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Register a new userStudies of Cosmic Rays with GeV Gamma Rays
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Authors
Hiroyasu Tajima
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We describe the role of GeV gamma-ray observations with GLAST-LAT (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope - Large Area Telescope) in identifying interaction sites of cosmic-ray proton (or hadrons) with interstellar medium (ISM). We expect to detect gamma rays from neutral pion decays in high-density ISM regions in the Galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud, and other satellite galaxies. These gamma-ray sources have been detected already with EGRET (Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope) as extended sources (eg. LMC and Orion clouds) and GLAST-LAT will detect many more with a higher spatial resolution and in a wider spectral range. We have developed a novel image restoration technique based on the Richardson-Lucy algorithm optimized for GLAST-LAT observation of extended sources. Our algorithm calculates PSF (point spread function) for each event. This step is very important for GLAST-LAT and EGRET image analysis since PSF varies more than one order of magnitude from one gamma ray to another depending on its energy as well as its impact point and angle in the instrument. The GLAST-LAT and EGRET image analysis has to cope with Poisson fluctuation due to low number of detected photons for most sources. Our technique incorporates wavelet filtering to minimize effects due to the fluctuation. Preliminary studies on some EGRET sources are presented, which shows potential of this novel image restoration technique for the identification and characterisation of extended gamma-ray sources.
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The detection of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) provides a new way to explore sources of cosmic rays. One of the highest energy neutrino events detected by IceCube, tagged as IC35, is close to the UHECR anisotropy region detected by Pierre Auger Observatory. The nearby starburst galaxy (SBG), NGC 4945, is close to this anisotropic region and inside the mean angular error of the IC35 event. Considering the hypernovae contribution located in the SB region of NGC 4945, which can accelerate protons up to $sim 10^{17} , {rm eV}$ and inject them into the interstellar medium, we investigate the origin of this event around this starburst galaxy. We show that the interaction of these protons with the SB regions gas density could explain Fermi-LAT gamma-ray and radio observations if the magnetic fields strength in the SB region is the order of $sim rm mG$. Our estimated PeV neutrino events, in ten years, for this source is approximately 0.01 ($4times10^{-4}$) if a proton spectral index of 2.4 (2.7) is considered, which would demonstrate that IC35 is not produced in the central region of this SBG. Additionally, we consider the superwind region of NGC 4945 and show that protons can hardly be accelerated in it up to UHEs.
Context: Cosmic rays are thought to be accelerated at supernova remnant (SNR) shocks, but conclusive evidence is lacking. Aims: New data from ground-based gamma-ray telescopes and the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are used to test this hypothesis. A simple model for gamma-ray production efficiency is compared with measured gamma-ray luminosities of SNRs, and the GeV to TeV fluxes ratios of SNRs are examined for correlations with SNR ages. Methods: The supernova explosion is modeled as an expanding spherical shell of material that sweeps up matter from the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). The accumulated kinetic energy of the shell, which provides the energy available for nonthermal particle acceleration, changes when matter is swept up from the ISM and the SNR shell decelerates. A fraction of this energy is assumed to be converted into the energy of cosmic-ray electrons or protons. Three different particle radiation processes---nuclear pion-production interactions, nonthermal electron bremsstrahlung, and Compton scattering---are considered. Results: The efficiencies for gamma-ray production by these three processes are compared with gamma-ray luminosities of SNRs. Our results suggest that SNRs become less gamma-ray luminous at >~ 10^4 yr, and are consistent with the hypothesis that supernova remnants accelerate cosmic rays with an efficiency of ~10% for the dissipation of kinetic energy into nonthermal cosmic rays. Weak evidence for an increasing GeV to TeV flux ratio with SNR age is found.
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), also known as Wukong in China, launched on December 17, 2015, is a new high energy cosmic ray and {gamma}-ray satellite-borne observatory in space. One of the main scientific goals of DAMPE is to observe GeV-TeV high energy {gamma}-rays with accurate energy, angular, and time resolution, to indirectly search for dark matter particles and for the study of high energy astrophysics. Due to the comparatively higher fluxes of charged cosmic rays with respect to {gamma}-rays, it is challenging to identify {gamma}-rays with sufficiently high efficiency minimizing the amount of charged cosmic ray contamination. In this work we present a method to identify {gamma}-rays in DAMPE data based on Monte Carlo simulations, using the powerful electromagnetic/hadronic shower discrimination provided by the calorimeter and the veto detection of charged particles provided by the plastic scintillation detector. Monte Carlo simulations show that after this selection the number of electrons and protons that contaminate the selected {gamma}-ray events at $sim10$ GeV amounts to less than 1% of the selected sample. Finally, we use flight data to verify the effectiveness of the method by highlighting known {gamma}-ray sources in the sky and by reconstructing preliminary light curves of the Geminga pulsar.
The origin of the knee in cosmic ray spectrum remains to be an unsolved fundamental problem. There are various kinds of models which predict different break positions and the compositions of the knee. In this work, we suggest to use diffuse $gamma$-rays and neutrinos as probes to test these models. Based on several typical types of the composition models, the diffuse $gamma$-ray and neutrino spectra are calculated, which show distinctive cutoff behaviours at energies from tens of TeV to multi-PeV. The expected flux will be observable by the newly upgraded Tibet-AS$gamma$+MD (muon detector) experiment as well as more sensitive future projects, such as LHAASO and HiSCORE. By comparing the neutrino spectrum with the recent observations by IceCube experiment, we find that the diffuse neutrinos from interactions between the cosmic rays and the interstellar medium may not be responsible to the majority of the IceCube events. Future measurements of the neutrinos may be able to identify the Galactic diffuse component and further shed light on the problem of the knee of cosmic rays.
A search was conducted for TeV gamma-rays emitted from the direction of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray detected by the Flys Eye Experiment with E ~ 3 x 10**20 eV. No enhancement was found at a level of 10**-10 gamma/cm**2-sec for E>350 GeV. This upper limit is consistent with theoretical estimates based on topological defects as sources of UHE cosmic rays. An upper limit was also set for the flux of TeV gamma rays from 3C147, the most prominent AGN in the error box.
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