A search for pair halos around active galactic nuclei through a temporal analysis of Fermi-LAT data

We develop a method to search for pair halos around active galactic nuclei (AGN) through a temporal analysis of gamma-ray data. The basis of our method is an analysis of the spatial distributions of photons coming from AGN flares and from AGN quiescent states and a further comparison of these two spatial distributions. This method can also be used for a reconstruction of a point spread function (PSF). We found no evidence for a pair halo component through this method by applying it to the Fermi-LAT data in the energy bands of 4.5-6, 6-10, and >10 GeV and set upper limits on the fraction of photons attributable to a pair halo component. An illustration of how to reconstruct the PSF of Fermi-LAT is given. We demonstrate that the PSF reconstructed by using this method is in good agreement with that which was obtained by using the gamma-ray data taken by LAT in the direction of the Crab pulsar and nebula.

Counting gamma rays in the directions of galaxy clusters

Emission of AGNs and neutral pion decay - are the two most natural mechanisms, that could make a galaxy cluster be a source of gamma-rays in the GeV regime. We revisited this problem by using 52.5-month FERMI-LAT data above 10 GeV and stacking 55 clusters from the HIFLUGS sample of the X-ray brightest clusters. The choice of >10 GeV photons is optimal from the point of view of angular resolution, while the sample selection optimizes the chances of detecting signatures of the neutral pion decay, arising from hadronic interactions of relativistic protons with an intra-cluster medium, which scale with the X-ray flux. In the stacked data we detected a signal for the central 0.25 deg circle at the level of 4.3 sigma. An evidence for a spatial extent of the signal is marginal. A subsample of cool-core clusters has higher count rate 1.9+/-0.3 per cluster compared to the subsample of non-cool core clusters 1.3+/-0.2. Several independent arguments suggest that the contribution of AGNs to the observed signal is substantial if not dominant. No strong support for the large contribution of pion decay was found. In terms of a limit on the relativistic protons energy density, we got an upper limit of ~1.5% relative to the gas thermal energy density, provided that the spectrum of relativistic protons is hard (s=4.1 in dN/dp=p^-s). This estimate assumes that relativistic and thermal components are mixed. For softer spectra the limits are weaker.

Simulating SZ intensity maps of giant AGN cocoons

We perform relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of the formation and evolution of AGN cocoons produced by very light powerful jets. We calculate the intensity maps of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect at high frequencies for the simulated AGN cocoons using the relativistically correct Wright formalism. Our fully relativistic calculations demonstrate that the contribution from the high temperature gas (kb Te ~ 100 keV) to the SZ signal from AGN cocoons at high frequencies is stronger than that from the shocked ambient intercluster medium owing to the fact that the relativistic spectral functions peak at these temperature values. We present simulations of the SZ effect from AGN cocoons at various frequencies, and demonstrate that SZ observations at 217 GHz and at higher frequencies, such as 857 GHz, will provide us with knowledge about the dynamically-dominant component of AGN cocoons.

A high-frequency study of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect morphology in galaxy clusters

High-frequency, high-resolution imaging of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect is an important technique to study the complex structures of the atmospheres of merging galaxy clusters. Such observations are sensitive to the details of the electron spectrum. We show that the morphology of the SZ intensity maps in simulated galaxy clusters observed at 345 GHz, 600 GHz, and 857 GHz are significantly different because of SZ relativistic corrections. These differences can be revealed by high-resolution imaging instruments. We calculate relativistically corrected SZ intensity maps of a simulated, massive, merging galaxy cluster and of the massive, merging clusters 1E0657-558 (the Bullet Cluster) and Abell 2219. The morphologies of the SZ intensity maps are remarkably different between 345 GHz and 857 GHz for each merging cluster. We show that high-resolution imaging observations of the SZ intensity maps at these frequencies, obtainable with the LABOCA and HERSCHEL-SPIRE instruments, allow to fully exploit the astrophysical relevance of the predicted SZ morphological effect.