Energy losses of magnetic monopoles and dyons in scintillators, streamer tubes and nuclear track detectors

A systematic analysis of the energy losses of magnetic monopoles of different magnetic charges and of dyons in three types of detectors are investigated for a large range of β = υ/c (β > 10⁻⁵). More specifically we have computed the light yield in liquid scintillators, the ionization in streamer tubes and the Restricted Energy Loss in the CR39 nuclear track detectors. Also the total energy losses have been analyzed.     

Gamma ray spectrum of the crab nebula in the multi TeV region

The THEMISTOCLE array of 18 Cherenkov detectors which has a 3 TeV gamma energy threshold, has detected a signal from the Crab nebula at a 5.8 standard deviation level. Information on the energy spectrum is obtained in the range 3–15 TeV. The integrated flux can be fitted with the form, Φ (> E) = (3.7 ± 0.5) × 10^-12 (E/5)-^{−1.5 ± 0.20} cm⁻² s⁻¹ (E in TeV) compatible with the extrapolation of results at lower energies. The Crab signal is used to measure the angular resolution of the multi-telescope technique. The value obtained is 2.3 mr (0.15°) in agreement with the results of simulations, and confirms the interest of this new method for multi-TeV gamma-ray detection.     

Development of a hard x-ray focal plane compton polarimeter: a compact polarimetric configuration with scintillators and Si photomultipliers

X-ray polarization measurement of cosmic sources provides two unique parameters namely degree and angle of polarization which can probe the emission mechanism and geometry at close vicinity of the compact objects. Specifically, the hard X-ray polarimetry is more rewarding because the sources are expected to be intrinsically highly polarized at higher energies. With the successful implementation of Hard X-ray optics in NuSTAR, it is now feasible to conceive Compton polarimeters as focal plane detectors. Such a configuration is likely to provide sensitive polarization measurements in hard X-rays with a broad energy band. We are developing a focal plane hard X-ray Compton polarimeter consisting of a plastic scintillator as active scatterer surrounded by a cylindrical array of CsI(Tl) scintillators. The scatterer is 5 mm diameter and 100 mm long plastic scintillator (BC404) viewed by normal PMT. The photons scattered by the plastic scatterer are collected by a cylindrical array of 16 CsI(Tl) scintillators (5 mm × 5 mm × 150 mm) which are read by Si Photomultiplier (SiPM). Use of the new generation SiPMs ensures the compactness of the instrument which is essential for the design of focal plane detectors. The expected sensitivity of such polarimetric configuration and complete characterization of the plastic scatterer, specially at lower energies have been discussed in [11, 13]. In this paper, we characterize the CsI(Tl) absorbers coupled to SiPM. We also present the experimental results from the fully assembled configuration of the Compton polarimeter.     

One-dimensional electric field structure of an outer gap accelerator – II. γ-ray production resulting from inverse Compton scattering

We study the structure of a stationary and axisymmetric charge-deficient region (or a potential gap) in the outer magnetosphere of a spinning neutron star. A large electric field along the magnetic field lines is created in this potential gap and accelerates migratory electrons (e⁻) and/or positrons (e⁺) to ultrarelativistic energies. Assuming that the gap is immersed in a dense soft photon field, these relativistic e^± radiate γ -ray photons via inverse Compton (IC) scattering. These γ -rays, in turn, produce yet more radiating particles by colliding with ambient soft photons, leading to a pair-production cascade in the gap. The replenished charges partially screen the longitudinal electric field, which is self-consistently solved together with the distribution of e^± and γ -ray photons. It is demonstrated that the voltage drop in the gap is not more than 10¹⁰ V when the background X-ray radiation is as luminous as 10³⁷ erg s⁻¹. However, this value increases with decreasing X-ray luminosity and attains 10¹² V when the X-ray radiation is 10³⁶ erg s⁻¹. In addition, we find useful expressions of the spatial distribution of the particle fluxes and longitudinal electric field, together with the relationship between the voltage drop and the current density. Amazingly, these expressions are valid not only when IC scattering dominates but also when curvature radiation dominates.     

The cosmic ray energy spectrum between 10 and 10 eV

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays with primary energies between 10¹⁴ eV and 10¹⁶ eV has been studied with the CASA-MIA air shower array. The measured differential energy spectrum is a power law (dj/dE ∝ E^−y) with spectral indices γ of 2.66±0.02 below approximately 10¹⁵ eV and 3.00±0.05 above. A new method is used for measuring primary energy derived from ground-based data in a compositionally insensitive way. In contrast with some previous reports, the “knee” of the energy spectrum does not appear sharp, but rather a smooth transition over energies from 10¹⁵ eV to 3.0 × 10¹⁵ eV.     

Galactic gamma halo by heavy neutrino annihilations?

The diffused gamma halo around our Galaxy recently discovered by EGRET could be produced by annihilations of heavy relic neutrinos N (of fourth generation), whose mass is within a narrow range (M_Z/2<m_N<M_Z). Neutrino annihilation in the halo may lead to either ultrarelativistic electron pairs whose Inverse Compton Scattering on infrared and optical galactic photons could be the source of observed GeV gamma rays, or prompt 100 MeV–1 GeV photons (due to neutral pion secondaries) born by reactions. The consequent gamma flux (10⁻⁷–10⁻⁶ cm⁻² s⁻¹ sr⁻¹) is well comparable to the EGRET observed one, and it is also compatible with the narrow window of neutrino mass 45 GeV <m_N<50 GeV, recently required to explain the underground DAMA signals.The presence of heavy neutrinos of fourth generation do not contribute much to solve the dark matter problem of the Universe, but may be easily detectable by outcoming LEP II data.     

High energy gamma-rays from cygnus X-3

Simultaneous observations by the ESA satellite COS-B show that the 2–12 keV X-rays and 150–5000 MeV gamma-rays of Cyg X-3 are negatively correlated. A clear gamma-ray image of Cyg X-3 can be obtained between June 1977 and June 1980, when the X-ray emission was low, to yield a flux of P(E > 100MeV) ~ 1 × 10⁻⁶cm⁻²s⁻¹.     

Properties of the infrared dark cloud G79.2+0.38

The MSX infrared dark cloud G79.2+0.38 has been observed over a 11′×′ region simultaneously in the J=1-0 rotational transition lines of the ¹²CO and its isotopic molecules ¹³CO and ¹⁸CO. The dense molecular cores defined by the C¹⁸O line are found to be associated with the two high-extinction patches shown in the MSX A-band image. The two dense cores have the column density N (H₂) (5 – 12) × 10²² cm⁻² and the mean number density n (3 ± 1) × 10⁴ cm⁻³. Their sizes are 1.7 and 1.2 pc in ¹³CO(1-0) line, 1.2 and 0.6 pc in C¹⁸O(1-0) line, respectively. The masses of these cloud cores are estimated to be in the range from 2 × 10² to 2 × 10³ M. The profile of radial mean density of the cloud core can be described by the exponential function ¯n(p) p^{−0.34±0.02}. Compared with the cases of typical optical dark clouds, the abundances of the CO isotopic molecules ¹³CO and C¹⁸O in this MSX infrared dark cloud appear to be depleted by a factor of 4–11, but at present there is no evidence for any obvious variation of the relative abundance ratio X_13/18 between ¹³CO and C¹⁸O with the column density.     

The potential of the ground based arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. II. Gamma ray flux sensitivities

We discuss the capability of ‘100 GeV’ class imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT) arrays as future powerful instruments of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy. It is assumed that the array is gathered from individually triggered quadrangular 4-IACT ‘cells’ with a linear size of about 100 m. The multi-cell concept allows coverage of large detection areas economically, and at the same time the effective exploitation of the stereoscopic approach of determination of the shower parameters using information obtained by several IACTs simultaneously. Determination of arrival directions of γ-ray primaries on an event-by-event basis with accuracy δθ ≤ 0.1° combined with high suppression efficiency (at both the hardware and software levels) of the background hadronic showers by a factor of ≈ 10³, and large, up to 1 km² collection areas, can provide minimum detectable energy fluxes of ≥ 100 GeV γ-rays from point sources down to 10⁻¹³ erg/cm² s which is about 3 orders of magnitude lower than the current sensitivities achieved by the satellite-borne detectors at MeV and GeV energies. High sensitivities of multi-IACT arrays would partially compensate the limited efficiency of the technique for all-sky surveys, as well as allow study of moderately extended (≤ 1°) γ-ray sources. IACT arrays with minimum detectable fluence of ≥ 100 GeV γ-rays S_γ < 10⁻⁸ erg/cm² are well suited for effective exploration of highly sporadic nonthermal phenomena from different classes of astrophysical objects on time-scales from ≤ 1 s to several minutes.     

Simulations of a giant hybrid air shower detector

We have used Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the capabilities of a giant air shower observatory designed to detect showers initiated by cosmic rays with energies exceeding 10¹⁹ eV. The observatory is to consist of an array of detectors that will characterise the air shower at ground level, and optical detectors to measure the fluorescence light emitted by the shower in the atmosphere. Using these detectors together in a ‘hybrid’ configuration, we find that precise geometrical reconstruction of the shower axis is possible, leading to excellent resolution in energy. The technique is also shown to provide very good reconstruction below 10¹⁹ eV, at energies where the ground array is not fully efficient.     

Nightside ionosphere of Venus

Venera 9, 10 measurements of the nightside ionospheric profile and the night airglow were used for investigating ionosphere formation processes. The upper ionospheric layer may be formed by HeI 584 Å radiation; the lower layer by meteorite ionization. Upper limits on the electron energy flux, <4 × 10⁸eV cm⁻² s⁻¹, the helium ion flux <10⁷ cm⁻² s⁻¹, the nitric oxide mixing ratio, <1.5 × 10⁻⁴ and the atomic sulphur mixing ratio, <10⁻⁶, are deduced for ionospheric altitudes.     

Correlated multiwavelength emission from the X-ray-bright Seyfert galaxy III Zw 2

The X-ray-bright Seyfert 1 galaxy III Zw 2 was observed with XMM–Newton in 2000 July. Its X-ray spectrum can be described by a power law of photon index Γ= 1.7 and an extremely broad (FWHM∼ 140 000 km  s⁻¹  ) Fe Kα line at 6.44 keV. The iron line has an equivalent width of ∼800 eV. To study the long-term X-ray behaviour of the source we have analysed 25 yr of data, from 1975 to 2000. There is no evidence of significant intrinsic absorption within the source or of a soft X-ray excess in the XMM or archival data. We do not detect rapid X-ray variability (a few  × 10³ s  ) during any of the individual observations; however, on longer time-scales (a few years) the X-ray light curve shows 10-fold flux variations. We infer a black hole mass of  ∼10⁹ M_⊙  (from Hβ FWHM) for III Zw 2 which is much higher than some previous estimates.
A comparison of X-ray variability with light curves at other wavelengths over a 25-yr period reveals correlated flux variations from radio to X-ray wavelengths. We interpret the variable radio to optical emission as synchrotron radiation, self-absorbed in the radio/millimetre region, and the X-rays mainly as a result of Compton up-scattering of low-energy photons by the population of high-energy electrons that give rise to the synchrotron radiation.     

Compton polarimeter as a focal plane detector for hard X-ray telescope: sensitivity estimation with Geant4 simulations

X-ray polarimetry can be an important tool for investigating various physical processes as well as their geometries at the celestial X-ray sources. However, X-ray polarimetry has not progressed much compared to the spectroscopy, timing and imaging mainly due to the extremely photon-hungry nature of X-ray polarimetry leading to severely limited sensitivity of X-ray polarimeters. The great improvement in sensitivity in spectroscopy and imaging was possible due to focusing X-ray optics which is effective only at the soft X-ray energy range. Similar improvement in sensitivity of polarisation measurement at soft X-ray range is expected in near future with the advent of GEM based photoelectric polarimeters. However, at energies >10 keV, even spectroscopic and imaging sensitivities of X-ray detector are limited due to lack of focusing optics. Thus hard X-ray polarimetry so far has been largely unexplored area. On the other hand, typically the polarisation degree is expected to increase at higher energies as the radiation from non-thermal processes is dominant fraction. So polarisation measurement in hard X-ray can yield significant insights into such processes. With the recent availability of hard X-ray optics (e.g. with upcoming NuSTAR, Astro-H missions) which can focus X-rays from 5 KeV to 80 KeV, sensitivity of X-ray detectors in hard X-ray range is expected to improve significantly. In this context we explore feasibility of a focal plane hard X-ray polarimeter based on Compton scattering having a thin plastic scatterer surrounded by cylindrical array scintillator detectors. We have carried out detailed Geant4 simulation to estimate the modulation factor for 100 % polarized beam as well as polarimetric efficiency of this configuration. We have also validated these results with a semi-analytical approach. Here we present the initial results of polarisation sensitivities of such focal plane Compton polarimeter coupled with the reflection efficiency of present era hard X-ray optics.     

Production of neutrinos and secondary electrons in cosmic sources

We study the individual contribution to secondary lepton production in hadronic interactions of cosmic rays (CRs) including resonances and heavier secondaries. For this purpose we use the same methodology discussed earlier [C.-Y. Huang, S.-E. Park, M. Pohl, C.D. Daniels, Astropart. Phys. 27 (2007) 429], namely the Monte-Carlo particle collision code DPMJET3.04 to determine the multiplicity spectra of various secondary particles with leptons as the final decay states, that result from inelastic collisions of cosmic-ray protons and Helium nuclei with the interstellar medium of standard composition. By combining the simulation results with parametric models for secondary particle (with resonances included) for incident cosmic-ray energies below a few GeV, where DPMJET appears unreliable, we thus derive production matrices for all stable secondary particles in cosmic-ray interactions with energies up to about 10 PeV.

We apply the production matrices to calculate the radio synchrotron radiation of secondary electrons in a young shell-type SNR, RX J1713.7-3946, which is a measure of the age, the spectral index of hadronic cosmic rays, and most importantly the magnetic field strength. We find that the multi-mG fields recently invoked to explain the X-ray flux variations are unlikely to extend over a large fraction of the radio-emitting region, otherwise the spectrum of hadronic cosmic rays in the energy window 0.1–100 GeV must be unusually hard.

We also use the production matrices to calculate the muon event rate in an IceCube-like detector that are induced by muon neutrinos from high-energy γ-ray sources such as RX J1713.7-3946, Vela Jr. and MGRO J2019+37. At muon energies of a few TeV, or in other word, about 10 TeV neutrino energy, an accumulation of data over about 5–10 years would allow testing the hadronic origin of TeV γ-rays.     

The K-band luminosity function at z = 1: a powerful constraint on galaxy formation theory

We report the first detection of an inverse Compton X-ray emission, spatially correlated with a very steep spectrum radio source (VSSRS), 0038-096, without any detected optical counterpart, in cluster Abell 85. The ROSAT PSPC data and its multiscale wavelet analysis reveal a large-scale (linear diameter of the order of 500 h ⁻¹₅₀ kpc), diffuse X-ray component, in addition to the thermal bremsstrahlung, overlapping an equally large-scale VSSRS. The primeval 3 K background photons, scattering off the relativistic electrons, can produce the X-rays at the detected level. The inverse Compton flux is estimated to be (6.5 ± 0.5) × 10⁻¹³ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² in the 0.5–2.4 keV X-ray band. A new 327-MHz radio map is presented for the cluster field. The synchrotron emission flux is estimated to be (6.6 ± 0.90) × 10⁻¹⁴ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² in the 10–100 MHz radio band. The positive detection of both radio and X-ray emission from a common ensemble of relativistic electrons leads to an estimate of (0.95 ± 0.10) × 10⁻⁶ G for the cluster-scale magnetic field strength. The estimated field is free of the 'equipartition' conjecture, the distance, and the emission volume. Further, the radiative fluxes and the estimated magnetic field imply the presence of 'relic' (radiative lifetime ≳ 10⁹ yr) relativistic electrons with Lorentz factors γ ≈ 700–1700; this would be a significant source of radio emission in the hitherto unexplored frequency range ν ≈ 2–10 MHz.     

Evolutionary relationship between the γ-ray flares and millimeter wave outbursts in PKS 0528+134

During the period of 1991–1993 two strong high energy γ-ray flares were observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in the flat spectrum radio source PKS 0528+134. They were associated with strong mm-radio outbursts with a few months time-delays. In this paper the spectral energy distributions (SED) of the radiations in the γ-hand X-ray and the IR-optical bands are analysed. It is shown that the high energy γ-ray radiation may be due to the inverse Compton scattering of the ambient UV and soft X-ray photons by the relativistic electrons in the jet. Basing on the comparison between the properties of the synchrotron radiation of the γ-ray source and the spectral evolution of the mm-radio outbursts, the evolutional relationship between the γ-ray emitting blobs and the mm-radio emitting blobs is discussed.     

Space–time foam and cosmic-ray interactions

It has been proposed that propagation of cosmic-rays at extreme-energy may be sensitive to Lorentz-violating metric fluctuations (“foam”). We investigate the changes in interaction thresholds for cosmic-rays and gamma-rays interacting on the CMB and IR backgrounds, for a class of stochastic models of space–time foam. The strength of the foam is characterized by the factor (E/M_P)^a, where a is a phenomenological suppression parameter. We find that there exists a critical value of a (dependent on the particular reaction: a_crit3 for cosmic-rays, 1 for gamma-rays), below which the threshold energy can only be lowered, and above which the threshold energy may be raised, but at most by a factor of two. Thus, it does not appear possible in this class of models to extend cosmic-ray spectra significantly beyond their classical absorption energies. However, the lower thresholds resulting from foam may have signatures in the cosmic-ray spectrum. In the context of this foam model, we find that cosmic-ray energies cannot exceed the fundamental Planck scale, and so set a lower bound of 10⁸ TeV for the scale of gravity. We also find that suppression of p→pπ⁰ and γ→e⁻e⁺ “decays” favors values aa_crit. Finally, we comment on the apparent non-conservation of particle energy–momentum, and speculate on its re-emergence as dark energy in the foamy vacuum.     

Gamma–hadron separation methods for the VERITAS array of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes

Ground-based arrays of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have emerged as the most sensitive γ-ray detectors in the energy range of about 100 GeV and above. The strengths of these arrays are a very large effective collection area on the order of 10⁵ m², combined with excellent single photon angular and energy resolutions. The sensitivity of such detectors is limited by statistical fluctuations in the number of Cosmic-ray initiated air showers that resemble γ-ray air showers in many ways. In this paper, we study the performance of simple event reconstruction methods when applied to simulated data of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) experiment. We review methods for reconstructing the arrival direction and the energy of the primary photons, and examine means to improve on their performance. For a software threshold energy of 300 GeV (100 GeV), the methods achieve point source angular and energy resolutions of σ_63% = 0.1° (0.2°) and σ_68% = 15% (22%), respectively. The main emphasis of the paper is the discussion of γ–hadron separation methods for the VERITAS experiment. We find that the information from several methods can be combined based on a likelihood ratio approach and the resulting algorithm achieves a γ–hadron suppression with a quality factor that is substantially higher than that achieved with the standard methods used so far.     

The cosmic ray primary composition in the “knee” region through the EAS electromagnetic and muon measurements at EAS-TOP

The evolution of the cosmic ray primary composition in the energy range 10⁶–10⁷ GeV (i.e. the “knee” region) is studied by means of the e.m. and muon data of the Extensive Air Shower EAS-TOP array (Campo Imperatore, National Gran Sasso Laboratories). The measurement is performed through: (a) the correlated muon number (N_μ) and shower size (N_e) spectra, and (b) the evolution of the average muon numbers and their distributions as a function of the shower size. From analysis (a) the dominance of helium primaries at the knee, and therefore the possibility that the knee itself is due to a break in their energy spectrum (at E_k^He=(3.5±0.3)×10⁶ GeV) are deduced. Concerning analysis (b), the measurement accuracies allow the classification in terms of three mass groups: light (p,He), intermediate (CNO), and heavy (Fe). At primary energies E₀≈10⁶ GeV the results are consistent with the extrapolations of the data from direct experiments. In the knee region the obtained evolution of the energy spectra leads to: (i) an average steep spectrum of the light mass group (γ_p,He>3.1), (ii) a spectrum of the intermediate mass group harder than the one of the light component (γ_CNO2.75, possibly bending at E_k^CNO≈(6–7)×10⁶ GeV), (iii) a constant slope for the spectrum of the heavy primaries (γ_Fe2.3–2.7) consistent with the direct measurements. In the investigated energy range, the average primary mass increases from lnA=1.6–1.9 at E₀1.5×10⁶ GeV to lnA=2.8–3.1 at E₀1.5×10⁷ GeV. The result supports the standard acceleration and propagation models of galactic cosmic rays that predict rigidity dependent cut-offs for the primary spectra of the different nuclei. The uncertainties connected to the hadronic interaction model (QGSJET in CORSIKA) used for the interpretation are discussed.     

Implications of modified AGN spectra due to absorption by infrared photons

Recent observations of high energy photons from active galactic nuclei (AGN) have lead to a renewed interest in the effect of gamma-ray cascading in background radiation fields. In recent years, numerous authors have explored possible modifications to the observed high energy photon spectra from AGN due to propagation through such fields. This paper will re-examine a number of these issues. The major conclusions of this paper are: (1) The reaction γ + γ → e⁺ + e⁻ provides a highly sensitive probe of background infrared (IR) fields. However little can be inferred about the specific nature of the IR background or the effect on spectra from more distant AGN from a study of nearby sources alone. Currently, only upper limits to the background IR density can be established. (2) The contribution of secondary photons from pair-cascading off of background microwave and infrared radiation is most likely unobservable in the regime of 1 TeV unless the strength of extragalactic magnetic fields are much less than 10⁻¹³ G and the inherent source spectra continue to much higher energies. The possible contribution from this process may be conclusively ruled out through further spectral measurements of AGN in the TeV regime during high and low states. (3) There is little hope of unambiguously extracting the values of either the Hubble constant or Ω from γ-γ attenuation measurements. (4) The sensitivity of the attenuation to the density of the background IR produced prior to the epoch of the observed source suggests a future possibility to probe directly the evolution of the background IR radiation through multiple source observations.