Abstracts of Interest
Selected by:
Robert Koenig
Abstract: 2108.12568
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Title:Sensitivity Tests of Cosmic Velocity Fields To Masive Neutrinos
Download PDFAbstract: We investigate impacts of massive neutrino on the cosmic velocity fields, employing high-resolution cosmological N-body simulations provided by the information-optimized CUBE code, where cosmic neutrinos are evolved using collisionless hydrodynamics and their perturbations can be accurately resolved. In this study we focus, for the first time, on the analysis of massive-neutrino induced suppression effects in various cosmic velocity field components of velocity magnitude, divergence, vorticity and dispersion. By varying the neutrino mass sum $M_\nu$ from 0 -- 0.4 eV, the simulations show that, the power spectra of vorticity and dispersion -- exclusively sourced by non-linear structure formation that are affected by massive neutrinos significantly -- are very sensitive to the mass sum, which potentially provide novel signatures in detecting massive neutrinos. Furthermore, using the chi-square statistic, we quantitatively test the sensitivity of the density and velocity power spectra to the neutrino mass sum. Indeed, we find that, the vorticity spectrum has the highest sensitivity, and the null hypothesis of massless neutrinos for both vorticity and dispersion spectra from $M_\nu=0.1$ eV can be rejected at high significance. These results demonstrate clearly the importance of peculiar velocity field measurements, in particular of vorticity and dispersion components, in determination of neutrino mass and mass hierarchy.
Abstract: 2108.12609
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Title:Gamma- and Cosmic-Ray Observations with the GAMMA-400 Gamma-Ray Telescope
Download PDFAbstract: The future space-based GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope will operate onboard the Russian astrophysical observatory in a highly elliptic orbit during 7 years to observe Galactic plane, Galactic Center, Fermi Bubbles, Crab, Vela, Cygnus X, Geminga, Sun, and other regions and measure gamma- and cosmic-ray fluxes. Observations will be performed in the point-source mode continuously for a long time (~100 days). GAMMA-400 will have the unprecedented angular and energy resolutions better than the space-based and ground-based gamma-ray telescopes by a factor of 5-10. Excellent separation of gamma rays from cosmic-ray background, as well as electrons + positrons from protons will allow us to measure gamma rays in the energy range from ~20 MeV to several TeV and cosmic-ray electrons + positrons up to several tens TeV. GAMMA-400 observations will permit to resolve gamma rays from annihilation or decay of dark matter particles, identify many discrete sources, clarify the structure of extended sources, specify the data on cosmic-ray electron + positron spectra.
Abstract: 2108.13005
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Title:The gamma-ray emission from 3HWC J1928+178
Download PDFAbstract: The gamma-ray source 3HWC J1928+178, discovered by HAWC, is coincident with the 82 kyr pulsar PSR J1928+1746, located 4 kpc away. It has not been reported by any Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT), until the recent detection of emission from this region by H.E.S.S., using an analysis adapted to extended sources. No counterpart in GeV gamma-rays from Fermi-LAT data or in X-ray has been reported so far. In this contribution, I give the multiwavelength context of the region surrounding 3HWC J1928+178 and present a multi-component model derived using the Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML). I explore the possibility to model the gamma-ray emission of 3HWC J1928+178 by an extended source with continuous diffuse emission. Together with the age of the pulsar and its extended nature, it may indicate a transition from a pulsar wind nebulae to a halo, where the electrons have started to cool and diffuse away from the source.
Abstract: 2108.13396
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Title:Noisy Labels for Weakly Supervised Gamma Hadron Classification
Download PDFAbstract: Gamma hadron classification, a central machine learning task in gamma ray astronomy, is conventionally tackled with supervised learning. However, the supervised approach requires annotated training data to be produced in sophisticated and costly simulations. We propose to instead solve gamma hadron classification with a noisy label approach that only uses unlabeled data recorded by the real telescope. To this end, we employ the significance of detection as a learning criterion which addresses this form of weak supervision. We show that models which are based on the significance of detection deliver state-of-the-art results, despite being exclusively trained with noisy labels; put differently, our models do not require the costly simulated ground-truth labels that astronomers otherwise employ for classifier training. Our weakly supervised models exhibit competitive performances also on imbalanced data sets that stem from a variety of other application domains. In contrast to existing work on class-conditional label noise, we assume that only one of the class-wise noise rates is known.
Abstract: 2108.13412
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Title:Using Secondary Tau Neutrinos to Probe Heavy Dark Matter Decays in Earth
Download PDFAbstract: Dark matter particles can be gravitationally trapped by celestial bodies, motivating searches for localized annihilation or decay. If neutrinos are among the decay products, then IceCube and other neutrino observatories could detect them. We investigate this scenario for dark matter particles above $m_{\chi} \gtrsim$ PeV producing tau neutrino signals. At these energies, tau neutrino regeneration is an important effect during propagation through Earth, allowing detection at distances far longer than one interaction length. We show how large energy loss of tau leptons above $\sim$ PeV drives a wide range of initial energies to the same final energy spectrum of "secondary" tau neutrinos at the detector. This enables an experiment to constrain decays that occur at very high energies, and we examine the reach of IceCube high-energy starting event (HESE) in the parameter space of trapped dark matter annihilations and decays above PeV. As a result, we see that it is difficult to explain Earth emerging taus in terms of heavy dark matter decays.
Abstract: 2108.13433
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Title:Direct Numerical Simulations of Cosmic-ray Acceleration at Dense Circumstellar Medium: Magnetic Field Amplification by Bell Instability and Maximum Energy
Download PDFAbstract: Galactic cosmic rays are believed to be accelerated at supernova remnants. However, whether supernova remnants can be Pevatrons is still very unclear. In this work we argue that PeV cosmic rays can be accelerated during the early phase of a supernova blast wave expansion in dense red supergiant winds. We solve in spherical geometry a system combining a diffusive-convection equation which treats cosmic-ray dynamics coupled to magnetohydrodynamics to follow gas dynamics. The fast shock expanding in a dense ionized wind is able to trigger the fast non-resonant streaming instability over day timescales, and energizes cosmic-rays even under the effect of p-p losses. We find that such environments make the blast wave a Pevatron, although the maximum energy depends on various parameters such as the injection rate and mass-loss rate of the winds. Multi-PeV energies can be reached if the progenitor mass loss rates are of the order of $10^{-3}$ Msun yr$^{-1}$. It has been recently invoked that, prior to the explosion, hydrogen rich massive stars can produce enhanced mass loss rates. These enhanced rates would then favor the production of a Pevatron phase in early times after the shock breakout.
Abstract: 2108.13646
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Title:Combined dark matter searches towards dwarf spheroidal galaxies with Fermi-LAT, HAWC, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS
Download PDFAbstract: Cosmological and astrophysical observations suggest that 85\% of the total matter of the Universe is made of Dark Matter (DM). However, its nature remains one of the most challenging and fundamental open questions of particle physics. Assuming particle DM, this exotic form of matter cannot consist of Standard Model (SM) particles. Many models have been developed to attempt unraveling the nature of DM such as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the most favored particle candidates. WIMP annihilations and decay could produce SM particles which in turn hadronize and decay to give SM secondaries such as high energy $\gamma$ rays. In the framework of indirect DM search, observations of promising targets are used to search for signatures of DM annihilation. Among these, the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are commonly favored owing to their expected high DM content and negligible astrophysical background. In this work, we present the very first combination of 20 dSph observations, performed by the Fermi-LAT, HAWC, H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS collaborations in order to maximize the sensitivity of DM searches and improve the current results. We use a joint maximum likelihood approach combining each experiment's individual analysis to derive more constraining upper limits on the WIMP DM self-annihilation cross-section as a function of DM particle mass. We present new DM constraints over the widest mass range ever reported, extending from 5 GeV to 100 TeV thanks to the combination of these five different $\gamma$-ray instruments.
Abstract: 2108.13954
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Title:$P_{γh}^α$: a new variable for $γ/ {\rm h}$ discrimination in large gamma-ray ground arrays
Download PDFAbstract: In this letter, a new strategy to enhance the discrimination of high-energy gamma rays from the huge charged cosmic rays background in large cosmic rays ground arrays is presented. This strategy is based on the introduction of a new simple variable, $P_{\gamma h}^{\alpha}$, which combines the probability of tagging muons and/or very energetic particles in each single array station. The discrimination power of this new variable is illustrated for a few specific examples in the case of a hypothetical water Cherenkov detector cosmic ray array, both in the case of low and high particle stations occupancy. The results are very encouraging and hopefully will be demonstrated in the present and future gamma-ray Observatories.
Abstract: 2109.00010
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Title:Exceptionally bright optical emission from a rare and distant $γ-$ray burst
Download PDFAbstract: Long $\rm \gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the dissipation of ultra-relativistic jets launched by newly-born black holes after a collapse of massive stars. Right after the luminous and highly variable $\gamma$-ray emission, the multi-wavelength afterglow is released by the external dissipation of the jet in circumburst medium. We report the discovery of very bright ($\rm \sim 10$ mag) optical emission $\rm \sim 28$ s after the explosion of the extremely luminous and energetic GRB 210619B located at redshift 1.937. Early multi-filter observations allowed us to witness the end of the shock wave propagation into the GRB ejecta. We observed the spectral transition from a bright reverse to the forward shock emission, demonstrating that the GRB multi-wavelength emission is originated from a narrow and highly magnetised jet propagating into a rarefied interstellar medium. We also find evidence of an additional component of radiation, coming from the jet wings which is able explain the uncorrelated optical/X-ray emission.
Abstract: 2109.00091
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Title:Simulations of Fast Neutrino Flavor Conversions with Interactions in Inhomogeneous Media
Download PDFAbstract: We investigate toy models for spatial and temporal instabilities in collective neutrino oscillations induced by neutrino self-interactions, with special emphasis on inhomogeneous systems with densities following a profile. Simulations are based on a mathematica program that solves the Liouville equation with or without vacuum terms, refractive terms from a background medium, and neutrino-neutrino forward scattering, in one space dimension and in time. A discrete number of momentum modes are characterized by the neutrino velocity projection on the spatial direction. We also consider the effects of charged current interaction source terms and neutral current scattering contributions. We find that refractive effects from the medium, in particular for density distributions with a profile, and neutral current non-forward scattering off the background medium can strongly influence fast collective flavor transformations. Specifically we find that if both are present, fast flavor conversions can be strongly suppressed or at least delayed.
Abstract: 2109.00303
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Title:Effects of Neutrino Masses and Asymmetries on Dark Matter Halo Assembly
Download PDFAbstract: Massive cosmological neutrinos suppress the Large-Scale Structure (LSS) in the Universe by smoothing the cosmic over-densities, and hence structure formation is delayed relative to that in the standard Lambda-Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) model. We characterize the merger and mass accretion history of dark matter halos with the halo formation time $a_{1/2}$, tree entropy $s$ and halo leaf function $\ell(X)$ and measure them using neutrino-involved N-body simulations. We show that a non-zero sum of neutrino masses $M_\nu$ delays the $a_{1/2}$ for halos with virial mass between $10^{13} M_\odot$ and $3\times 10^{13} M_\odot$, whereas a non-zero neutrino asymmetry parameter $\eta^2$ has the opposite effect. While the mean tree entropy $\bar s$ does not depend significantly on either $M_\nu$ or $\eta^2$, the halo leaf function does. Furthermore, the dependencies of $\ell$ on $M_\nu$ and $\eta^2$ have significant evolution in redshift $z$, with the relative contributions of $M_\nu$ and $\eta^2$ showing a sigmoid-like transition as a function of $z$ around $z \approx 0.6$. Together with the matter power spectrum, these observables allow us to break the parameter degeneracy between $M_\nu$ and $\eta^2$ so that they can both be constrained in principle.
Abstract: 2109.00636
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Title:Neural networks and standard cosmography with newly calibrated high redshift GRB observations
Download PDFAbstract: Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected at high redshift can be used to trace the cosmic expansion history. However, the calibration of their luminosity distances is not an easy task in comparison to Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa). To calibrate these data, correlations between their luminosity and other observed properties of GRBs need to be identified, and we must consider the validity of our assumptions about these correlations over their entire observed redshift range. In this work, we propose a new method to calibrate GRBs as cosmological distance indicators using SNeIa observations with a completely model-independent deep learning architecture. An overview of this machine learning technique was developed in [1] to study the evolution of dark energy models at high redshift. The aim of the method developed in this work is to combine two networks: a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and a Bayesian Neural Network (BNN). Using this computational approach, denoted RNN+BNN, we extend the network's efficacy by adding the computation of covariance matrices to the Bayesian process. Once this is done, the SNeIa distance-redshift relation can be tested on the full GRB sample and therefore used to implement a cosmographic reconstruction of the distance-redshift relation in different regimes. Thus, our newly-trained neural network is used to constrain the parameters describing the kinematical state of the Universe via a cosmographic approach at high redshifts (up to $z\approx 10$), wherein we require a very minimal set of assumptions that do not rely on dynamical equations for any specific theory of gravity.
Abstract: 2109.00743
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Title:Investigating the energy distribution of the high-energy particles in the Crab nebula
Download PDFAbstract: The Crab nebula is a prominent pulsar wind nebula (PWN) detected in multiband observations ranging from radio to very high-energy (VHE) $\gamma$-rays. Recently, $\gamma$-rays with energies above $1 \mathrm{PeV}$ had been detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), and the energy of the most energetic particles in the nebula can be constrained. In this paper, we investigate the broadest spectral energy distribution of the Crab nebula and the energy distribution of the electrons emitting the multiwavelength nonthermal emission based on a one-zone time-dependent model. The nebula is powered by the pulsar, and high-energy electrons/positrons with a broken power-law spectrum are continually injected in the nebula as the pulsar spins down. Multiwavelength nonthermal emission is generated by the leptons through synchrotron radiation and inverse Compton scattering. Using appropriate parameters, the detected fluxes for the nebula can be well reproduced, especially for the $\gamma$-rays from $10^2\,\mathrm{MeV}$ to $1\,\mathrm{PeV}$. The results show that the detected $\gamma$-rays can be produced by the leptons via the inverse Compton scattering, and the lower limit of the Lorentz factor of the most energetic leptons is $\sim 8.5\times10^{9}$. It can be concluded that there exists electrons/positrons with energies higher than $4.3$\,PeV in the Crab nebula.
Abstract: 2109.00766
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Title:Revisiting the luminosity and redshift distributions of long gamma-ray bursts
Download PDFAbstract: In this work, we update and enlarge the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) sample detected by the {\it Swift} satellite. Given the incomplete sampling of the faint bursts and the low completeness in redshift measurement, we carefully select a subsample of bright {\it Swift} bursts to revisit the GRB luminosity function (LF) and redshift distribution by taking into account the probability of redshift measurement. Here we also explore two general expressions for the GRB LF, i.e., a broken power-law LF and a triple power-law LF. Our results suggest that a strong redshift evolution in luminosity (with an evolution index of $\delta=1.92^{+0.25}_{-0.37}$) or in density ($\delta=1.26^{+0.33}_{-0.34}$) is required in order to well account for the observations, independent of the assumed expression of the GRB LF. However, in a one-on-one comparison using the Akaike information criterion, the best-fitting evolution model involving the triple power-law LF is statistically preferred over the best-fitting one involving the broken power-law LF with a relative probability of $\sim94.3$\% versus $\sim5.7$\%. Extrapolating our fitting results to the flux limit of the whole {\it Swift} sample, and considering the trigger probability of {\it Swift}/Burst Alert Telescope in detail, we find that the expectations from our evolution models provide a good representation of the observed distributions of the whole sample without the need for any adjustment of the model free parameters. This further confirms the reliability of our analysis results.
Abstract: 2109.00956
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Title:The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey Paper II: First Stokes I Source Catalogue Data Release
Download PDFAbstract: The Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS) is the first large sky survey using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), covering the sky south of +41$^\circ$ declination. With ASKAP's large, instantaneous field of view, $\sim 31$ deg$^2$, RACS observed the entire sky at a central frequency of 887.5 MHz using 903 individual pointings with 15 minute observations. This has resulted in the deepest radio survey of the full Southern sky to date at these frequencies. In this paper, we present the first Stokes I catalogue derived from the RACS survey. This catalogue was assembled from 799 tiles that could be convolved to a common resolution of 25$^{\prime\prime}$, covering a large contiguous region in the declination range $\delta=-$80$^\circ$ to +30$^\circ$. The catalogue provides an important tool for both the preparation of future ASKAP surveys and for scientific research. It consists of $\sim$2.1 million sources and excludes the $|b|<5^\circ$ region around the Galactic plane. This provides a first extragalactic catalogue with ASKAP covering the majority of the sky ($\delta<+30^\circ$). We describe the methods to obtain this catalogue from the initial RACS observations and discuss the verification of the data, to highlight its quality. Using simulations, we find this catalogue detects 95% of point sources at an integrated flux density of $\sim$5 mJy. Assuming a typical sky source distribution model, this suggests an overall 95% point source completeness at an integrated flux density $\sim$3 mJy. The catalogue will be available through the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).
Abstract: 2109.00950
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Title:Molecular cloud catalogue from $^{13}$CO(1-0) data of the Forgotten Quadrant Survey
Download PDFAbstract: New-generation spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way plane have been revealing the structure of the interstellar medium, allowing the simultaneous study of dense structures from single star-forming objects or systems to entire spiral arms. We present the catalogue of molecular clouds extracted from the $^{13}$CO(1-0) data cubes of the Forgotten Quadrant Survey, which mapped the Galactic plane in the range 220°<l<240°, and -2.5°<b<0°in $^{12}$CO(1-0) and $^{13}$CO(1-0).The catalogue contains 87 molecular clouds for which the main physical parameters such as area, mass, distance, velocity dispersion, and virial parameter were derived. These structures are overall less extended and less massive than the molecular clouds identified in the $^{12}$CO(1-0) data-set because they trace the brightest and densest part of the $^{12}$CO(1-0) clouds. Conversely, the distribution of aspect ratio, equivalent spherical radius, velocity dispersion, and virial parameter in the two catalogues are similar. The mean value of the mass surface density of molecular clouds is 87$\pm$55 M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-2}$ and is almost constant across the galactocentric radius, indicating that this parameter, which is a proxy of star formation, is mostly affected by local this http URL data of the Forgotten Quadrant Survey, we find a good agreement between the total mass and velocity dispersion of the clouds derived from $^{12}$CO(1-0) and $^{13}$CO(1-0). This is likely because in the surveyed portion of the Galactic plane, the H$_2$ column density is not particularly high, leading to a CO emission with a not very high optical depth. This mitigates the effects of the different line opacities between the two tracers on the derived physical parameters. This is a common feature in the outer Galaxy, but our result cannot be readily generalised to the entire Milky Way.
Abstract: 2109.01276
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Title:Searching for TeV Candidates in 4LAC High-synchrotron-peaked Frequency BL Lac Objects
Download PDFAbstract: The next generation of TeV detectors is expected to have a significantly enhanced performance. It is therefore constructive to search for new TeV candidates for observation. This paper focuses on TeV candidates among the high-synchrotron-peaked BL Lacertae objects (HBLs) reported in the fourth catalog of active galactic nuclei detected by the Fermi's Large Area Telescope, i.e., 4LAC. By cross-matching the Fermi data with radio and optical observations, we collected the multiwavelength features of 180 HBLs with known redshift. The data set contains 39 confirmed TeV sources and 141 objects whose TeV detection has not yet been reported (either not yet observed, or observed but not detected). Using two kinds of supervised machine-learning (SML) methods, we searched for new possible TeV candidates (PTCs) among the nondetected objects by assessing the similarity of their multi-wavelength properties to existing TeV-detected objects. The classification results of the two SML classifiers were combined and the 24 highest-confidence PTCs were proposed as the best candidates. We calculate, here, the 12 year averaged Fermi spectra of these PTCs and estimate their detectability by extrapolating the Fermi spectrum and including the extragalactic background light attenuation. Four candidates are suggested to have a high likelihood of being detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory and 24 are candidates for the Cerenkov Telescope Array observations.
Abstract: 2109.01498
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Title:Search for dark matter annihilation signals from UFOs with H.E.S.S
Download PDFAbstract: Cosmological N-body simulations show that Milky-Way-sized galaxies harbor a population of unmerged dark matter subhalos. These subhalos could shine in gamma rays and be eventually detected in gamma-ray surveys as unidentified sources. We search for very-high-energy (VHE, $E\geq 100$ GeV) gamma-ray emission using H.E.S.S. observations carried out from a thorough selection of unidentified Fermi-LAT Objects (UFOs) as dark matter subhalo candidates. Provided that the dark matter mass is higher than a few hundred GeV, the emission of the UFOs can be well described by dark matter annihilation models. No significant VHE gamma-ray emission is detected in any UFO dataset nor in their combination. We, therefore, derive constraints on the product of the velocity-weighted annihilation cross-section $\langle \sigma v\rangle$ by the $J$-factor on dark matter models describing the UFO emissions. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are derived on $\langle \sigma v\rangle J$ in $W^+W^-$ and $\tau^+\tau^-$ annihilation channels for the TeV dark matter particles. Focusing on thermal WIMPs, strong constraints on the $J$-factors are obtained from H.E.S.S. observations. Adopting model-dependent predictions from cosmological N-body simulations on the $J$-factor distribution function for Milky Way (MW)-sized galaxies, only $\lesssim 0.3$ TeV mass dark matter models marginally allow to explain observed UFO emission.
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