Nonthermal Radiation of the Extreme TeV Blazar 1ES 0229+200 from Electromagnetic Cascades on Infrared Photon Field

Extreme TeV blazars (ETBs) are active galactic nuclei with jets presumably pointing towards the observer having their intrinsic (compensated for the effect of γ-ray absorption on extragalactic background light photons) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) peaked at an energy in excess of 1 TeV. These sources typically reveal relatively weak and slow variability as well as higher frequency of the low-energy SED peak compared to other classes of blazars. It proved to be exceedingly hard to incorporate all these peculiar properties of ETBs into the framework of conventional γ-ray emission models. ETB physics have recently attracted great attention in the astrophysical community, underlying the importance of the development of self-consistent ETB emission model(s). We propose a new scenario for the formation of X-ray and γ-ray spectra of ETBs assuming that electromagnetic cascades develop in the infrared photon field surrounding the central blazar engine. This scenario does not invoke compact fast-moving sources of radiation (so-called “blobs”), in agreement with the apparent absence of fast and strong variability of ETBs. For the case of the extreme TeV blazar 1ES 0229+200 we propose a specific emission model in the framework of the considered scenario. We demonstrate that this model allows to obtain a good fit to the measured SED of 1ES 0229+200.

Lorentz Violation by the Preferred Frame Effects and Cosmic and Gamma Ray Propagation

The ‘relativity with a preferred frame’, designed to reconcile the relativity principle with the existence of the cosmological preferred frame, incorporates the preferred frame at the level of special relativity (SR) while retaining the fundamental spacetime symmetry, which, in the standard SR, manifests itself as Lorentz invariance. In this paper, the processes, accompanying the propagation of cosmic rays and gamma rays through the background radiation from distant sources to Earth, are considered on the basis of particle dynamics and electromagnetic field dynamics developed within the framework of the ‘relativity with a preferred frame’. Applying the theory to the photopion-production and pair-production processes shows that the modified particle dynamics and electrodynamics lead to measurable signatures in the observed cosmic and gamma-ray spectra which can provide an interpretation of some puzzling features found in the observational data. Other processes responsible for gamma-ray attenuation are considered. It is found, in particular, that electromagnetic cascades, developing on cosmic microwave background and extragalactic background light, may be reduced or suppressed due to the preferred frame effects which should influence the shape of the very high-energy gamma-ray spectra. Other possible observational consequences of the theory, such as the birefringence of light propagating in vacuo and dispersion, are discussed.

Chapter 3 Extra-galactic Gamma-Ray Sources

Extra-galactic gamma-ray sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, starburst galaxies, are interesting and important targets for LHAASO observations. In this chapter, the prospects of detecting these sources with LHAASO and their physical implications are studied. The upgrade plan for the Water Cherenkov Detector Array (WCDA), which aims to enhance the detectability of relatively lower energy photons, is also presented. In addition, a study on constraining the extragalactic background light with LHAASO observation of blazars is presented.

Effect of axion-like particles on the spectrum of the extragalactic gamma-ray background

Axion-like particles (ALPs) provide a feasible explanation for the observed lower TeV opacity of the Universe. If the anomaly TeV transparency is caused by ALPs, then the fluxes of distant extragalactic sources will be enhanced at photon energies beyond TeV, resulting in an enhancement of the observed extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) spectrum. In this work, we have investigated the ALP modulation on the EGB spectrum at TeV energies. Our results show that in the most optimistic case, the existence of ALPs can cause the EGB spectrum to greatly deviate from the prediction of a pure extragalactic-background-light (EBL) absorption scenario. The deviation occurs at approximately ≳1 TeV, and the current EGB measurements by Fermi-LAT cannot identify such an effect. We also find that most of the sensitive ALP parameters have been ruled out by existing constraints, leaving only a small region of unrestricted parameters that can be probed using the EGB effect investigated in this work. Observations from forthcoming very-high-energy instruments like LHAASO and CTA may be beneficial for the study of this effect.

STUDY OF BLAZAR ACTIVITY IN 10 YEAR FERMI-LAT DATA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TEV NEUTRINO EXPECTATIONS

Blazars are the most active extragalactic gamma-ray sources. They show sporadic bursts of activity, lasting from hours to months. In this work we present a 10-year analysis of a sample of bright sources detected by Fermi-LAT (100 MeV - 300 GeV). Using 2-week binned light curves (LC) we estimate the duty cycle (DC): fraction of time that the source spends in an active state. The objects show different DC values, with an average of 22.74% and 23.08% when considering (or not) the extragalactic background light ( EBL). Additionally, we study the so-called “blazar sequence” trend for the sample of selected blazars in the ten years of data. This analysis constrains a possible counterpart of sub-PeV neutrino emission during the quiescent states, leaving open the possibility to explain the observed IceCube signal during the flaring states.

Photon–Photon Interactions and the Opacity of the Universe in Gamma Rays

We discuss the topic of the transparency of the Universe in gamma rays due to extragalactic background light, and its cosmological and physical implications. Rather than a review, this is a personal account on the development of 30 years of this branch of physical science. Extensive analysis of the currently available information appears to us as revealing a global coherence among the astrophysical, cosmological, and fundamental physics data, or, at least, no evident need so far of substantial modification of our present understanding. Deeper data from future experiments will verify to what extent and in which directions this conclusion should be modified.

GAMA/DEVILS: constraining the cosmic star formation history from improved measurements of the 0.3–2.2 μm extragalactic background light

ABSTRACT We present a revised measurement of the optical extragalactic background light (EBL), based on the contribution of resolved galaxies to the integrated galaxy light (IGL). The cosmic optical background radiation (COB), encodes the light generated by star formation, and provides a wealth of information about the cosmic star formation history (CSFH). We combine wide and deep galaxy number counts from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly survey (GAMA) and Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS), along with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive and other deep survey data sets, in nine multiwavelength filters to measure the COB in the range from 0.35 μm to 2.2 μm. We derive the luminosity density in each band independently and show good agreement with recent and complementary estimates of the optical-EBL from very high-energy (VHE) experiments. Our error analysis suggests that the IGL and γ-ray measurements are now fully consistent to within $\sim 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, suggesting little need for any additional source of diffuse light beyond the known galaxy population. We use our revised IGL measurements to constrain the CSFH, and place amplitude constraints on a number of recent estimates. As a consistency check, we can now demonstrate convincingly, that the CSFH, stellar mass growth, and the optical-EBL provide a fully consistent picture of galaxy evolution. We conclude that the peak of star formation rate lies in the range 0.066–0.076 M⊙ yr−1 Mpc−3 at a lookback time of 9.1 to 10.9 Gyr.