伽马天文观测技术综述

伽马射线作为宇宙中极端事件的独特探针,探测伽马射线是人们了解宇宙构成、星体演化和宇宙线起源等的重要途经.伽马天文涉及了宇宙中的各种前沿科学问题并且观测所需能谱跨度极宽(102 keV–102 TeV),针对不同的科学目标和细分谱段,必须利用不同的伽马望远镜探测技术.总结了空间和地面的共5大类伽马射线观测技术,分别是编码孔径望远镜、康普顿望远镜、电子对望远镜、成像大气切伦科夫望远镜和广延大气簇射阵列;回顾了70 yr来在观测设备和技术进步的推动下伽马射线天文学领域的巨大进展,其中包含高能和甚高能谱段取得的大量成就,中低能段由于已有观测任务有限以及灵敏度低,超高能和极高能段由于观测难度大、起步时间晚,数据和成果相对其他谱段产出较少;展望了未来已经规划的伽马望远镜任务、能力及预期科学产出,其中,中低能段空间望远镜增强型ASTROGAM望远镜(e-ASTROGAM)、全天区中能伽马射线观测站(AMEGO)和甚高能段地面望远镜阵列高海拔宇宙线观测站(LHAASO)、切伦科夫望远镜阵列(CTA),由于灵敏度较同谱段已有任务灵敏度有大幅提升,极有可能在20 yr内从不同角度再度扩展人类对伽马宇宙的认知.     

高海拔宇宙线观测站与超高能伽马射线源

正近日,我国的重大科技基础设施"高海拔宇宙线观测站"(Large High Altitulde Air Shower Observatory, LHAASO)在《Nature》期刊上发表了首批科学结果[1]. LHAASO利用其1/2阵列在2020年1月至11月这段时期的数据,共发现了12个显著性大于7倍标准偏差的超高能伽马射线(指能量大于100 Te V的光子, 1 TeV=10~(12)eV)源.     

WCDA时间标定系统的研制与测试

地面水切伦科夫探测器(Water Cherenkov Detector Array, WCDA)是高海拔宇宙线观测站(Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory, LHAASO)的重要组成部分,主要科学目标是实现在甚高能中低能段(100 GeV～30 TeV)对整个北天区伽马源进行巡天观测。为了确保对辐射源探测的指向准确性,需要对探测器阵列进行时间标定。主要介绍了水切伦科夫探测器时间标定方法、标定系统的搭建以及关键部件——分光光纤束的批量测试。     

暗物质粒子探测卫星的能量重建和宇宙线质子能谱的分析

宇宙线的观测研究和暗物质粒子的间接探测是高能天体物理领域两个重大研究课题. 自1912年V. Hess发现宇宙线开始, 人类对宇宙线的观测历史已经超过了一个世纪, 传统理论模型预言``膝''区以下能段的宇宙线能谱应服从单一幂率分布, 而近些年的空间和高空气球实验表明10 GeV--100 TeV的宇宙线质子能谱可能存在偏离单一幂律谱分布的重要结构, 这对研究银河系内宇宙线的起源、传播和加速机制具有重要意义. 另一方面, 得益于宇宙线和伽马射线观测精度的提高和观测能段的拓宽, 暗物质粒子的间接探测在国际上受到越来越多的关注, 暗物质粒子可能会发生湮灭或衰变产生稳定的普通高能粒子, 包括正负电子对、正反质子对、伽马射线和中微子等, 进而在宇宙线或伽马射线留下可探测的信号.     

蝎虎天体能谱曲率与其伽马射线辐射亮度的关系

银河系外的伽马射线辐射源主要是耀变体,对其研究有助于揭示活动星系核喷流物理、高能宇宙线起源甚至宇宙演化等.研究了为什么有些蝎虎天体有强的伽马射线辐射,而有些却没有.选了170个有多普勒因子和能谱曲率测量的蝎虎天体,并把它们分成被费米LAT探测到的和未被费米LAT探测到的两类.研究发现这两类源的多波段能谱曲率有显著区别,...     

高能中微子和极高能宇宙线起源天体的理论研究

极高能宇宙线一般指来自地外的能量高于1018电子伏特(eV)的高能质子与原子核,其起源的研究一直是高能天体物理和粒子天体物理领域的热点问题.近年随着一些大型探测器(如Pierre Auger天文台)的运行,极高能宇宙线的研究取得很大进展.然而由于极高能宇宙线事例相对较少及其在从源到地球传播过程中的复杂性(如与宇宙微波背景辐射以及磁场的作用),需要通过观测这些宇宙线在强子反应中产生的次级粒子(如中微子)来获得其起源的额外信息.最近,位于南极的IceCube中微子天文台探测到了54个能量分布在60TeV{3PeV内的中微子事例,开启了高能中微子天文学的新时代.在本文中,我们研究了高能中微子、极高能宇宙线的天体物理起源以及它们之间可能的联系.     

基于暗物质粒子探测卫星的宇宙线直接探测研究

高能宇宙线的起源、加速和传播是重大的前沿科学问题,回答该问题需要对宇宙线的能谱、各向异性以及各类高能天体电磁辐射进行精确观测.通过空间粒子探测器对宇宙线各成分能谱的直接测量是研究宇宙线物理问题的重要手段.中国于2015年底发射并持续运行至今的暗物质粒子探测卫星以其大接受度、高能量分辨率等特点,在宇宙线直接探测方面取得了系列重要成果,揭示出质子、氦核、硼碳和硼氧比例等宇宙线能谱的新结构,为理解宇宙线起源等科学问题提供了新的依据.介绍了暗物质粒子探测卫星的仪器设置、运行状况、科学成果及其物理意义.     

LHAASO-WFCTA中高灵敏度雨雪传感器的研制

高海拔宇宙线观测站(Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory, LHAASO)位于四川省稻城县海子山,平均海拔4 410 m,属于典型的高寒山地气候,天气变化迅速。广角切伦科夫望远镜阵列(Wide Field of view Cherenkov Telescope Array, WFCTA)是LHAASO三大观测阵列之一,需要在晴朗的夜晚工作。为保证望远镜的正常运行,需要时刻检测雨雪情况,保证广角切伦科夫望远镜阵列在雨雪天气时及时关闭。但由于气温过低,传统的雨雪传感器在站点不能正常工作,因此需要改进仪器增加加热装置。通过实验室研究完成了加热装置设计,并在现场进行了实地检测。结果表明,高灵敏度雨雪传感器可以在站点低温环境下使探测表面温度保持在零度以上,可以实时有效地监测雨雪天气,为广角切伦科夫望远镜的正常运行提供了重要的支撑。     

蝎虎天体能谱曲率与其伽马射线辐射亮度的关系（英文）

银河系外的伽马射线辐射源主要是耀变体,对其研究有助于揭示活动星系核喷流物理、高能宇宙线起源甚至宇宙演化等。研究了为什么有些蝎虎天体有强的伽马射线辐射,而有些却没有。选了170个有多普勒因子和能谱曲率测量的蝎虎天体,并把它们分成被费米LAT探测到的和未被费米LAT探测到的两类。研究发现这两类源的多波段能谱曲率有显著区别,即费米LAT探测到的源的曲率明显小于未被费米LAT探测到的源;即使扣除了多普勒因子的影响,结果也相近。蝎虎天体PKS 0048-09和S5 0716+714有着相似的同步辐射光度但却不同的伽马射线光度。基于同步自康普顿模型,再结合二次曲线电子谱可以很好地拟合它们的多波段能谱,并发现拟合的曲率和辐射区尺度不同但却成正比。PKS 0048-09可能有一个更致密的喷流,从而产生了更大康普顿因子。结果表明,给定同步辐射光度,能谱曲率和康普顿因子对于能否被Fermi伽马射线卫星探测到非常重要;讨论了这一结果对粒子统计加速和辐射机制的限制。     

LHAASO-MD光电倍增管的性能测试

高海拔宇宙线观测站(Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory)的核心科学目标是探索高能宇宙线起源以及相关的宇宙演化、高能天体运动和新物理前沿的研究。通过大面积铺设μ子探测器极大地降低宇宙射线背景,从而提升高能伽马射线探测的灵敏度。作为μ子探测器的核心部件之一的光电倍增管负责接收水中的切伦科夫光子并将其转换成电信号输出,因此,光电倍增管的性能好坏直接影响μ子探测器的性能。稻城实验室2%抽样测试结果表明,光电倍增管的各性能达到μ子探测器的指标要求,与批量测试结果的相对偏差小于2%。     

Introduction to Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO)

Since the century discovery of cosmic ray, the origin of cosmic ray is always a mystery. The study on the origin of high-energy cosmic ray is in an interdiscipline between the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy and the cosmic ray physics. The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is a unique and new generation cosmic-ray station with the advantages of high altitude, all-weather, and large-scale. It takes the function of hybrid technology to detect cosmic rays and to upgrade greatly the resolving power between gamma rays and cosmic rays. The LHAASO is expected to make the full-sky survey to find new gamma-ray sources, to obtain the highest sensitivity of gamma-ray detection at the high energy band of > 30 TeV, and to make the very high precision measurement on the component energy spectra of cosmic rays in a broad energy range of 5 orders of magnitude, in order to provide the evidence for revealing the mystery of the origin of cosmic ray. This paper describes the detector structure, performance superiority and scientific motivation of the LHAASO.     

双漏模式中的弥散宇宙γ射线

弥散宇宙γ射线产生于初级宇宙线的传播过程,本文利用宇宙线传播的“双漏模式”得出与实验观测谱接近的银河系弥散宇宙γ射线谱。     

The extragalactic neutrino background radiations from blazars and cosmic rays

Blazar emission of gamma rays and cosmic ray production of gamma rays in gas-rich clusters have been proposed recently as alternative sources of the high energy extragalactic diffuse gamma ray background radiation. We show that these sources also produce very different high energy extragalactic diffuse neutrino background radiations. An extragalactic neutrino background radiation may be detected by the new generation of large neutrino telescopes under construction and may be used to trace the origin of the extragalactic gamma radiation.     

Galactic PeV neutrinos

The IceCube experiment has detected two neutrinos with energies between 1 and 10 PeV. They might have originated from Galactic or extragalactic sources of cosmic rays. In the present work we consider hadronic interactions of the diffuse very high energy cosmic rays with the interstellar matter within our Galaxy to explain the PeV neutrino events detected in IceCube. We also expect PeV gamma ray events along with the PeV neutrino events if the observed PeV neutrinos were produced within our Galaxy in hadronic interactions. PeV gamma rays are unlikely to reach us from sources outside our Galaxy due to pair production with cosmic background radiation fields. We suggest that in future with simultaneous detections of PeV gamma rays and neutrinos it would be possible to distinguish between Galactic and extragalactic origins of very high energy neutrinos.     

Spectrum and anisotropy of cosmic rays at TeV–PeV-energies and contribution of nearby sources

The role of nearby galactic sources, the supernova remnants, in formation of observed energy spectrum and large-scale anisotropy of high-energy cosmic rays is studied. The list of these sources is made up based on radio, X-ray and gamma-ray catalogues. The distant sources are treated statistically as ensemble of sources with random positions and ages. The source spectra are defined based on the modern theory of cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants while the propagation of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium is described in the frameworks of galactic diffusion model. Calculations of dipole component of anisotropy are made to reproduce the experimental procedure of “two-dimensional” anisotropy measurements. The energy dependence of particle escape time in the process of acceleration in supernova remnants and the arm structure of sources defining the significant features of anisotropy are also taken into account. The essential new trait of the model is a decreasing number of core collapse SNRs being able to accelerate cosmic rays up to the given energy, that leads to steeper total cosmic ray source spectrum in comparison with the individual source spectrum. We explained simultaneously the new cosmic ray data on the fine structure of all particle spectrum around the knee and the amplitude and direction of the dipole component of anisotropy in the wide energy range 1 TeV–1 EeV. Suggested assumptions do not look exotic, and they confirm the modern understanding of cosmic ray origin.     

宇宙线直接探测进展概述

宇宙线从发现起至今已超过百年。在20世纪上半叶,大型粒子加速器技术成熟以前,对宇宙线的研究引领着基本粒子物理的发展,从宇宙线研究中取得的多项成果斩获诺贝尔奖。21世纪,宇宙线因其与极端高能的物理规律和暗物质等新物理现象联系密切而绽放出新的活力,宇宙线起源、加速、传播等相关的天文学及物理学问题也备受关注。简述了近年来在空间直接观测宇宙线实验方面取得的进展,以及其对理解宇宙线物理问题的推动。最后概述了中国在相关领域的研究历程和现状。     

Pionic photons and neutrinos from cosmic ray accelerators

Identifying the accelerators that produce the Galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays has been a priority mission of several generations of high energy gamma ray and neutrino telescopes; success has been elusive so far. Detecting the gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes associated with cosmic rays reaches a new watershed with the completion of IceCube, the first neutrino detector with sensitivity to the anticipated fluxes, and the construction of CTA, a ground-based gamma ray detector that will map and study candidate sources with unprecedented precision. In this paper, we revisit the prospects for revealing the sources of the cosmic rays by a multiwavelength approach; after reviewing the methods, we discuss supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, active galaxies and GZK neutrinos in some detail.     

GRBs on probation: Testing the UHE CR paradigm with IceCube

Gamma ray burst (GRB) fireballs provide one of very few astrophysical environments where one can contemplate the acceleration of cosmic rays to energies that exceed 10²⁰ eV. The assumption that GRBs are the sources of the observed cosmic rays generates a calculable flux of neutrinos produced when the protons interact with fireball photons. With data taken during construction IceCube has already reached a sensitivity to observe neutrinos produced in temporal coincidence with individual GRBs provided that they are the sources of the observed extra-galactic cosmic rays. We here point out that the GRB origin of cosmic rays is also challenged by the IceCube upper limit on a possible diffuse flux of cosmic neutrinos which should not be exceeded by the flux produced by all GRB over Hubble time. Our alternative approach has the advantage of directly relating the diffuse flux produced by all GRBs to measurements of the cosmic ray flux. It also generates both the neutrino flux produced by the sources and the associated cosmogenic neutrino flux in a synergetic way.