During a core-collapse supernova (SN), axion-like particles (ALPs) could be produced through the Primakoff process and subsequently convert into gamma rays in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. Using a sample of well studied extragalactic SNe at op
tical wavelengths, we estimate the time of the core collapse and search for a coincident gamma-ray burst with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Under the assumption that at least one SN was contained within the LAT field of view, we exclude photon-ALP couplings within a factor of $sim$5 of previous limits from SN1987A. With the increasing number of SNe observed with optical surveys, our results demonstrate the potential to probe ALP dark matter with combined optical and gamma-ray observations. We also provide preliminary results for the estimation of explosion times of 15 close-by SNe observed recently with ZTF. Our findings show that the explosion time can be estimated within one day (statistical uncertainty only) making them promising targets for a follow-up LAT analysis.
We present the fourth Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog (4FGL) of gamma-ray sources. Based on the first eight years of science data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission in the energy range from 50 MeV to 1 TeV, it is the deepest yet in t
his energy range. Relative to the 3FGL catalog, the 4FGL catalog has twice as much exposure as well as a number of analysis improvements, including an updated model for the Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission, and two sets of light curves (1-year and 2-month intervals). The 4FGL catalog includes 5064 sources above 4 sigma significance, for which we provide localization and spectral properties. Seventy-five sources are modeled explicitly as spatially extended, and overall 358 sources are considered as identified based on angular extent, periodicity or correlated variability observed at other wavelengths. For 1336 sources we have not found plausible counterparts at other wavelengths. More than 3130 of the identified or associated sources are active galaxies of the blazar class, and 239 are pulsars.
The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for $gamma$ rays via photon-photon interactions, le
aving an imprint in the spectra of distant $gamma$-ray sources. We measure this attenuation using {739} active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the {it Fermi} Large Area Telescope. This allows us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star-formation history of the Universe over 90% of cosmic time. Our star-formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift $zsim2$. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of re-ionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at $zsim 6$.
Black holes with masses below approximately $10^{15}$ g are expected to emit gamma rays with energies above a few tens of MeV, which can be detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Although black holes with these masses cannot be formed as a
result of stellar evolution, they may have formed in the early Universe and are therefore called Primordial Black Holes (PBHs). Previous searches for PBHs have focused on either short timescale bursts or the contribution of PBHs to the isotropic gamma-ray emission. We show that, in case of individual PBHs, the Fermi LAT is most sensitive to PBHs with temperatures above approximately 16 GeV and masses $6times 10^{11}$ g, which it can detect out to a distance of about 0.03 pc. These PBHs have a remaining lifetime of months to years at the start of the Fermi mission. They would appear as potentially moving point sources with gamma-ray emission that becomes spectrally harder and brighter with time until the PBH completely evaporates. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm to detect the proper motion of a gamma-ray point sources, and apply it to 318 unassociated point sources at high galactic latitude in the third Fermi-LAT source catalog (3FGL). None of unassociated point sources with spectra consistent with PBH evaporation show significant proper motion. Using the non-detection of PBH candidates, we derive a 99% confidence limit on PBH evaporation rate in the vicinity of the Earth $dot{rho}_{rm PBH} < 7.2 times 10^3: {rm {pc}^{-3} {yr}^{-1}}$. This limit is similar to the limits obtained with ground-based gamma-ray observatories.
In eight years of operation, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has detected a large sample of cosmic-ray protons. The LATs wide field of view and full-sky coverage make it an excellent instrument for studying anisotropy in the arrival directions o
f protons at all angular scales. These capabilities enable the LAT to make a full-sky 2D measurement of cosmic-ray proton anisotropy complementary to many recent TeV measurements, which are only sensitive to the right ascension component of the anisotropy. Any detected anisotropy probes the structure of the local interstellar magnetic field or could indicate the presence of a nearby source. We present the first results from the Fermi-LAT Collaboration on the full-sky angular power spectrum of protons from approximately 100 GeV - 10 TeV.
The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has been launched on June 11 2008. While it has fundamentally changed our understanding of the high-energy $gamma$-ray sky, it is even more powerful in multiwavelength and multimessenger efforts. In this work I sum
marize results from Fermi-LAT in the multimessenger context, pertaining to high-energy neutrinos.
Axionlike particles (ALPs) are a common prediction of theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics that could explain the entirety of the cold dark matter. These particles could be detected through their mixing with photons in external elec
tromagnetic fields. Here, we provide a short review over ALP searches that utilize astrophysical $gamma$-ray observations. We summarize current bounds as well as future sensitivities and discuss the possibility that ALPs alter the $gamma$-ray opacity of the Universe.
We report the Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of extended gamma-ray emission from the lobes of the radio galaxy Fornax A using 6.1 years of Pass 8 data. After Centaurus A, this is now the second example of an extended gamma-ray source attributed
to a radio galaxy. Both an extended flat disk morphology and a morphology following the extended radio lobes were preferred over a point-source description, and the core contribution was constrained to be < 14% of the total gamma-ray flux. A preferred alignment of the gamma-ray elongation with the radio lobes was demonstrated by rotating the radio lobes template. We found no significant evidence for variability on ~0.5 year timescales. Taken together, these results strongly suggest a lobe origin for the gamma rays. With the extended nature of the > 100 MeV gamma-ray emission established, we model the source broadband emission considering currently available total lobe radio and millimeter flux measurements, as well as X-ray detections attributed to inverse Compton (IC) emission off the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Unlike the Centaurus A case, we find that a leptonic model involving IC scattering of CMB and extragalactic background light (EBL) photons underpredicts the gamma-ray fluxes by factors of about ~ 2 - 3, depending on the EBL model adopted. An additional gamma-ray spectral component is thus required, and could be due to hadronic emission arising from proton-proton collisions of cosmic rays with thermal plasma within the radio lobes.
On 2015 June 16, Fermi-LAT observed a giant outburst from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 with a peak $>100$ MeV flux of $sim3.6times10^{-5};{rm photons};{rm cm}^{-2};{rm s}^{-1}$ averaged over orbital period intervals. It is the historically h
ighest $gamma$-ray flux observed from the source including past EGRET observations, with the $gamma$-ray isotropic luminosity reaching $sim10^{49};{rm erg};{rm s}^{-1}$. During the outburst, the Fermi spacecraft, which has an orbital period of 95.4 min, was operated in a special pointing mode to optimize the exposure for 3C 279. For the first time, significant flux variability at sub-orbital timescales was found in blazar observations by Fermi-LAT. The source flux variability was resolved down to 2-min binned timescales, with flux doubling times less than 5 min. The observed minute-scale variability suggests a very compact emission region at hundreds of Schwarzschild radii from the central engine in conical jet models. A minimum bulk jet Lorentz factor ($Gamma$) of 35 is necessary to avoid both internal $gamma$-ray absorption and super-Eddington jet power. In the standard external-radiation-Comptonization scenario, $Gamma$ should be at least 50 to avoid overproducing the synchrotron-self-Compton component. However, this predicts extremely low magnetization ($sim5times10^{-4}$). Equipartition requires $Gamma$ as high as 120, unless the emitting region is a small fraction of the dissipation region. Alternatively, we consider $gamma$ rays originating as synchrotron radiation of $gamma_{rm e}sim1.6times10^6$ electrons, in magnetic field $Bsim1.3$ kG, accelerated by strong electric fields $Esim B$ in the process of magnetoluminescence. At such short distance scales, one cannot immediately exclude production of $gamma$ rays in hadronic processes.
We perform a comprehensive stacking analysis of data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) localized by the Swift spacecraft, which were not detected by the LAT but which fell within the instruments field of view
at the time of trigger. We examine a total of 79 GRBs by comparing the observed counts over a range of time intervals to that expected from designated background orbits, as well as by using a joint likelihood technique to model the expected distribution of stacked counts. We find strong evidence for subthreshold emission at MeV to GeV energies using both techniques. This observed excess is detected during intervals that include and exceed the durations typically characterizing the prompt emission observed at keV energies and lasts at least 2700 s after the co-aligned burst trigger. By utilizing a novel cumulative likelihood analysis, we find that although a bursts prompt gamma-ray and afterglow X-ray flux both correlate with the strength of the subthreshold emission, the X-ray afterglow flux measured by Swifts X-ray Telescope (XRT) at 11 hr post trigger correlates far more significantly. Overall, the extended nature of the subthreshold emission and its connection to the bursts afterglow brightness lend further support to the external forward shock origin of the late-time emission detected by the LAT. These results suggest that the extended high-energy emission observed by the LAT may be a relatively common feature but remains undetected in a majority of bursts owing to instrumental threshold effects.
