population do not form powerful highly-relativistic jets on kpc scales and are characterized by radio luminosity up to 10^23 W/Hz at 1.4 GHz, challenging our knowledge on the physical processes at the basis of the radio emission in radio-quiet objects. The main mechanisms proposed so far are synchrotron radiation from mildly relativistic mini-jets, thermal cyclo-synchrotron emission by low-efficiency accretion flow (like ADAF or ADIOS), or thermal free-free emission from the X-ray heated corona or wind. The difficulty in understanding the main mechanism involved is related to the weakness of these objects, which precludes the study of non-local radio-quiet AGN. Multifrequency, high-sensitivity radio observations are crucial to constrain the nature of the power engine, and they may help in distinguishing between the contribution from star formation and AGN activity. The advent of the SKA, with its sub-arcsecond resolution and unprecedented sensitivity will allow us to investigate these processes in radio-quiet AGN, even at high redshift for the first time. Both the broad-band radio spectrum and the polarization information will help us in disentangling between non-thermal and thermal origin of the radio emission. The jump in sensitivity of a few order of magnitudes at the (sub-)uJy level will enable us to detect radio emission from a large number of radio-quiet AGN at high redshift, providing a fundamental step in our understanding of their cosmological evolution. (Abridged)Comment: 7 pages, to appear as part of 'Continuum Science' in Proceedings of 'Advancing Astrophysics with the SKA (AASKA14)

The giant radio halo in Abell 2163

New radio data is presented for the rich cluster Abell 2163. The cluster radio emission is characterized by the presence of a radio halo, which is one of the most powerful and extended halos known so far. In the NE peripheral cluster region, we also detect diffuse elongated emission, which we classify as a cluster relic. The cluster A2163 is very hot and luminous in X-ray. Its central region is probably in a highly non relaxed state, suggesting that this cluster is likely to be a recent merger. The existence of a radio halo in this cluster confirms that halos are associated with hot massive clusters, and confirms the connection between radio halos and cluster merger processes. The comparison between the radio emission of the halo and the cluster X-ray emission shows a close structural similarity. A power law correlation is found between the radio and X-ray brightness, with index = 0.64. We also report the upper limit to the hard X-ray emission, obtained from a BeppoSAX observation. We discuss the implications of our results.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures (5 in ps and 3 in gif), Accepted for publication in Astron. Astrop

Clan Properties in Parton Showers

By considering clans as genuine elementary subprocesses, i.e., intermediate parton sources in the Simplified Parton Shower model, a generalized version of this model is defined. It predicts analytically clan properties at parton level in agreement with the general trends observed experimentally at hadronic level and in Monte Carlo simulations both at partonic and hadronic level. In particular the model shows a linear rising in rapidity of the average number of clans at fixed energy of the initial parton and its subsequent bending for rapidity intervals at the border of phase space, and approximate energy independence of the average number of clans in fixed rapidity intervals. The energy independence becomes stricter by properly normalizing the average number of clans.Comment: (27 pages in Plain TeX plus 10 Postscript Figures, all compressed via uufiles) DFTT 7/9

Diffuse radio emission in a REFLEX cluster

Deep Very Large Array radio observations are presented for the REFLEX clusters RXCJ0437.1+0043 and RXCJ1314.4-2515. They are at similar distance and show similar X-ray luminosity, but they are quite different in X-ray structure. Indeed RXCJ0437.1+0043 is regular and relaxed, whereas RXCJ1314.4-2515 is characterized by substructure and possible merging processes. The radio images reveal no diffuse emission in RXCJ0437.1+0043, and a complex diffuse structure in RXCJ1314.4-2515. The diffuse source in the latter cluster consists of a central radio halo which extends to the West toward the cluster periphery and bends to the North to form a possible relic. Another extended source is detected in the eastern cluster peripheral region. Although there could be plausible optical identifications for this source, it might also be a relic candidate owing to its very steep spectrum. The present results confirm the tight link between diffuse cluster radio sources and cluster merger processes.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. Figures here have been degraded to reduce their size. A version with full resolution figures is available at http://www.ira.cnr.it/~lferetti/OUTGOING/papREFLEX.ps.g

Young radio sources: the duty-cycle of the radio emission and prospects for gamma-ray emission

The evolutionary stage of a powerful radio source originated by an AGN is related to its linear size. In this context, compact symmetric objects (CSOs), which are powerful and intrinsically small objects, should represent the young stage in the individual radio source life. However, the fraction of young radio sources in flux density-limited samples is much higher than what expected from the number counts of large radio sources.This indicates that a significant fraction of young radio sources does not develop to the classical Fanaroff-Riley radio galaxies,suggesting an intermittent jet activity. As the radio jets are expanding within the dense and inhomogeneous interstellar medium,the ambient may play a role in the jet growth, for example slowing down or even disrupting its expansion when a jet-cloud interaction takes place. Moreover, this environment may provide the thermal seed photons that scattered by the lobes' electrons may be responsible for high energy emission, detectable by Fermi-LAT.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; 2011 Fermi Symposium proceedings - eConf C11050

A giant radio halo in the low luminosity X-ray cluster Abell 523

Radio halos are extended and diffuse non-thermal radio sources present at the cluster center, not obviously associated with any individual galaxy. A strong correlation has been found between the cluster X-ray luminosity and the halo radio power. We observe and analyze the diffuse radio emission present in the complex merging structure Abell 523, classified as a low luminosity X-ray cluster, to discuss its properties in the context of the halo total radio power versus X-ray luminosity correlation. We reduced VLA archive observations at 1.4 GHz to derive a deep radio image of the diffuse emission, and compared radio, optical, and X-ray data. Low-resolution VLA images detect a giant radio halo associated with a complex merging region. The properties of this new halo agree with those of radio halos in general discussed in the literature, but its radio power is about a factor of ten higher than expected on the basis of the cluster X-ray luminosity. Our study of this giant radio source demonstrates that radio halos can also be present in clusters with a low X-ray luminosity. Only a few similar cases have so far been found . This result suggests that this source represent a new class of objects, that cannot be explained by classical radio halo models. We suggest that the particle reacceleration related to merging processes is very efficient and/or the X-ray luminosity is not a good indicator of the past merging activity of a cluster.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics Letter in pres