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At least 1,333 records · Page 74

Studies of QCD at the Intersection of the Perturbative and Non-Perturbative Regimes

New sets of spin observables and relations/sum rules were developed that could be tested in a class of experiments including exclusive deeply virtual electron and neutrino proton/nucleus scattering. Advancements in the phenomenology for the following outstanding problems at the next QCD frontier of nuclear physics were obtained: (1) the origin of the proton spin and its decomposition into quark and gluon spin and orbital angular momentum components; (2) the size of the hadronic matrix elements entering processes at the Intensity Frontier, from neutron and nuclear beta decay, to the experimental extraction of the neutron Electric Dipole Moment; (3) Monitoring the transition of quarks and gluons into protons, neutrons and pions to form the atomic nucleus.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Ultra-high energy neutrinos from gamma-ray burst afterglows using the Swift-UVOT data

We consider a sample of 107 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) for which early ultra-violet emission was measured by Swift and extrapolate the photon intensity to lower energies. Protons accelerated in the GRB jet may interact with such photons to produce charged pions and subsequently ultra high energy neutrinos ε{sub ν}⩾10{sup 16} eV. We use simple energy conversion efficiency arguments to predict the maximal neutrino flux expected from each GRB. We estimate the neutrino detection rate at large area radio based neutrino detectors and conclude that the early afterglow neutrino emission is too weak to be detected even by next generation neutrino observatories.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NEUTRINO, γ -RAY, AND COSMIC-RAY FLUXES FROM THE CORE OF THE CLOSEST RADIO GALAXIES

The closest radio galaxies; Centaurus A (Cen A), M87, and NGC 1275, have been detected from radio wavelengths to TeV γ -rays, and also studied as high-energy neutrino and ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) potential emitters. Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) show a double-peak feature, which is explained by a synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model. However, TeV γ -ray measured spectra could suggest that very-high-energy γ -rays might have a hadronic origin. We introduce a lepto-hadronic model to describe the broadband SED; from radio to sub-GeV photons as synchrotron SSC emission and TeV γ -ray photons as neutral pion decay resulting from p γ interactions occurring close to the core. These photo-hadronic interactions take place when Fermi-accelerated protons interact with the seed photons around synchrotron SSC peaks. Obtaining a good description of the TeV γ -ray fluxes, first, we compute neutrino fluxes and events expected in the IceCube detector and, second, we estimate UHECR fluxes and the event rate expected in Telescope Array, Pierre Auger, and HiRes observatories. Within this scenario, we show that the expected high-energy neutrinos cannot explain the astrophysical flux observed by IceCube, and the connection with UHECRs observed by Auger experiment around Cen A might be possible only considering a heavy nuclei composition in the observed events.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cosmic Rays and Non-thermal Emission Induced by Accretion of Cool Gas onto the Galactic Disk

On both observational and theoretical grounds, the disk of our Galaxy should be accreting cool gas with temperature ≲10{sup 5} K via the halo at a rate ∼1 M{sub ⊙}yr{sup −1}. At least some of this accretion is mediated by high-velocity clouds (HVCs), observed to be traveling in the halo with velocities of a few 100 km s{sup −1} and occasionally impacting the disk at such velocities, especially in the outer regions of the Galaxy. We address the possibility of particle acceleration in shocks triggered by such HVC accretion events, and the detectability of consequent non-thermal emission in the radio to gamma-ray bands and high-energy neutrinos. For plausible shock velocities ∼300 km s{sup −1} and magnetic field strengths ∼0.3--10 μG, electrons and protons may be accelerated up to ∼1–10 TeV and ∼30--10{sup 3} TeV, respectively, in sufficiently strong adiabatic shocks during their lifetime of ∼10{sup 6} yr. The resultant pion decay and inverse Compton gamma-rays may be the origin of some unidentified Galactic GeV–TeV sources, particularly the “dark” source HESS J1503–582 that is spatially coincident with the anomalous H i structure known as “forbidden-velocity wings.” Correlation of their locations with star-forming regions may be weak, absent, or even opposite. Non-thermal radio and X-ray emission from primary and/or secondary electrons may be detectable with deeper observations. The contribution of HVC accretion to Galactic cosmic rays is subdominant, but could be non-negligible in the outer Galaxy. As the thermal emission induced by HVC accretion is likely difficult to detect, observations of such phenomena may offer a unique perspective on probing gas accretion onto the Milky Way and other galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Constraining gamma-ray emission from luminous infrared galaxies with Fermi-LAT; tentative detection of ARP 220

Star-forming galaxies produce gamma-rays primarily via pion production, resulting from inelastic collisions between cosmic-ray protons and the interstellar medium (ISM). The dense ISM and high star formation rates of luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs) imply that they should be strong gamma-ray emitters, but so far only two LIRGs have been detected. Theoretical models for their emission depend on the unknown fraction of cosmic-ray protons that escape these galaxies before interacting. We analyze Fermi-LAT data for 82 of the brightest Infrared Astronomical Satellite LIRGs and ULIRGs. We examine each system individually and carry out a stacking analysis to constrain their gamma-ray fluxes. We report the detection of the nearest ULIRG Arp 220 (∼4.6σ). We observe a gamma-ray flux (0.8–100 GeV) of 2.4 × 10{sup −10} phot cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} with a photon index of 2.23 (8.2 × 10{sup 41} erg s{sup −1} at 77 Mpc). We also derive upper limits (ULs) for the stacked LIRGs and ULIRGs. The gamma-ray luminosity of Arp 220 and the stacked ULs agree with calorimetric predictions for dense star-forming galaxies. With the detection of Arp 220, we extend the gamma-ray–IR luminosity correlation to the high-luminosity regime with logL{sub 0.1−100GeV}=1.25×logL{sub 8−1000μm}+26.7 as well as the gamma-ray–radio continuum luminosity correlation with logL{sub 0.1−100GeV}=1.22×logL{sub 1.4GHz}+13.3. The current survey of Fermi-LAT is on the verge of detecting more LIRGs/ULIRGs in the local universe, and we expect even more detections with deeper Fermi-LAT observations or the next generation of gamma-ray detectors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Pi-mesic X-rays

Pion-meson X-ray spectra of calcium, titanium, and aluminum energy shifts

TITANIUM↗

Double charge exchange

Double charge exchange of two neutrons into two protons by positive pion mesons

NEUTRON PHYSICS↗

nCTEQ15 - Global analysis of nuclear parton distributions with uncertainties

We present the first official release of the nCTEQ nuclear parton distribution functions with errors. The main addition to the previous nCTEQ PDFs is the introduction of PDF uncertainties based on the Hessian method. Another important addition is the inclusion of pion production data from RHIC that give us a handle on constraining the gluon PDF. This contribution summarizes our results from arXiv:1509.00792, and concentrates on the comparison with other groups providing nuclear parton distributions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗