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Measurement of the extragalactic background light spectral energy distribution with VERITAS

103   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Elisa Pueschel
 تاريخ النشر 2019
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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The extragalactic background light (EBL), a diffuse photon field in the optical and infrared range, is a record of radiative processes over the Universes history. Spectral measurements of blazars at very high energies ($>$100 GeV) enable the reconstruction of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL, as the blazar spectra are modified by redshift- and energy-dependent interactions of the gamma-ray photons with the EBL. The spectra of 14 VERITAS-detected blazars are included in a new measurement of the EBL SED that is independent of EBL SED models. The resulting SED covers an EBL wavelength range of 0.56--56 $mu$m, and is in good agreement with lower limits obtained by assuming that the EBL is entirely due to radiation from cataloged galaxies.



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103 - Elisa Pueschel 2019
The extragalactic background light records the history of infrared, optical and ultraviolet light radiation including re-radiation since the epoch of reionization. While challenging to measure directly, it can be measured indirectly via its impact on observed spectra of extragalactic gamma-ray emitters. VERITAS, a ground-based imaging atmospheric-Cherenkov telescope array sensitive to gamma rays above 100 GeV, has accrued 10 years of observations of hard-spectrum blazars. The energy and redshift range covered enables the measurement of the EBL in the range 0.56-56~$mu$m, accessing the poorly constrained cosmic infrared background region. New constraints on the EBL resulting from the joint analysis using 16 spectra from 14 VERITAS-observed blazars will be presented. The method is independent of assumptions about the shape of the EBL spectrum, and includes a full treatment of systematic and statistical uncertainties. The measured spectrum is in good agreement with lower limits from galaxy counts, limiting the potential contribution from a diffuse component.
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