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Register a new userFermi bubble edges: spectrum and diffusion function
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Current measurements of the $gamma$-ray Fermi bubbles (FB) are based on model-dependent tracers, carry substantial systematic uncertainties, and are at some tension with each other. We show that gradient filters pick out the FB edges, which are found to smoothly connect to the bipolar X-ray structure emanating from the Galactic center, thus supporting the interpretation of the FBs as a Galactic-scale phenomenon. The sharp edges facilitate a direct, model-free measurement of the peripheral FB spectrum. The result is strikingly similar to the full FB-integrated spectrum, softened by a power law of index $etasimeq (0.2mbox{--}0.3)$. This is naturally explained, in both hadronic and leptonic models, if cosmic rays are injected at the edge, and diffuse away preferentially at higher energies $E$. The inferred, averaged diffusion function in the (more plausible) leptonic model, $D(E)simeq 10^{29.5}(E/10mbox{ GeV})^{0.48pm0.02}mbox{ cm}^2mbox{ s}^{-1}$, is consistent with estimates for Kraichnan-like turbulence. Our results, in particular the minute spatial variations in $eta$, indicate that the FB edge is a strong, Mach $gtrsim5$, forward shock.
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The bipolar, nonthermal, high-latitude lobes known as the Fermi bubbles (FBs) are thought to originate from a massive energy release near the Galactic centre (GC). We constrain the FB engine and the circumgalactic medium (CGM) by analytically and numerically modeling the FB edges as strong forward shocks, as inferred from recent observations. A non-directed energy release produces shocks too spherical to account for observations even for a maximally massive Galactic disc, critical CGM rotation, or injection effectively offset from the GC. In contrast, collimated injection nearly perpendicular to the disc can account for observations in both ballistic (free expansion) and slowdown regimes, as we show using a simple stratified evolution model verified by hydrodynamic simulations. FBs still in their ballistic regime require injection (at $zsimeq100$ pc heights in our model) with a half-opening angle $thetasimeq4^circ$, a normalized velocity $beta_{-2}equiv v/(0.01c)gtrsim 0.4$, and an energy $Egtrsim2beta_{-2}^2times 10^{55}$ erg, launched $mathbb{T}simeq 3.3beta_{-2}^{-1}$ Myr ago, showing a distinctive low-pressure region behind the bubble head. Slowing-down (mass accumulated) FBs require a faster injection, a thinner jet, a smaller $E/(beta_{-2}theta)^{2}$, and a comparable $mathbb{T}$, and follow a ballistic stage that must reach a height $z_{s}gtrsim 5$ kpc.
We report new Chandra hard X-ray ($>2rm~keV$) and JVLA C-band observations of the nuclear superbubble of NGC 3079, an analog of the Fermi bubble in our Milky Way. We detect extended hard X-ray emission on the SW side of the galactic nucleus with coherent multi-wavelength features in radio, H$alpha$, and soft X-ray. The hard X-ray feature has a cone shape with possibly a weak cap, forming a bubble-like structure with a diameter of $sim1.1rm~kpc$. A similar extended feature, however, is not detected on the NE side, which is brighter in all other wavelengths such as radio, H$alpha$, and soft X-ray. Scattered photons from the nuclear region or other nearby point-like X-ray bright sources, inverse Compton emission from cosmic ray electrons via interaction with the cosmic microwave background, or any individually faint stellar X-ray source populations, cannot explain the extended hard X-ray emission on the SW side and the strongly NE/SW asymmetry. A synchrotron emission model, plus a thermal component accounting for the excess at $sim1rm~keV$, can well characterize the broadband radio/hard X-ray spectra. The broadband synchrotron spectra do not show any significant cutoff, and even possibly slightly flatten at higher energy. This rules out a loss-limited scenario in the acceleration of the cosmic ray electrons in or around this superbubble. As the first detection of kpc-scale extended hard X-ray emission associated with a galactic nuclear superbubble, the spatial and spectral properties of the multi-wavelength emissions indicate that the cosmic ray leptons responsible for the broad-band synchrotron emission from the SW bubble must be accelerated in situ, instead of transported from the nuclear region of the galaxy.
Almost 10 yr of $gamma$-ray observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) have revealed extreme $gamma$-ray outbursts from flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), temporarily making these objects the brightest $gamma$-ray emitters in the sky. Yet, the location and mechanisms of the $gamma$-ray emission remain elusive. We characterize long-term $gamma$-ray variability and the brightest $gamma$-ray flares of six FSRQs. Consecutively zooming in on the brightest flares, which we identify in an objective way through Bayesian blocks and a hill-climbing algorithm, we find variability on subhour time scales and as short as minutes for two sources in our sample (3C279, CTA102) and weak evidence for variability at time scales less than the Fermi satellites orbit of 95 minutes for PKS1510-089 and 3C454.3. This suggests extremely compact emission regions in the jet. We do not find any signs for $gamma$-ray absorption in the broad-line region (BLR), which indicates that $gamma$-rays are produced at distances greater than hundreds of gravitational radii from the central black hole. This is further supported by a cross-correlation analysis between $gamma$-ray and radio/millimeter light curves, which is consistent with $gamma$-ray production at the same location as the millimeter core for 3C273, CTA102, and 3C454.3. The inferred locations of the $gamma$-ray production zones are still consistent with the observed decay times of the brightest flares if the decay is caused by external Compton scattering with BLR photons. However, the minute-scale variability is challenging to explain in such scenarios.
We analyse the origin of the gamma-ray flux from the Fermi Bubbles (FBs) in the framework of the hadronic model in which gamma-rays are produced by collisions of relativistic protons with the protons of background plasma in the Galactic halo. It is assumed in this model that the observed radio emission from the FBs is due to synchrotron radiation of secondary electrons produced by $pp$ collisions. However, if these electrons loose their energy by the synchrotron and inverse-Compton, the spectrum of secondary electrons is too soft, and an additional arbitrary component of primary electrons is necessary in order to reproduce the radio data. Thus, a mixture of the hadronic and leptonic models is required for the observed radio flux. It was shown that if the spectrum of primary electrons is $propto E_e^{-2}$, the permitted range of the magnetic field strength is within 2 - 7 $mu$G region. The fraction of gamma-rays produced by $pp$ collisions can reach about 80% of the total gamma-ray flux from the FBs. If magnetic field is <2 $mu$G or >7 $mu$G the model is unable to reproduce the data. Alternatively, the electrons in the FBs may lose their energy by adiabatic energy losses if there is a strong plasma outflow in the GC. Then, the pure hadronic model is able to reproduce characteristics of the radio and gamma-ray flux from the FBs. However, in this case the required magnetic field strength in the FBs and the power of CR sources are much higher than those followed from observations.
The propagation of charged particles, including cosmic rays, in a partially ordered magnetic field is characterized by a diffusion tensor whose components depend on the particles Larmor radius $R_L$ and the degree of order in the magnetic field. Most studies of the particle diffusion presuppose a scale separation between the mean and random magnetic fields (e.g., there being a pronounced minimum in the magnetic power spectrum at intermediate scales). Scale separation is often a good approximation in laboratory plasmas, but not in most astrophysical environments such as the interstellar medium (ISM). Modern simulations of the ISM have numerical resolution of order 1 pc, so the Larmor radius of the cosmic rays that dominate in energy density is at least $10^{6}$ times smaller than the resolved scales. Large-scale simulations of cosmic ray propagation in the ISM thus rely on oversimplified forms of the diffusion tensor. We take the first steps towards a more realistic description of cosmic ray diffusion for such simulations, obtaining direct estimates of the diffusion tensor from test particle simulations in random magnetic fields (with the Larmor radius scale being fully resolved), for a range of particle energies corresponding to $10^{-2}lesssim R_L/l_c lesssim 10^{3}$, where $l_c$ is the magnetic correlation length. We obtain explicit expressions for the cosmic ray diffusion tensor for $R_L/l_c ll 1$, that might be used in a sub-grid model of cosmic ray diffusion. The diffusion coefficients obtained are closely connected with existing transport theories that include the random walk of magnetic lines.
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