arXiv subjects

F. Krauß

Publications and source records attributed to F. Krauß.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Multimessenger Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Coincidence Alerts using HAWC and IceCube sub-threshold Data

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) and IceCube observatories, through the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) framework, have developed a multimessenger joint search for extragalactic astrophysical sources. This analysis looks for sources that emit both cosmic neutrinos and gamma rays that are produced in photo-hadronic or hadronic interactions. The AMON system is running continuously, receiving sub-threshold data (i.e. data that is not suited on its own to do astrophysical searches) from HAWC and IceCube, and combining them in real-time. We present here the analysis algorithm, as well as results from archival data collected between June 2015 and August 2018, with a total live-time of 3.0 years. During this period we found two coincident events that have a false alarm rate (FAR) of $<1$ coincidence per year, consistent with the background expectations. The real-time implementation of the analysis in the AMON system began on November 20th, 2019, and issues alerts to the community through the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network with a FAR threshold of $<4$ coincidences per year.

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arXiv2020

Rapid compact jet quenching in the Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535-571

We present results from six epochs of quasi-simultaneous radio, (sub-)millimetre, infrared, optical, and X-ray observations of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI~J1535$-$571. These observations show that as the source transitioned through the hard-intermediate X-ray state towards the soft intermediate X-ray state, the jet underwent dramatic and rapid changes. We observed the frequency of the jet spectral break, which corresponds to the most compact region in the jet where particle acceleration begins (higher frequencies indicate closer to the black hole), evolve from the IR band into the radio band (decreasing by $\approx$3 orders of magnitude) in less than a day. During one observational epoch, we found evidence of the jet spectral break evolving in frequency through the radio band. Estimating the magnetic field and size of the particle acceleration region shows that the rapid fading of the high-energy jet emission was not consistent with radiative cooling; instead the particle acceleration region seems to be moving away from the black hole on approximately dynamical timescales. This result suggests that the compact jet quenching is not caused by local changes to the particle acceleration, rather we are observing the acceleration region of the jet travelling away from the black hole with the jet flow. Spectral analysis of the X-ray emission show a gradual softening in the few days before the dramatic jet changes, followed by a more rapid softening $\sim$1--2\,days after the onset of the jet quenching.

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arXiv2020

Search for high-redshift blazars with Fermi/LAT

High-$z$ blazars (z $\geq 2.5$) are the most powerful class of persistent $γ$-ray sources in the Universe. These objects possess the highest jet powers and luminosities and have black hole masses often in excess of $10^9$ solar masses. In addition, high-$z$ blazars are important cosmological probes and serve as test objects for blazar evolution models. Due to their large distance, their high-energy emission typically peaks below the GeV range, which makes them difficult to study with Fermi/LAT. Therefore, only the very brightest objects are detectable and, to date, only a small number of high-z blazars have been detected with Fermi/LAT. In this work, we studied the monthly binned long-term $γ$-ray emission of a sample of 176 radio and optically detected blazars that have not been reported as known $γ$-ray sources in the 3FGL catalog. In order to account for false-positive detections, we calculated monthly Fermi/LAT light curves for a large sample of blank sky positions and derived the number of random fluctuations that we expect at various test statistic (TS) levels. For a given blazar, a detection of TS > 9 in at least one month is expected $\sim 15\%$ of the time. Although this rate is too high to secure detection of an individual source, half of our sample shows such single-month $γ$-ray activity, indicating a population of high-energy blazars at distances of up to z=5.2. Multiple TS > 9 monthly detections are unlikely to happen by chance, and we have detected several individual new sources in this way, including the most distant $γ$-ray blazar, BZQ J1430+4204 (z = 4.72). Finally, two new $γ$-ray blazars at redshifts of z = 3.63 and z = 3.11 are unambiguously detected via very significant (TS > 25) flares in individual monthly time bins.

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arXiv2020

On the Detection Potential of Blazar Flares for Current Neutrino Telescopes

Blazar jets are extreme environments, in which relativistic proton interactions with an ultraviolet photon field could give rise to photopion production. High-confidence associations of individual high-energy neutrinos with blazar flares could be achieved via spatially and temporally coincident detections. In 2017, the track-like, extremely high-energy neutrino event IC 170922A was found to coincide with increased $γ$-ray emission from the blazar TXS 0506+056, leading to the identification of the most promising neutrino point source candidate so far. We calculate the expected number of neutrino events that can be detected with IceCube, based on a broadband parametrization of bright short-term blazar flares that were observed in the first 6.5 years of \textit{Fermi}/LAT observations. We find that the integrated keV-to-GeV fluence of most individual blazar flares is far too small to yield a substantial Poisson probability for the detection of one or more neutrinos with IceCube. We show that the sample of potentially detectable high-energy neutrinos from individual blazar flares is rather small. We further show that the blazars 3C 279 and PKS 1510$-$089 dominate the all-sky neutrino prediction from bright and short-term blazar flares. In the end, we discuss strategies to search for more significant associations in future data unblindings of IceCube and KM3NeT.

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arXiv2020

Gamma-ray emission in radio galaxies under the VLBI scope -- II. The relationship between gamma-ray emission and parsec-scale jets in radio galaxies

Following our study of the radio and high-energy properties of $γ$-ray-emitting radio galaxies, here we investigate the kinematic and spectral properties of the parsec-scale jets of radio galaxies that have not yet been detected by Fermi-LAT. We take advantage of the regular VLBI observations provided by the TANAMI monitoring program, and explore the kinematic properties of six $γ$-ray-faint radio galaxies. We include publicly available VLBI kinematics of $γ$-ray-quiet radio galaxies monitored by the MOJAVE program and perform a Fermi-LAT analysis, deriving upper limits. We combine these results with those from our previous paper to construct the largest sample of radio galaxies with combined VLBI and $γ$-ray measurements to date. We find superluminal motion up to $β_\mathrm{app}=3.6$ in the jet of PKS 2153$-$69. We find a clear trend of higher apparent speed as a function of distance from the jet core on scales of $\sim10^5\,R_s$, corresponding to the end of the collimation and acceleration zone in nearby radio galaxies. We find evidence of subluminal apparent motion in the jets of PKS 1258$-$321 and IC 4296, and no measurable motion for PKS 1549$-$79, PKS 1733$-$565 and PKS 2027$-$308. We compare the VLBI properties of $γ$-ray-detected and undetected radio galaxies, and find significantly different distributions of median core flux density, and, possibly, of median core brightness temperature. We find a significant correlation between median core flux density and $γ$-ray flux, but no correlation with typical Doppler boosting indicators such as median core brightness temperature and core dominance. Our study suggests that high-energy emission from radio galaxies is related to parsec-scale radio emission from the inner jet, but is not driven by Doppler boosting effects, in contrast to the situation in their blazar counterparts.

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arXiv2019

Apparent superluminal core expansion and limb brightening in the candidate neutrino blazar TXS 0506+056

IceCube has reported a very-high-energy neutrino (IceCube-170922A) in a region containing the blazar TXS 0506+056. Correlated γ-ray activity has led to the first high-probability association of a high-energy neutrino with an extragalactic source. This blazar has been found to be in a radio outburst during the neutrino event. We have performed target-of-opportunity VLBI imaging observations at 43 GHz frequency with the VLBA two and eight months, respectively, after the neutrino event. We produced two images of TXS 0506+056 with angular resolutions of (0.2x1.1) mas and (0.2x0.5) mas, respectively. The source shows a compact, high brightness temperature core (albeit not approaching the equipartition limit) and a bright and originally very collimated inner jet. Beyond about 0.5 mas from the mm-VLBI core, the jet loses this tight collimation and expands rapidly. During the months after the neutrino event associated with this source, the overall flux density is rising. This flux density increase happens solely within the core. The core expands in size with apparent superluminal velocity during these six months so that the brightness temperature drops by a factor of three in spite of the strong flux density increase. The radio jet of TXS 0506+056 shows strong signs of deceleration and/or a spine-sheath structure within the inner 1 mas (corresponding to about 70 pc to 140 pc in deprojected distance) from the mm-VLBI core. This structure is consistent with theoretical models that attribute the neutrino and γ-ray production to interactions of electrons and protons in the highly-relativistic jet spine with external photons originating from a slower-moving jet region. Proton loading due to jet-star interactions in the inner host galaxy is suggested as the possible cause of deceleration

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arXiv2019

Gamma-ray emission in radio galaxies under the VLBI scope -- I. Parsec-scale kinematics and high-energy properties of $γ$-ray detected TANAMI radio galaxies

In the framework of the TANAMI multi-wavelength and VLBI monitoring, we study the evolution of the parsec-scale radio emission in radio galaxies in the southern hemisphere and their relationship to the $γ$-ray properties. In this first paper, we focus on Fermi-LAT-detected sources. We perform a kinematic analysis for five $γ$-ray detected radio galaxies using multi-epoch 8.4 GHz VLBI images, deriving limits on intrinsic jet parameters. We analyzed Fermi-LAT data in order to study possible connections between the $γ$-ray properties and the pc-scale jets of Fermi-LAT-detected radio galaxies, both in terms of variability and average properties. We discuss the individual source results and draw preliminary conclusions on sample properties including published VLBI results from the MOJAVE survey, with a total of fifteen sources. We find that the first $γ$-ray detection of Pictor A might be associated with the passage of a new VLBI component through the radio core. For the peculiar AGN PKS 0521-36, we detect subluminal parsec-scale jet motions, and we confirm the presence of fast $γ$-ray variability in the source down to timescales of 6 hours. We robustly confirm the presence of significant superluminal motion, up to $β_{app}\sim$3, in the jet of the TeV radio galaxy PKS 0625-35. Finally, we place a lower limit on the age of the Compact Symmetric Object (CSO) PKS 1718-649. We draw some preliminary conclusions on the relationship between pc-scale jets and $γ$-ray emission in radio galaxies. We find that the VLBI core flux density correlates with the $γ$-ray flux, as seen in blazars. On the other hand, the $γ$-ray luminosity does not show any dependence on the core brightness temperature and core dominance, two indicators of Doppler boosting, suggesting that $γ$-ray emission in radio galaxies is not driven by orientation-dependent effects.

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arXiv2018

Breaking degeneracy in jet dynamics: multi-epoch joint modelling of the BL Lac PKS 2155-304

Supermassive black holes can launch powerful jets which can be some of the most luminous multi-wavelength sources; decades after their discovery their physics and energetics are still poorly understood. The past decade has seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of available data, but despite this improvement the semi-analytical modelling of jets has advanced slowly: simple one-zone models are still the most commonly employed method of interpreting data, in particular for AGN jets. These models can roughly constrain the properties of jets but they cannot unambiguously couple their emission to the launching regions and internal dynamics, which can be probed with simulations. However, simulations are not easily comparable to observations because they cannot yet self-consistently predict spectra. We present an advanced semi-analytical model which accounts for the dynamics of the whole jet, starting from a simplified parametrization of Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics in which the magnetic flux is converted into bulk kinetic energy. To benchmark the model we fit six quasisimultaneous, multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions of the BL Lac PKS 2155-304 obtained by the TANAMI program, and we address the degeneracies inherent to such a complex model by employing a state-of-the-art exploration of parameter space, which so far has been mostly neglected in the study of AGN jets. We find that this new approach is much more effective than a single-epoch fit in providing meaningful constraints on model parameters.

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arXiv2018

Fermi-LAT counterparts of IceCube neutrinos above 100 TeV

The IceCube Collaboration has published four years of data and the observed neutrino flux is significantly in excess of the expected atmospheric background. Due to the steeply falling atmospheric background spectrum, events at the highest energies are most likely extraterrestrial. In our previous approach we have studied blazars as the possible origin of the High-Energy Starting Events (HESE) neutrino events at PeV energies. In this work we extend our study to include all HESE neutrinos (which does not include IC 170922A) at or above a reconstructed energy of 100 TeV, but below 1 PeV. We study the X-ray and $γ$-ray data of all ($\sim200$) 3LAC blazars that are positionally consistent with the neutrino events above 100 TeV to determine the maximum neutrino flux from these sources. This larger sample allows us to better constrain the scaling factor between the observed and maximum number of neutrino events. We find that when we consider a realistic neutrino spectrum and other factors, the number of neutrinos is in good agreement with the detected number of IceCube HESE events. We also show that there is no direct correlation between \Fermi-LAT $γ$-ray flux and the IceCube neutrino flux and that the expected number of neutrinos is consistent with the non-detection of individual bright blazars.

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arXiv2018

Extended X-ray emission in PKS 1718$-$649

PKS 1718$-$649 is one of the closest and most comprehensively studied candidates of a young active galactic nucleus (AGN) that is still embedded in its optical host galaxy. The compact radio structure, with a maximal extent of a few parsecs, makes it a member of the group of compact symmetric objects (CSO). Its environment imposes a turnover of the radio synchrotron spectrum towards lower frequencies, also classifying PKS 1718$-$649 as gigahertz-peaked radio spectrum (GPS) source. Its close proximity has allowed the first detection of extended X-ray emission in a GPS/CSO source with Chandra that is for the most part unrelated to nuclear feedback. However, not much is known about the nature of this emission. By co-adding all archival Chandra data and complementing these datasets with the large effective area of XMM-Newton, we are able to study the detailed physics of the environment of PKS 1718$-$649. Not only can we confirm that the bulk of the $\lesssim$kiloparsec-scale environment emits in the soft X-rays, but we also identify the emitting gas to form a hot, collisionally ionized medium. While the feedback of the central AGN still seems to be constrained to the inner few parsecs, we argue that supernovae are capable of producing the observed large-scale X-ray emission at a rate inferred from its estimated star formation rate.

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arXiv2018

Investigating source confusion in PMN J1603$-$4904

PMN J1603$-$4904 is a likely member of the rare class of $γ$-ray emitting young radio galaxies. Only one other source, PKS 1718$-$649, has been confirmed so far. These objects, which may transition into larger radio galaxies, are a stepping stone to understanding AGN evolution. It is not completely clear how these young galaxies, seen edge-on, can produce high-energy $γ$-rays. PMN J1603$-$4904 has been detected by TANAMI Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations and has been followed-up with multiwavelength observations. A Fermi/LAT $γ$-ray source has been associated with it in the LAT catalogs. We have obtained Chandra observations of the source in order to consider the possibility of source confusion, due to the relatively large positional uncertainty of Fermi/LAT. The goal was to investigate the possibility of other X-ray bright sources in the vicinity of PMN J1603$-$4904 that could be counterparts to the $γ$-ray emission. With Chandra/ACIS, we find no other sources in the uncertainty ellipse of Fermi/LAT data, which includes an improved localization analysis of 8 years of data. We further study the X-ray fluxes and spectra. We conclude that PMN J1603$-$4904 is indeed the second confirmed $γ$-ray bright young radio galaxy.

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arXiv2017

TANAMI: Tracking Active Galactic Nuclei with Austral Milliarcsecond Interferometry - II. Additional Sources

TANAMI is a multiwavelength program monitoring active galactic nuclei (AGN) south of -30deg declination including high-resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) imaging, radio, optical/UV, X-ray and gamma-ray studies. We have previously published first-epoch 8.4GHz VLBI images of the parsec-scale structure of the initial sample. In this paper, we present images of 39 additional sources. The full sample comprises most of the radio- and gamma-ray brightest AGN in the southern quarter of the sky, overlapping with the region from which high-energy (>100TeV) neutrino events have been found. We characterize the parsec-scale radio properties of the jets and compare with the quasi-simultaneous Fermi/LAT gamma-ray data. Furthermore, we study the jet properties of sources which are in positional coincidence with high-energy neutrino events as compared to the full sample. We test the positional agreement of high-energy neutrino events with various AGN samples. Our observations yield the first images of many jets below -30deg declination at milliarcsecond resolution. We find that gamma-ray loud TANAMI sources tend to be more compact on parsec-scales and have higher core brightness temperatures than gamma-ray faint jets, indicating higher Doppler factors. No significant structural difference is found between sources in positional coincidence with high-energy neutrino events and other TANAMI jets. The 22 gamma-ray brightest AGN in the TANAMI sky show only a weak positional agreement with high-energy neutrinos demonstrating that the >100TeV IceCube signal is not simply dominated by a small number of the $γ$-ray brightest blazars. Instead, a larger number of sources have to contribute to the signal with each individual source having only a small Poisson probability for producing an event in multi-year integrations of current neutrino detectors.

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arXiv2016

The MHz-peaked radio spectrum of the unusual gamma-ray source PMN J1603-4904

Context. The majority of bright extragalactic gamma-ray sources are blazars. Only a few radio galaxies have been detected by Fermi/LAT. Recently, the GHz-peaked spectrum source PKS 1718-649 was confirmed to be gamma-ray bright, providing further evidence for the existence of a population of gamma-ray loud, compact radio galaxies. A spectral turnover in the radio spectrum in the MHz to GHz range is a characteristic feature of these objects, which are thought to be young due to their small linear sizes. The multiwavelength properties of the gamma-ray source PMN J1603-4904 suggest that it is a member of this source class. Aims. The known radio spectrum of PMN J1603-4904 can be described by a power law above 1 GHz. Using observations from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 150, 325, and 610 MHz, we investigate the behaviour of the spectrum at lower frequencies to search for a low-frequency turnover. Methods. Data from the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS ADR) catalogue and archival GMRT observations were used to construct the first MHz to GHz spectrum of PMN J1603-4904. Results. We detect a low-frequency turnover of the spectrum and measure the peak position at about 490 MHz (rest-frame), which, using the known relation of peak frequency and linear size, translates into a maximum linear source size of ~1.4 kpc. Conclusions. The detection of the MHz peak indicates that PMN J1603-4904 is part of this population of radio galaxies with turnover frequencies in the MHz to GHz regime. Therefore it can be considered the second, confirmed object of this kind detected in gamma-rays. Establishing this gamma-ray source class will help to investigate the gamma-ray production sites and to test broadband emission models.

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arXiv2016

Coincidence of a high-fluence blazar outburst with a PeV-energy neutrino event

The discovery of extraterrestrial very-high-energy neutrinos by the IceCube collaboration has launched a quest for the identification of their astrophysical sources. Gamma-ray blazars have been predicted to yield a cumulative neutrino signal exceeding the atmospheric background above energies of 100 TeV, assuming that both the neutrinos and the gamma-ray photons are produced by accelerated protons in relativistic jets. Since the background spectrum falls steeply with increasing energy, the individual events with the clearest signature of being of an extraterrestrial origin are those at PeV energies. Inside the large positional-uncertainty fields of the first two PeV neutrinos detected by IceCube, the integrated emission of the blazar population has a sufficiently high electromagnetic flux to explain the detected IceCube events, but fluences of individual objects are too low to make an unambiguous source association. Here, we report that a major outburst of the blazar PKS B1424-418 occurred in temporal and positional coincidence with the third PeV-energy neutrino event (IC35) detected by IceCube. Based on an analysis of the full sample of gamma-ray blazars in the IC35 field and assuming a photo-hadronic emission model, we show that the long-term average gamma-ray emission of blazars as a class is in agreement with both the measured all-sky flux of PeV neutrinos and the spectral slope of the IceCube signal. The outburst of PKS B1424-418 has provided an energy output high enough to explain the observed PeV event, indicative of a direct physical association.

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arXiv2015

A Variable-Density Absorption Event in NGC 3227 mapped with Suzaku and Swift

The morphology of the circumnuclear gas accreting onto supermassive black holes in Seyfert galaxies remains a topic of much debate. As the innermost regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are spatially unresolved, X-ray spectroscopy, and in particular line-of-sight absorption variability, is a key diagnostic to map out the distribution of gas. Observations of variable X-ray absorption in multiple Seyferts and over a wide range of timescales indicate the presence of clumps/clouds of gas within the circumnuclear material. Eclipse events by clumps transiting the line of sight allow us to explore the properties of the clumps over a wide range of radial distances from the optical/UV Broad Line Region (BLR) to beyond the dust sublimation radius. Time-resolved absorption events have been extremely rare so far, but suggest a range of density profiles across Seyferts. We resolve a weeks-long absorption event in the Seyfert NGC 3227. We examine six Suzaku and twelve Swift observations from a 2008 campaign spanning 5 weeks. We use a model accounting for the complex spectral interplay of three differently-ionized absorbers. We perform time-resolved spectroscopy to discern the absorption variability behavior. We also examine the IR-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) to test for reddening by dust. The 2008 absorption event is due to moderately-ionized ($\log ξ\sim 1.2-1.4$) gas covering 90% of the line of sight. We resolve the density profile to be highly irregular, in contrast to a previous symmetric and centrally-peaked event mapped with RXTE in the same object. The UV data do not show significant reddening, suggesting that the cloud is dust-free. The 2008 campaign has revealed a transit by a filamentary, moderately-ionized cloud of variable density that is likely located in the BLR, and possibly part of a disk wind.

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arXiv2015

Insights into the particle acceleration of a peculiar gamma -ray radio galaxy IC 310

IC 310 has recently been identified as a gamma-ray emitter based on observations at GeV energies with Fermi-LAT and at very high energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV) with the MAGIC telescopes. Despite IC 310 having been classified as a radio galaxy with the jet observed at an angle > 10 degrees, it exhibits a mixture of multiwavelength properties of a radio galaxy and a blazar, possibly making it a transitional object. On the night of 12/13th of November 2012 the MAGIC telescopes observed a series of violent outbursts from the direction of IC 310 with flux-doubling time scales faster than 5 min and a peculiar spectrum spreading over 2 orders of magnitude. Such fast variability constrains the size of the emission region to be smaller than 20% of the gravitational radius of its central black hole, challenging the shock acceleration models, commonly used in explanation of gamma-ray radiation from active galaxies. Here we will show that this emission can be associated with pulsar-like particle acceleration by the electric field across a magnetospheric gap at the base of the jet.

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arXiv2015

A redshifted Fe K$α$ line from the unusual gamma-ray source PMN J1603-4904

Multiwavelength observations have revealed the highly unusual properties of the gamma-ray source PMN J1603-4904, which are difficult to reconcile with any other well established gamma-ray source class. The object is either a very atypical blazar or compact jet source seen at a larger angle to the line of sight. In order to determine the physical origin of the high-energy emission processes in PMN J1603-4904, we study the X-ray spectrum in detail. We performed quasi-simultaneous X-ray observations with XMM-Newton and Suzaku in 2013 September, resulting in the first high signal-to-noise X-ray spectrum of this source. The 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum can be well described by an absorbed power law with an emission line at 5.44$\pm$0.05 keV (observed frame). Interpreting this feature as a Kα line from neutral iron, we determine the redshift of PMN J1603-4904 to be z=0.18$\pm$0.01, corresponding to a luminosity distance of 872$\pm$54 Mpc. The detection of a redshifted X-ray emission line further challenges the original BL Lac classification of PMN J1603-4904. This result suggests that the source is observed at a larger angle to the line of sight than expected for blazars, and thus the source would add to the elusive class of gamma-ray loud misaligned-jet objects, possibly a γ-ray bright young radio galaxy.

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arXiv2014

TANAMI Blazars in the IceCube PeV Neutrino Fields

The IceCube Collaboration has announced the discovery of a neutrino flux in excess of the atmospheric background. Due to the steeply falling atmospheric background spectrum, events at PeV energies are most likely of extraterrestrial origin. We present the multiwavelength properties of the six radio brightest blazars positionally coincident with these events using contemporaneous data of the TANAMI blazar sample, including high-resolution images and spectral energy distributions. Assuming the X-ray to γ-ray emission originates in the photoproduction of pions by accelerated protons, the integrated predicted neutrino luminosity of these sources is large enough to explain the two detected PeV events.

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