arXiv subjects

Daniele Gaggero

Publications and source records attributed to Daniele Gaggero.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Soft logarithms in processes with heavy quarks

Observables involving heavy quarks can be computed in perturbative QCD in two different approximation schemes: either the quark mass dependence is fully retained, or it is retained only where needed to regulate the collinear singularity. The two schemes have different advantages and drawbacks. In particular, it is known that the structure of large logarithms arising from soft emissions is different in the two approaches. We investigate the origin of this difference in some detail, focussing on a few specific processes. We show that it is related to the non-commutativity of the small-mass and soft-emission limits. Finally, we perform the resummation of soft-emission logarithms to next-to-leading accuracy in the case of Higgs decay into a $b\bar b$ pair, in the scheme in which the quark mass dependence is fully accounted for.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Dancing in the dark: detecting a population of distant primordial black holes

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are compact objects proposed to have formed in the early Universe from the collapse of small-scale over-densities. Their existence may be detected from the observation of gravitational waves (GWs) emitted by PBH mergers, if the signals can be distinguished from those produced by the merging of astrophysical black holes. In this work, we forecast the capability of the Einstein Telescope, a proposed third-generation GW observatory, to identify and measure the abundance of a subdominant population of distant PBHs, using the difference in the redshift evolution of the merger rate of the two populations as our discriminant. We carefully model the merger rates and generate realistic mock catalogues of the luminosity distances and errors that would be obtained from GW signals observed by the Einstein Telescope. We use two independent statistical methods to analyse the mock data, finding that, with our more powerful, likelihood-based method, PBH abundances as small as $f_\mathrm{PBH} \approx 7 \times 10^{-6}$ ($f_\mathrm{PBH} \approx 2\times10^{-6}$) would be distinguishable from $f_\mathrm{PBH} = 0$ at the level of $3σ$ with a one year (ten year) observing run of the Einstein Telescope. Our mock data generation code, darksirens, is fast, easily extendable and publicly available on GitLab.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Galactic diffuse gamma rays meet the PeV frontier

The Tibet AS$γ$ and LHAASO collaborations recently reported the observation of a $γ$-ray diffuse emission with energy up to the PeV from the Galactic plane. We discuss the relevance of non-uniform cosmic-ray transport scenarios and the implications of these results for cosmic-ray physics. We use the {\tt DRAGON} and {\tt HERMES} codes to build high-resolution maps and spectral distributions of that emission for several representative models under the condition that they reproduce a wide set of local cosmic-ray data up to 100 PeV. We show that the energy spectra measured by Tibet AS$γ$, LHAASO, ARGO-YBJ and Fermi-LAT in several regions of interest in the sky can all be consistently described in terms of the emission arising by the Galactic cosmic-ray "sea". We also show that all our models are compatible with IceTop $γ$-ray upper limits. Our results favor transport models characterized by spatial-dependent diffusion although some degeneracy remains between the choice of the transport scenario and that of the cosmic-ray spectral shape above 10 TeV. We discuss the role of forthcoming measurements in resolving that ambiguity.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Measuring the dark matter environments of black hole binaries with gravitational waves

Large dark matter overdensities can form around black holes of astrophysical and primordial origin as they form and grow. This "dark dress" inevitably affects the dynamical evolution of binary systems, and induces a dephasing in the gravitational waveform that can be probed with future interferometers. In this paper, we introduce a new analytical model to rapidly compute gravitational waveforms in presence of an evolving dark matter distribution. We then present a Bayesian analysis determining when dressed black hole binaries can be distinguished from GR-in-vacuum ones and how well their parameters can be measured, along with how close they must be to be detectable by the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We show that LISA can definitively distinguish dark dresses from standard binaries and characterize the dark matter environments around astrophysical and primordial black holes for a wide range of model parameters. Our approach can be generalized to assess the prospects for detecting, classifying, and characterizing other environmental effects in gravitational wave physics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Detecting dark matter around black holes with gravitational waves: Effects of dark-matter dynamics on the gravitational waveform

A dark matter overdensity around a black hole may significantly alter the dynamics of the black hole's merger with another compact object. We consider here intermediate mass-ratio inspirals of stellar-mass compact objects with intermediate-mass black holes "dressed" with dark matter. We first demonstrate that previous estimates based on a fixed dark-matter dress are unphysical for a range of binaries and dark-matter distributions by showing that the total energy dissipated by the compact object through dynamical friction, as it inspirals through the dense dark matter environment towards the black hole, is larger than the gravitational binding energy of the dark-matter dress itself. We then introduce a new formalism that allows us to self-consistently follow the evolution of the dark-matter dress due to its gravitational interaction with the binary. We show that the dephasing of the gravitational waveform induced by dark matter is smaller than previously thought, but is still potentially detectable with the LISA space interferometer. The gravitational waves from such binaries could provide powerful diagnostics of the particle nature of dark matter.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

A diffusive origin for the cosmic-ray spectral hardening reveals signatures of a nearbysource in the leptons and protons data

In this work we aim at reproducing, simultaneously, the spectral feature at $\sim 10 \, \mathrm{TeV}$ in the cosmic-ray proton spectrum, recently reported by the DAMPE Collaboration, together with the spectral break at $\sim 1 \, \mathrm{TeV}$ measured by H.E.S.S. in the lepton spectrum. Those features are interpreted as signatures of one nearby hidden cosmic-ray accelerator. We show that this interpretation is consistent with the dipole-anisotropy data as long as the rigidity scaling of the diffusion coefficient features a hardening at $\sim 200 \, \mathrm{GV}$, as suggested by the light-nuclei data measured with high accuracy by the AMS-02 Collaboration. Such rigidity-dependent diffusion coefficient is applied consistently to the large-scale diffuse cosmic-ray sea as well as to the particles injected by the nearby source.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Simulating the Galactic Multi-messenger Emissions with HERMES

The study of non-thermal processes such as synchrotron emission, inverse Compton scattering, bremsstrahlung and pion production is crucial to understand the properties of the Galactic cosmic-ray population, to shed light on their origin and confinement mechanisms, and to assess the significance of exotic signals possibly associated to new physics. We present a public code called HERMES aimed at generating sky maps associated to a variety of multi-messenger and multi-wavelength radiative processes, spanning from the radio domain all the way up to high-energy gamma-ray and neutrino production. We describe the physical processes under consideration, the code concept and structure, and the user interface, with particular focus on the python-based interactive mode. We especially present the modular and flexible design that allows to easily further extend the numerical package according to the user's needs. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the code, we describe in detail a comprehensive set of sky maps and spectra associated to all physical processes included in the code. We comment in particular on the radio, gamma-ray, and neutrino maps, and mention the possibility to study signals stemming from dark matter annihilation. HERMES can be successfully applied to constrain the properties of the Galactic cosmic-ray population, improve our understanding of the diffuse Galactic radio, gamma--ray, and neutrino emission, and search for signals associated to particle dark matter annihilation or decay.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Gamma rays as probes of cosmic-ray propagation and interactions in galaxies

Continuum gamma-ray emission produced by interactions of cosmic rays with interstellar matter and radiation fields is a probe of non-thermal particle populations in galaxies. After decades of continuous improvements in experimental techniques and an ever-increasing sky and energy coverage, gamma-ray observations reveal in unprecedented detail the properties of galactic cosmic rays. A variety of scales and environments are now accessible to us, from the local interstellar medium near the Sun and the vicinity of cosmic-ray accelerators, out to the Milky Way at large and beyond, with a growing number of gamma-ray emitting star-forming galaxies. Gamma-ray observations have been pushing forward our understanding of the life cycle of cosmic rays in galaxies and, combined with advances in related domains, they have been challenging standard assumptions in the field and have spurred new developments in modelling approaches and data analysis methods. We provide a review of the status of the subject and discuss perspectives on future progress.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

The theory of cosmic-ray scattering on pre-existing MHD modes meets data

We present a comprehensive study about the phenomenological implications of the theory describing Galactic cosmic-ray scattering onto magnetosonic and Alfvénic fluctuations in the $\mathrm{GeV} - \mathrm{PeV}$ domain. We compute a set of diffusion coefficients from first principles, for different values of the Alfvénic Mach number and other relevant parameters associated to both the Galactic halo and the extended disk, taking into account the different damping mechanisms of turbulent fluctuations acting in these environments. We confirm that the scattering rate associated to Alfvénic turbulence is highly suppressed if the anisotropy of the cascade is taken into account. On the other hand, we highlight that magnetosonic modes play a dominant role in Galactic confinement of cosmic rays up to $\mathrm{PeV}$ energies. We implement the diffusion coefficients in the numerical framework of the {\tt DRAGON} code, and simulate the equilibrium spectrum of different primary and secondary cosmic-ray species. We show that, for reasonable choices of the parameters under consideration, all primary and secondary fluxes at high energy (above a rigidity of $\simeq 200 \, \mathrm{GV}$) are correctly reproduced within our framework, in both normalization and slope.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Multi-wavelength detectability of isolated black holes in the Milky Way

Isolated black holes in our Galaxy have eluded detection so far. We present here a comprehensive study on the detectability of isolated stellar-mass astrophysical black holes that accrete interstellar gas from molecular clouds in both the local region and the Central Molecular Zone. We adopt a state-of-the-art model for the accretion physics backed up by numerical simulations, and study the number of observable sources in both the radio and X-ray band, as a function of a variety of parameters. We discuss in particular the impact of the astrophysical uncertainties on our prediction for the number of bright X-ray sources in the central region of the Galaxy. We finally consider future developments in the radio domain, and assess the potential of SKA to detect a population of astrophysical black holes accreting gas in our Galaxy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

X-ray and gamma-ray limits on the primordial black hole abundance from Hawking radiation

The non-observation of Hawking radiation from primordial black holes of $10^{16}$g sets a conservative strong bound on their cosmological abundance. We revisit this bound and show how it can be improved (both in mass reach and strength) by an adequate modeling of the combined AGN and blazar emission in the MeV range. We also estimate the sensitivity to the primordial black hole abundance of a future X-ray experiment capable of identifying a significantly larger number of astrophysical sources contributing to the diffuse background in this energy range.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Features in cosmic-ray lepton data unveil the properties of nearby cosmic accelerators

We present a comprehensive discussion about the origin of the features in the leptonic component of the cosmic-ray spectrum. Working in the framework of a up-to-date CR transport scenario tuned on the most recent AMS-02 and Voyager data, we show that the prominent features recently found in the positron and in the all-electron spectra by several experiments are explained in a scenario in which pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) are the dominant sources of the positron flux, and nearby supernova remnants shape the high-energy peak of the electron spectrum. In particular we argue that the drop-off in positron spectrum found by AMS-02 at $\sim 300$ GeV can be explained --- under different assumptions --- in terms of a prominent PWN that provides the bulk of the observed positrons in the $\sim 100$ GeV domain, on top of the contribution from a large number of older objects. Finally, we turn our attention to the spectral softening at $\sim 1$ TeV in the all-lepton spectrum, recently reported by several experiments, showing that it requires the presence of a nearby supernova remnant at its final stage.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Primordial Black Holes as Silver Bullets for New Physics at the Weak Scale

Observational constraints on gamma rays produced by the annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles around primordial black holes (PBHs) imply that these two classes of Dark Matter candidates cannot coexist. We show here that the successful detection of one or more PBHs by radio searches (with the Square Kilometer Array) and gravitational waves searches (with LIGO/Virgo and the upcoming Einstein Telescope) would set extraordinarily stringent constraints on virtually all weak-scale extensions of the Standard Model with stable relics, including those predicting a WIMP abundance much smaller than that of Dark Matter. Upcoming PBHs searches have in particular the potential to rule out almost the entire parameter space of popular theories such as the minimal supersymmetric standard model and scalar singlet Dark Matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

The origin of Galactic cosmic rays: challenges to the standard paradigm

A critical review of the standard paradigm for the origin of Galactic cosmic rays is presented. Recent measurements of local and far-away cosmic rays reveal unexpected behaviours, which challenge the commonly accepted scenario. These recent findings are discussed, together with long-standing open issues. Despite the progress made thanks to ever-improving observational techniques and theoretical investigations, at present our understanding of the origin and of the behaviour of cosmic rays remains incomplete. We believe it is still unclear whether a modification of the standard paradigm, or rather a radical change of the paradigm itself is needed in order to interpret all the available data on cosmic rays within a self-consistent scenario.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

The Cherenkov Telescope Array view of the Galactic Center region

Among all the high-energy environments of our Galaxy, the Galactic Center (GC) region is definitely the richest. It harbors a large amount of non-thermal emitters, including the closest supermassive black hole, dense molecular clouds, regions with strong star forming activity, multiple supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae, arc-like radio structures, as well as the base of what may be large-scale Galactic outflows, possibly related to the Fermi Bubbles. It also contains a strong diffuse TeV gamma-ray emission along the Galactic ridge, with a disputed origin, including the presence of a possible Pevatron, unresolved sources, and an increased relevance of the diffuse sea of cosmic rays. This very rich region will be one of the key targets for the next generation ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Here we review the CTA science case for the study of the GC region, and present the planned survey strategy. These observations are simulated and we assess CTA's potential to better characterize the origin and nature of a selection of gamma-ray sources in the region.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Multi-wavelength astronomical searches for primordial black holes

If primordial black holes of $\mathcal{O}(1-100) M_{\odot}$ constitute a significant portion of the dark matter in the Universe, they should be very abundant in our Galaxy. We present here a detailed analysis of the radio and X-ray emission that these objects are expected to produce due to the accretion of gas from the interstellar medium. With respect to previous studies, we relax the assumption of a monochromatic mass function, and introduce an improved treatment of the physics of gas accretion onto isolated, moving compact objects, based on a set of state-of-the-art numerical simulations. By comparing our predictions with known radio and X-ray sources in the Galactic center region, we show that the maximum relic density of primordial black holes in the mass range of interest is $\sim 10^{-3}$ smaller than that of dark matter. The new upper bound is two orders of magnitude stronger with respect to previous results, based on a conservative phenomenological treatment of the accretion physics. We also provide a comprehensive critical discussion on the reliability of this bound, and on possible future developments in the field. We argue in particular that future multi-wavelength searches will soon start to probe the galactic population of astrophysical black holes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap

The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics---dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem---all involve gravity as a key component. And of all gravitational phenomena, black holes stand out in their elegant simplicity, while harbouring some of the most remarkable predictions of General Relativity: event horizons, singularities and ergoregions. The hitherto invisible landscape of the gravitational Universe is being unveiled before our eyes: the historical direct detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration marks the dawn of a new era of scientific exploration. Gravitational-wave astronomy will allow us to test models of black hole formation, growth and evolution, as well as models of gravitational-wave generation and propagation. It will provide evidence for event horizons and ergoregions, test the theory of General Relativity itself, and may reveal the existence of new fundamental fields. The synthesis of these results has the potential to radically reshape our understanding of the cosmos and of the laws of Nature. The purpose of this work is to present a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the relevant fields of research, summarize important open problems, and lay out a roadmap for future progress.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Black Holes' Dark Dress: On the merger rate of a subdominant population of primordial black holes

The formation of astrophysical and primordial black holes influences the distribution of dark matter surrounding them. Black holes are thus expected to carry a dark matter `dress' whose properties depend on their formation mechanism and on the properties of the environment. Here we carry out a numerical and analytical study of the merger of dressed black holes, and show that the distribution of dark matter around them dramatically affects the dynamical evolution of the binaries. Although the final impact on the merger rate of primordial black holes is rather small with respect to the case of `naked' black holes, we argue that our analysis places the calculation of this rate on more solid ground, with LIGO-Virgo observations ruling out a dark matter fraction of $10^{-3}$ for primordial black holes of 100 solar masses, and it paves the way to more detailed analyses of environmental effects induced by dark matter on the gravitational wave emission of binary black holes.

astro-ph.CO↗