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Energy spectrum of primary cosmic ray alpha particles measured by nuclear photographic emulsion, estimating geomagnetic cut-off energies
Relativistic jets are ubiquitous in astrophysical systems that contain compact objects. They transport large amounts of energy to large distances from the source and their interaction with the ambient medium has a crucial effect on the evolution of the system. The propagation of the jet is characterized by the formation of a shocked 'head' at the front of the jet which dissipates the jet's energy and a cocoon that surrounds the jet and potentially collimates it. We present here a self-consistent, analytic model that follows the evolution of the jet and its cocoon, and describes their interaction. We show that the critical parameter that determines the properties of the jet-cocoon system is the dimensionless ratio between the jet's energy density and the rest-mass energy density of the ambient medium. This parameter, together with the jet's injection angle, also determines whether the jet is collimated by the cocoon or not. The model is applicable to relativistic, unmagnetized jets on all scales and may be used to determine the conditions in active galactic nucleus (AGN) jets as well as in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) or microquasars. It shows that AGN and microquasar jets are hydrodynamically collimated due to the interaction with the ambient medium, while GRB jets can be collimated only inside a star and become uncollimated once they break out.
The inspirals and mergers of compact binaries are among the most promising events for ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) observatories. The detection of electromagnetic (EM) signals from these sources would provide complementary information to the GW signal. It is therefore important to determine the ability of GW detectors to localize compact binaries on the sky, so that they can be matched to their EM counterparts. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to study sky localization using networks of ground-based interferometers. Using a coherent-network analysis, we find that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)-Virgo network can localize 50% of their detected neutron star binaries to better than 50 deg{sup 2} with a 95% confidence interval. The addition of the Large Scale Cryogenic Gravitational Wave Telescope (LCGT) and LIGO-Australia improves this to 12 deg{sup 2}. Using a more conservative coincident detection threshold, we find that 50% of detected neutron star binaries are localized to 13 deg{sup 2} using the LIGO-Virgo network, and to 3 deg{sup 2} using the LIGO-Virgo-LCGT-LIGO-Australia network. Our findings suggest that the coordination of GW observatories and EM facilities offers great promise.
High energy primary electrons and universal body radiation
We have calculated the inverse Compton (IC) integrated spectral power within the Thomson limit for a monoenergetic isotropic photon field upscattered off highly relativistic electrons assuming an isotropic power-law distribution of the latter, N({gamma}) = C{gamma}{sup -p}, with Lorentz parameter values {gamma}{sub 1} < {gamma} < {gamma}{sub 2}. Our interest was essentially focused on the case of a finite energy range (finite {gamma}{sub 2}) possibly having realistic applications in high-energy astrophysical sites, mainly relativistic shock regions. To this end, we have defined and derived a dimensionless parametric function, F{sub p} (z{sub 1}, {eta}), with variables z{sub 1} = {epsilon}{sub 1}/4{gamma}{sup 2}{sub 1}{epsilon} and {eta} = {gamma}{sub 2}/{gamma}{sub 1}. This result was used to derive the IC-integrated spectral power for an upscattered blackbody (BB) photon field using a dimensionless parametric function, W{sub p} ({xi}, {eta}), with variable {xi} = {epsilon}{sub 1}/4{gamma}{sup 2}{sub 1} kT. Asymptotic forms of this function have been derived for three energy ranges, i.e., {xi} << 1, 1 << {xi} << {eta}{sup 2}, and {xi} >> {eta}{sup 2}. Then, a characteristic value, {eta}{sub c}(p, {epsilon}) with {epsilon} << 1, of parameter {eta} was defined such that the middle range asymptotic form of W{sub p} ({xi}, {eta}) could be valid and good when {eta} {approx}> {eta}{sub c}(p, {epsilon}), by deriving an approximate expression of this particular value for {epsilon} = 10{sup -3}. The resulting spectra featured by a high-energy cutoff in the case of low values of the ratio {eta} can be discussed at least for a population of short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), those best described by the cutoff power-law model with a low-energy spectral index, {alpha} {approx} 0. Furthermore, it is suggested that for GRB spectra with {alpha} < -1/2 pertaining to the prompt emission phase, the IC is a likely emission mechanism for both monoenergetic and BB photon fields if one assumes that the former photon field could exist specifically in the GRB environment. Various suitable astrophysical applications are presented and discussed.
We report on the extremely intense and fast gamma-ray flare above 100 MeV detected by AGILE from the Crab Nebula in mid-April 2011. This event is the fourth of a sequence of reported major gamma-ray flares produced by the Crab Nebula in the period 2007/mid-2011. These events are attributed to strong radiative and plasma instabilities in the inner Crab Nebula, and their properties are crucial for theoretical studies of fast and efficient particle acceleration up to 10{sup 15} eV. Here we study the very rapid flux and spectral evolution of the event that on 2011 April 16 reached the record-high peak flux of F = (26 {+-} 5) x 10{sup -6} photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} with a rise-time timescale that we determine to be in the range 6-10 hr. The peak flaring gamma-ray spectrum reaches a distinct maximum near 500 MeV with no substantial emission above 1 GeV. The very rapid rise time and overall evolution of the Crab Nebula flare strongly constrain the acceleration mechanisms and challenge MHD models. We briefly discuss the theoretical implications of our observations.
Cosmic ray telescope to measure absolute and relative flux levels and energy spectra of two main components of primary radiation
The recently discovered accreting X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446 spins at a frequency of {approx}11 Hz. We show that Type I X-ray bursts from this source display oscillations at the same frequency as the stellar spin. IGR J17480-2446 is the first secure case of a slowly rotating neutron star (NS) which shows Type I burst oscillations (BOs), all other sources featuring such oscillations spin at hundreds of Hertz. This means that we can test BO models in a completely different regime. We explore the origin of Type I BOs in IGR J17480-2446 and conclude that they are not caused by global modes in the NS ocean. We also show that the Coriolis force is not able to confine an oscillation-producing hot spot on the stellar surface. The most likely scenario is that the BOs are produced by a hot spot confined by hydromagnetic stresses.
Balloon-borne Cerenkov scintillation counter for measurements of primary proton and helium spectra and modulations
Low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (ll-GRBs) constitute a subclass of GRBs that play a central role in the GRB-supernova connection. While ll-GRBs differ from typical long GRBs (LGRBs) in many aspects, they also share some common features. Therefore, the question whether the gamma-ray emission of ll-GRBs and LGRBs has a common origin is of great interest. Here we address this question by testing whether ll-GRBs, like LGRBs according to the Collapsar model, can be generated by relativistic jets that punch holes in the envelopes of their progenitor stars. The Collapsar model predicts that the durations of most observed bursts will be comparable to, or longer than, the time it takes the jets to break out of the star. We calculate the jet breakout times of ll-GRBs and compare them to the observed durations. We find that there is a significant excess of ll-GRBs with durations that are much shorter than the jet breakout time and that these are inconsistent with the Collapsar model. We conclude that the processes that dominate the gamma-ray emission of ll-GRBs and of LGRBs are most likely fundamentally different.
We compile 23 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and 21 blazars with estimated Doppler factors, and the Doppler factors of GRBs are estimated from their Lorentz factors by assuming their jet viewing angles {theta} {yields} 0{sup 0}. Using the conventional assumption that the prompt emission of GRBs is dominated by the synchrotron radiation, we calculate the synchrotron luminosity of GRBs from their total isotropic energy and burst duration. Intriguingly, we discover a uniform correlation between the synchrotron luminosity and Doppler factor, L{sub syn}{proportional_to}D{sup 3.1}, for GRBs and blazars, which suggests that they may share some similar jet physics. One possible reason is that GRBs and blazars have, more or less, similar intrinsic synchrotron luminosities and both of them are strongly enhanced by the beaming effect. After Doppler and redshift correction, we find that the intrinsic peak energy of the GRBs ranges from 0.1 to 3 keV with a typical value of 1 keV. We further correct the beaming effect for the observed luminosity of GRBs and find that a positive correlation exists between the intrinsic synchrotron luminosity and peak energy for GRBs, which is similar to that of blazars. Our results suggest that both the intrinsic positive correlation and the beaming effect may be responsible for the observed tight correlation between the isotropic energy and the peak energy in GRBs (the so-called Amati relation).
Ultrahigh cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies {approx}> 10{sup 19} eV emitted at cosmological distances will be attenuated by cosmic microwave and infrared background radiation through photohadronic processes. Lower energy extragalactic cosmic rays ({approx}10{sup 18}-10{sup 19} eV) can only travel a linear distance smaller than {approx}Gpc in a Hubble time due to the diffusion if the extragalactic magnetic fields are as strong as nano-Gauss. These prevent us from directly observing most of the UHECRs in the universe, and thus the observed UHECR intensity reflects only the emissivity in the nearby universe within hundreds of Mpc. However, UHECRs in the distant universe, through interactions with the cosmic background photons, produce UHE electrons and gamma rays that in turn initiate electromagnetic cascades on cosmic background photons. This secondary cascade radiation forms part of the extragalactic diffuse GeV-TeV gamma-ray radiation and, unlike the original UHECRs, is observable. Motivated by new measurements of extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background radiation by Fermi/Large Area Telescope, we obtained upper limit placed on the UHECR emissivity in the distant universe by requiring that the cascade radiation they produce not exceed the observed levels. By comparison with the gamma-ray emissivity of candidate UHECR sources (such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and active galactic nuclei) at high redshifts, we find that the obtained upper limit for a flat proton spectrum is {approx_equal} 10{sup 1.5} times larger than the gamma-ray emissivity in GRBs and {approx_equal} 10 times smaller than the gamma-ray emissivity in BL Lac objects. In the case of iron nuclei composition, the derived upper limit of UHECR emissivity is a factor of 3-5 times higher. Robust upper limit on the cosmogenic neutrino flux is further obtained, which is marginally reachable by the Icecube detector and the next-generation detector JEM-EUSO.
Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes are short pulses of energetic radiation associated with thunderstorms and lightning. While the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi was designed to observe gamma-ray bursts, its large BGO detectors are excellent for observing TGFs. Using GBM, TGF pulses are seen to either be symmetrical or have faster rise time than fall times. Some TGFs are resolved into double, partially overlapping pulses. Using ground-based radio observations of lightning from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), TGFs and their associated lightning are found to be simultaneous to {approx_equal}40 {mu} s. The lightning locations are typically within 300 km of the sub-spacecraft point.
Spontaneous rapid growth of strong magnetic fields is rather ubiquitous in high-energy density environments ranging from astrophysical sources (e.g., gamma-ray bursts and relativistic shocks), to reconnection, to laser-plasma interaction laboratory experiments, where they are produced by kinetic streaming instabilities of the Weibel type. Relativistic electrons propagating through these sub-Larmor-scale magnetic fields radiate in the jitter regime, in which the anisotropy of the magnetic fields and the particle distribution have a strong effect on the produced radiation. Here we develop the general theory of jitter radiation, which (1) includes anisotropic magnetic fields and electron velocity distributions, (2) accounts for the effects of trapped electrons, and (3) extends the description to large deflection angles of radiating particles thus establishing a cross-over between the classical jitter and synchrotron regimes. Our results are in remarkable agreement with the radiation spectra obtained from particle-in-cell simulations of the classical Weibel instability. Particularly interesting is the onset of the field growth, when the transient hard synchrotron-violating spectra are common as a result of the dominant role of the trapped population. This effect can serve as a distinct observational signature of the violent field growth in astrophysical sources and lab experiments. It is also interesting that a system with small-scale fields tends to evolve toward the small-angle jitter regime, which can, under certain conditions, dominate the overall emission of a source.
We present numerical solutions of the two-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamics equations describing the deceleration and expansion of highly relativistic conical jets, of opening angles 0.05 {<=} {theta}{sub 0} {<=} 0.2, propagating into a medium of uniform density. Jet evolution is followed from a collimated relativistic outflow to the quasi-spherical non-relativistic phase. We show that relativistic sideways expansion becomes significant beyond the radius r{sub {theta}} at which the expansion Lorentz factor drops to {theta}{sup -1}{sub 0}. This is consistent with simple analytic estimates, which predict faster sideways expansion than has been claimed based on earlier numerical modeling. For t > t{sub s} = r{sub {theta}}/c the emission of radiation from the jet blast wave is similar to that of a spherical blast wave carrying the same energy (significant deviations at t {approx} t{sub s} occur only for well off-axis observers, {theta}{sub obs} {approx} 1 >> {theta}{sub 0}). Thus, the total (calorimetric) energy of gamma-ray burst blast waves may be estimated with only a small fractional error based on t > t{sub s} observations.
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provide a premier tool for studying high-redshift star-forming galaxies thanks to their extreme brightness and association with massive stars. Here we use GRBs to study the galaxy stellar mass-metallicity (M{sub *}-Z) relation at z {approx} 3-5, where conventional direct metallicity measurements are extremely challenging. We use the interstellar medium metallicities of long GRB hosts derived from afterglow absorption spectroscopy, in conjunction with host galaxy stellar masses determined from deep Spitzer 3.6 {mu}m observations of 20 GRB hosts. We detect about 1/4 of the hosts with M{sub AB}(I) {approx} -21.5 to -22.5 mag and place a limit of M{sub AB}(I) {approx}> -19 mag on the remaining hosts from a stacking analysis. Using these observations, we present the first rest-frame optical luminosity distribution of long GRB hosts at z {approx}> 3 and find that it is similar to the distribution of long GRB hosts at z {approx} 1. In comparison to Lyman-break galaxies at the same redshift, GRB hosts are generally fainter, but the sample is too small to rule out an overall similar luminosity function. On the other hand, the GRB hosts appear to be more luminous than the population of Ly{alpha} emitters at z {approx} 3-4. Using a conservative range of mass-to-light ratios for simple stellar populations (with ages of 70 Myr to {approx}2 Gyr), we infer the host stellar masses and present mass-metallicity measurements at z {approx} 3-5 ((z) {approx} 3.5). We find that the detected GRB hosts, with M{sub *} {approx} 2 x 10{sup 10} M{sub sun}, display a wide range of metallicities, but that the mean metallicity at this mass scale, Z {approx} 0.3 Z{sub sun}, is lower than measurements at z {approx}< 3. Combined with stacking of the non-detected hosts with M{sub *} {approx}< 3 x 10{sup 9} M{sub sun} and Z {approx}< 0.1 Z{sub sun}, we find tentative evidence for the existence of an M{sub *}-Z relation at z {approx} 3.5 and continued evolution of this relation to systematically lower metallicities from z {approx} 2.
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies have been studied extensively in optical photometry and spectroscopy. Here we present the first mid-infrared spectrum of a GRB host, HG 031203. It is one of the nearest GRB hosts at z = 0.1055, allowing both low- and high-resolution spectroscopy with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). Medium-resolution UV to K-band spectroscopy with the X-shooter spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope is also presented, along with Spitzer IRAC and MIPS photometry, as well as radio and submillimeter observations. These data allow us to construct a UV to radio spectral energy distribution with almost complete spectroscopic coverage from 0.3 to 35 {mu}m of a GRB host galaxy for the first time, potentially valuable as a template for future model comparisons. The IRS spectra show strong, high-ionization fine structure line emission indicative of a hard radiation field in the galaxy-in particular the [S IV]/[S III] and [Ne III]/[Ne II] ratios-suggestive of strong ongoing star formation and a very young stellar population. The absence of any polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission supports these conclusions, as does the probable hot peak dust temperature, making HG 031203 similar to the prototypical blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD), II Zw 40. The selection of HG 031203 via the presence of a GRB suggests that it might be a useful analog of very young star-forming galaxies in the early universe, and hints that local BCDs may be used as more reliable analogs of star formation in the early universe than typical local starbursts. We look at the current debate on the ages of the dominant stellar populations in z {approx} 7 and z {approx} 8 galaxies in this context. The nebular line emission is so strong in HG 031203 that at z {approx} 7, it can reproduce the spectral energy distributions of z-band dropout galaxies with elevated IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 {mu}m fluxes without the need to invoke a 4000 A break. Indeed, photometry of HG 031203 shows elevation of the broadband V-magnitude at a level similar to the IRAC elevation in stacked z-band dropouts, solely due to its strong [O III] line emission.
We performed CO (J = 2-1) observations of the host galaxy of GRB 000418 at z = 1.1181 with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Previous studies show that the host galaxy has properties similar to those of an ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG). The star formation rate (SFR) of the host galaxy as derived from submillimeter and radio continuum emission is a few 100 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}, which is an order of magnitude greater than the SFR derived from optical line emission. The large discrepancy between the SFRs derived from different observing wavelengths indicates the presence of a bulk of dust-obscured star formation and molecular gas that is enough to sustain the intense star formation. We failed to detect CO emission and derived 2{sigma} upper limits on the velocity-integrated CO (2-1) luminosity of L'{sub CO} < 6.9 x 10{sup 9} K km s{sup -1} pc{sup 2} and the molecular gas mass of M{sub H{sub 2}}< 5.5x10{sup 9} M{sub sun} by adopting a velocity width of 300 km s{sup -1} and a CO-to-H{sub 2} conversion factor of {alpha}{sub CO} = 0.8 M{sub sun} (K km s{sup -1} pc{sup 2}){sup -1}, which are standard values for ULIRGs. The lower limit on the ratio of far-infrared luminosity to CO luminosity, a measure of the star formation efficiency, is higher compared to that of other gamma-ray burst hosts and other galaxy populations, which is consistent with active star formation taking place in this galaxy.