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M. Bernardos

Publications and source records attributed to M. Bernardos.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Multi-wavelength study of OT 081: broadband modelling of a transitional blazar

OT 081 is a well-known, luminous blazar that is remarkably variable in many energy bands. We present the first broadband study of the source which includes very-high-energy (VHE, $E>$100\,GeV) $\gamma$-ray data taken by the MAGIC and H.E.S.S. imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The discovery of VHE $\gamma$-ray emission happened during a high state of $\gamma$-ray activity in July 2016, observed by many instruments from radio to VHE $\gamma$-rays. We identify four states of activity of the source, one of which includes VHE $\gamma$-ray emission. Variability in the VHE domain is found on daily timescales. The intrinsic VHE spectrum can be described by a power-law with index $3.27\pm0.44_{\rm stat}\pm0.15_{\rm sys}$ (MAGIC) and $3.39\pm0.58_{\rm stat}\pm0.64_{\rm sys}$ (H.E.S.S.) in the energy range of 55--300\,GeV and 120--500\,GeV, respectively. The broadband emission cannot be sucessfully reproduced by a simple one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model. Instead, an additional external Compton component is required. We test a lepto-hadronic model that reproduces the dataset well and a proton-synchrotron dominated model that requires an extreme proton luminosity. Emission models that are able to successfully represent the data place the emitting region well outside of the Broad Line Region (BLR) to a location at which the radiative environment is dominated by the infrared thermal radiation field of the dusty torus. In the scenario described by this flaring activity, the source appears to be an FSRQ, in contrast with past categorizations. This suggests that the source can be considered to be a transitional blazar, intermediate between BL~Lac and FSRQ objects.

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Performance and first measurements of the MAGIC Stellar Intensity Interferometer

In recent years, a new generation of optical intensity interferometers has emerged, leveraging the existing infrastructure of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). The MAGIC telescopes host the MAGIC-SII system (Stellar Intensity Interferometer), implemented to investigate the feasibility and potential of this technique on IACTs. After the first successful measurements in 2019, the system was upgraded and now features a real-time, dead-time-free, 4-channel, GPU-based correlator. These hardware modifications allow seamless transitions between MAGIC's standard very-high-energy gamma-ray observations and optical interferometry measurements within seconds. We establish the feasibility and potential of employing IACTs as competitive optical Intensity Interferometers with minimal hardware adjustments. The measurement of a total of 22 stellar diameters are reported, 9 corresponding to reference stars with previous comparable measurements, and 13 with no prior measurements. A prospective implementation involving telescopes from the forthcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory's northern hemisphere array, such as the first prototype of its Large-Sized Telescopes, LST-1, is technically viable. This integration would significantly enhance the sensitivity of the current system and broaden the UV-plane coverage. This advancement would enable the system to achieve competitive sensitivity with the current generation of long-baseline optical interferometers over blue wavelengths.

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Insights into the broad-band emission of the TeV blazar Mrk 501 during the first X-ray polarization measurements

We present the first multi-wavelength study of Mrk 501 including very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations simultaneous to X-ray polarization measurements from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We use radio-to-VHE data from a multi-wavelength campaign organized between 2022-03-01 and 2022-07-19. The observations were performed by MAGIC, Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, Swift (XRT and UVOT), and several instruments covering the optical and radio bands. During the IXPE pointings, the VHE state is close to the average behavior with a 0.2-1 TeV flux of 20%-50% the emission of the Crab Nebula. Despite the average VHE activity, an extreme X-ray behavior is measured for the first two IXPE pointings in March 2022 with a synchrotron peak frequency >1 keV. For the third IXPE pointing in July 2022, the synchrotron peak shifts towards lower energies and the optical/X-ray polarization degrees drop. The X-ray polarization is systematically higher than at lower energies, suggesting an energy-stratification of the jet. While during the IXPE epochs the polarization angle in the X-ray, optical and radio bands align well, we find a clear discrepancy in the optical and radio polarization angles in the middle of the campaign. We model the broad-band spectra simultaneous to the IXPE pointings assuming a compact zone dominating in the X-rays and VHE, and an extended zone stretching further downstream the jet dominating the emission at lower energies. NuSTAR data allow us to precisely constrain the synchrotron peak and therefore the underlying electron distribution. The change between the different states observed in the three IXPE pointings can be explained by a change of magnetization and/or emission region size, which directly connects the shift of the synchrotron peak to lower energies with the drop in polarization degree.

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The Repeating Flaring Activity of Blazar AO 0235+164

Context. Blazar AO 0235+164, located at redshift z = 0.94, has undergone several sharp multi-spectral-range flaring episodes during the last decades. In particular, the episodes peaking in 2008 and 2015, that received extensive multi-wavelength coverage, exhibited interesting behavior. Aims. We study the actual origin of these two observed flares by constraining the properties of the observed photo-polarimetric variability, those of the broad-band spectral energy-distribution and the observed time-evolution behavior of the source as seen by ultra-high resolution total-flux and polarimetric Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) imaging. Methods. The analysis of VLBI images allows us to constrain kinematic and geometrical parameters of the 7 mm jet. We use the Discrete Correlation Function to compute the statistical correlation and the delays between emission at different spectral ranges. Multi-epoch modeling of the spectral energy distributions allows us to propose specific models of emission; in particular for the unusual spectral features observed in this source in the X-ray region of the spectrum during strong multi spectral-range flares. Results. We find that these X-ray spectral features can be explained by an emission component originating in a separate particle distribution than the one responsible for the two standard blazar bumps. This is in agreement with the results of our correlation analysis that do not find a strong correlation between the X-rays and the remaining spectral ranges. We find that both external Compton dominated and synchrotron self-Compton dominated models can explain the observed spectral energy distributions. However, synchrotron self-Compton models are strongly favored by the delays and geometrical parameters inferred from the observations.

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Multi-messenger characterization of Mrk 501 during historically low X-ray and $γ$-ray activity

We study the broadband emission of Mrk 501 using multi-wavelength observations from 2017 to 2020 performed with a multitude of instruments, involving, among others, MAGIC, Fermi-LAT, NuSTAR, Swift, GASP-WEBT, and OVRO. Mrk 501 showed an extremely low broadband activity, which may help to unravel its baseline emission. Nonetheless, significant flux variations are detected at all wavebands, with the highest occurring at X-rays and very-high-energy (VHE) $γ$-rays. A significant correlation ($>$3$σ$) between X-rays and VHE $γ$-rays is measured, supporting leptonic scenarios to explain the variable parts of the emission, also during low activity. This is further supported when we extend our data from 2008 to 2020, and identify, for the first time, significant correlations between Swift-XRT and Fermi-LAT. We additionally find correlations between high-energy $γ$-rays and radio, with the radio lagging by more than 100 days, placing the $γ$-ray emission zone upstream of the radio-bright regions in the jet. Furthermore, Mrk 501 showed a historically low activity in X-rays and VHE $γ$-rays from mid-2017 to mid-2019 with a stable VHE flux ($>$0.2 TeV) of 5% the emission of the Crab Nebula. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of this 2-year-long low-state, the potential baseline emission of Mrk 501, can be characterized with one-zone leptonic models, and with (lepto)-hadronic models fulfilling neutrino flux constraints from IceCube. We explore the time evolution of the SED towards the low-state, revealing that the stable baseline emission may be ascribed to a standing shock, and the variable emission to an additional expanding or traveling shock.

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Search for Gamma-ray Spectral Lines from Dark Matter Annihilation up to 100 TeV towards the Galactic Center with MAGIC

Line-like features in TeV $γ$-rays constitute a ''smoking gun'' for TeV-scale particle dark matter and new physics. Probing the Galactic Center region with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes enables the search for TeV spectral features in immediate association with a dense dark matter reservoir at a sensitivity out of reach for satellite $γ$-ray detectors, and direct detection and collider experiments. We report on 223 hours of observations of the Galactic Center region with the MAGIC stereoscopic telescope system reaching $γ$-ray energies up to 100 TeV. We improved the sensitivity to spectral lines at high energies using large-zenith-angle observations and a novel background modeling method within a maximum-likelihood analysis in the energy domain. No line-like spectral feature is found in our analysis. Therefore, we constrain the cross section for dark matter annihilation into two photons to $\langle σv \rangle \lesssim 5 \times 10^{-28}\,\mathrm{cm^3\,s^{-1}}$ at 1 TeV and $\langle σv \rangle \lesssim 1 \times 10^{-25}\,\mathrm{cm^3\,s^{-1}}$ at 100 TeV, achieving the best limits to date for a dark matter mass above 20 TeV and a cuspy dark matter profile at the Galactic Center. Finally, we use the derived limits for both cuspy and cored dark matter profiles to constrain supersymmetric wino models.

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MAGIC observations provide compelling evidence of the hadronic multi-TeV emission from the putative PeVatron SNR G106.3+2.7

The SNR G106.3+2.7, detected at 1--100 TeV energies by different $γ$-ray facilities, is one of the most promising PeVatron candidates. This SNR has a cometary shape which can be divided into a head and a tail region with different physical conditions. However, it is not identified in which region the 100 TeV emission is produced due to the limited position accuracy and/or angular resolution of existing observational data. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the origin of the $γ$-ray emission is leptonic or hadronic. With the better angular resolution provided by these new MAGIC data compared to earlier $γ$-ray datasets, we aim to reveal the acceleration site of PeV particles and the emission mechanism by resolving the SNR G106.3+2.7 with 0.1$^\circ$ resolution at TeV energies. We detected extended $γ$-ray emission spatially coincident with the radio continuum emission at the head and tail of SNR G106.3+2.7. The fact that we detected a significant $γ$-ray emission with energies above 6.0 TeV from the tail region only suggests that the emissions above 10 TeV, detected with air shower experiments (Milagro, HAWC, Tibet AS$γ$ and LHAASO), are emitted only from the SNR tail. Under this assumption, the multi-wavelength spectrum of the head region can be explained with either hadronic or leptonic models, while the leptonic model for the tail region is in contradiction with the emission above 10 TeV and X-rays. In contrast, the hadronic model could reproduce the observed spectrum at the tail by assuming a proton spectrum with a cutoff energy of $\sim 1$ PeV for the tail region. Such a high energy emission in this middle-aged SNR (4--10 kyr) can be explained by considering the scenario that protons escaping from the SNR in the past interact with surrounding dense gases at present.

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Long-term multi-wavelength study of 1ES 0647+250

The BL Lac object 1ES 0647+250 is one of the few distant $γ$-ray emitting blazars detected at very high energies (VHE, $\gtrsim$100 GeV) during a non-flaring state. It was detected with the MAGIC telescopes during its low activity in the years 2009-2011, as well as during three flaring activities in the years 2014, 2019 and 2020, with the highest VHE flux in the latter epoch. An extensive multi-instrument data set was collected within several coordinated observing campaigns throughout these years. We aim to characterise the long-term multi-band flux variability of 1ES 0647+250, as well as its broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) during four distinct activity states selected in four different epochs, in order to constrain the physical parameters of the blazar emission region under certain assumptions. We evaluate the variability and correlation of the emission in the different energy bands with the fractional variability and the Z-transformed Discrete Correlation Function, as well as its spectral evolution in X-rays and $γ$ rays. Owing to the controversy in the redshift measurements of 1ES 0647+250 reported in the literature, we also estimate its distance in an indirect manner through the comparison of the GeV and TeV spectra from simultaneous observations with Fermi-LAT and MAGIC during the strongest flaring activity detected to date. Moreover, we interpret the SEDs from the four distinct activity states within the framework of one-component and two-component leptonic models, proposing specific scenarios that are able to reproduce the available multi-instrument data.

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Proton acceleration in thermonuclear nova explosions revealed by gamma rays

Classical novae are cataclysmic binary star systems in which the matter of a companion star is accreted on a white dwarf (WD). Accumulation of hydrogen in a layer eventually causes a thermonuclear explosion on the surface of the WD, brightening the WD to ~10^5 solar luminosities and triggering ejection of the accumulated matter.They provide extreme conditions required to accelerate particles, electrons or protons, to high energies. Here we present the detection of gamma rays by the MAGIC telescopes from the 2021 outburst of RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph), a recurrent nova with a red giant (RG) companion, that allowed us, for the first time, to accurately characterize the emission from a nova in the 60 GeV to 250 GeV energy range. The theoretical interpretation of the combined Fermi-LAT and MAGIC data suggests that protons are accelerated to hundreds of GeV in the nova shock. Such protons should create bubbles of enhanced Cosmic Ray density, on the order of 10 pc, from the recurrent novae.

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A lower bound on intergalactic magnetic fields from time variability of 1ES 0229+200 from MAGIC and Fermi/LAT observations

Extended and delayed emission around distant TeV sources induced by the effects of propagation of gamma rays through the intergalactic medium can be used for the measurement of the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF). We search for delayed GeV emission from the hard-spectrum TeV blazar 1ES 0229+200 with the goal to detect or constrain the IGMF-dependent secondary flux generated during the propagation of TeV gamma rays through the intergalactic medium. We analyze the most recent MAGIC observations over a 5 year time span and complement them with historic data of the H.E.S.S. and VERITAS telescopes along with a 12-year long exposure of the Fermi/LAT telescope. We use them to trace source evolution in the GeV-TeV band over one-and-a-half decade in time. We use Monte Carlo simulations to predict the delayed secondary gamma-ray flux, modulated by the source variability, as revealed by TeV-band observations. We then compare these predictions for various assumed IGMF strengths to all available measurements of the gamma-ray flux evolution. We find that the source flux in the energy range above 200 GeV experiences variations around its average on the 14 years time span of observations. No evidence for the flux variability is found in 1-100 GeV energy range accessible to Fermi/LAT. Non-detection of variability due to delayed emission from electromagnetic cascade developing in the intergalactic medium imposes a lower bound of B>1.8e-17 G for long correlation length IGMF and B>1e-14 G for an IGMF of the cosmological origin. Though weaker than the one previously derived from the analysis of Fermi/LAT data, this bound is more robust, being based on a conservative intrinsic source spectrum estimate and accounting for the details of source variability in the TeV energy band. We discuss implications of this bound for cosmological magnetic fields which might explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe.

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Gamma-ray observations of MAXI J1820+070 during the 2018 outburst

MAXI J1820+070 is a low-mass X-ray binary with a black hole as a compact object. This binary underwent an exceptionally bright X-ray outburst from March to October 2018, showing evidence of a non-thermal particle population through its radio emission during this whole period. The combined results of 59.5 hours of observations of the MAXI J1820+070 outburst with the H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS experiments at energies above 200 GeV are presented, together with Fermi-LAT data between 0.1 and 500 GeV, and multiwavelength observations from radio to X-rays. Gamma-ray emission is not detected from MAXI J1820+070, but the obtained upper limits and the multiwavelength data allow us to put meaningful constraints on the source properties under reasonable assumptions regarding the non-thermal particle population and the jet synchrotron spectrum. In particular, it is possible to show that, if a high-energy gamma-ray emitting region is present during the hard state of the source, its predicted flux should be at most a factor of 20 below the obtained Fermi-LAT upper limits, and closer to them for magnetic fields significantly below equipartition. During the state transitions, under the plausible assumption that electrons are accelerated up to ~ 500 GeV, the multiwavelength data and the gamma-ray upper limits lead consistently to the conclusion that a potential high-energy and very-high-energy gamma-ray emitting region should be located at a distance from the black hole ranging between 10^11 and 10^13 cm. Similar outbursts from low-mass X-ray binaries might be detectable in the near future with upcoming instruments such as CTA.

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Investigating the blazar TXS 0506+056 through sharp multi-wavelength eyes during 2017-2019

The blazar TXS 0506+056 got into the spotlight of the astrophysical community in September 2017, when a high-energy neutrino detected by IceCube (IceCube-170922A) was associated at the 3 $σ$ level to a $γ$-ray flare from this source. This multi-messenger photon-neutrino association remains, as per today, the most significant one ever observed. TXS 0506+056 was a poorly studied object before the IceCube-170922A event. To better characterize its broad-band emission, we organized a multi-wavelength campaign lasting 16 months (November 2017 to February 2019), covering the radio-band (Metsähovi, OVRO), the optical/UV (ASAS-SN, KVA, REM, Swift/UVOT), the X-rays (Swift/XRT, NuSTAR), the high-energy $γ$ rays (Fermi/LAT) and the very-high-energy (VHE) $γ$ rays (MAGIC). In $γ$ rays, the behaviour of the source was significantly different from the 2017 one: MAGIC observations show the presence of flaring activity during December 2018, while the source only shows an excess at the 4$σ$ level during the rest of the campaign (74 hours of accumulated exposure); Fermi/LAT observations show several short (days-to-week timescale) flares, different from the long-term brightening of 2017. No significant flares are detected at lower energies. The radio light curve shows an increasing flux trend, not seen in other wavelengths. We model the multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions in a lepto-hadronic scenario, in which the hadronic emission emerges as Bethe-Heitler and pion-decay cascade in the X-rays and VHE $γ$ rays. According to the model presented here, the December 2018 $γ$-ray flare was connected to a neutrino emission that was too brief and not bright enough to be detected by current neutrino instruments.

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Combined searches for dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies observed with the MAGIC telescopes, including new data from Coma Berenices and Draco

Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are among the best candidates to search for signals of dark matter annihilation with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, given their high mass-to-light ratios and the fact that they are free of astrophysical gamma-ray emitting sources. Since 2011, MAGIC has performed a multi-year observation program in search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in dSphs. Results on the observations of Segue 1 and Ursa Major II dSphs have already been published and include some of the most stringent upper limits (ULs) on the velocity-averaged cross-section $\langle σ_{\mathrm{ann}} v \rangle$ of WIMP annihilation from observations of dSphs. In this work, we report on the analyses of 52.1 h of data of Draco dSph and 49.5 h of Coma Berenices dSph observed with the MAGIC telescopes in 2018 and in 2019 respectively. No hint of a signal has been detected from either of these targets and new constraints on the $\langle σ_{\mathrm{ann}} v \rangle$ of WIMP candidates have been derived. In order to improve the sensitivity of the search and reduce the effect of the systematic uncertainties due to the $J$-factor estimates, we have combined the data of all dSphs observed with the MAGIC telescopes. Using 354.3 h of dSphs good quality data, 95 % CL ULs on $\langle σ_{\mathrm{ann}} v \rangle$ have been obtained for 9 annihilation channels. For most of the channels, these results reach values of the order of $10^{-24} $cm$^3$/s at ${\sim}1$ TeV and are the most stringent limits obtained with the MAGIC telescopes so far.

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Multiwavelength study of the gravitationally lensed blazar QSO B0218+357 between 2016 and 2020

We report multiwavelength observations of the gravitationally lensed blazar QSO B0218+357 in 2016-2020. Optical, X-ray and GeV flares were detected. The contemporaneous MAGIC observations do not show significant very-high-energy (VHE, >= 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. The lack of enhancement in radio emission measured by OVRO indicates the multi-zone nature of the emission from this object. We constrain the VHE duty cycle of the source to be < 16 2014-like flares per year (95% confidence). For the first time for this source, a broadband low-state SED is constructed with a deep exposure up to the VHE range. A flux upper limit on the low-state VHE gamma-ray emission of an order of magnitude below that of the 2014 flare is determined. The X-ray data are used to fit the column density of (8.10 +- 0.93 stat ) x 10^21 cm^-2 of the dust in the lensing galaxy. VLBI observations show a clear radio core and jet components in both lensed images, yet no significant movement of the components is seen. The radio measurements are used to model the source-lens-observer geometry and determine the magnifications and time delays for both components. The quiescent emission is modeled with the high-energy bump explained as a combination of synchrotron-self-Compton and external Compton emission from a region located outside of the broad line region. The bulk of the low-energy emission is explained as originating from a tens-of-parsecs scale jet.

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Observation of the gamma-ray binary HESS J0632+057 with the H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS telescopes

The results of gamma-ray observations of the binary system HESS J0632+057 collected during 450 hours over 15 years, between 2004 and 2019, are presented. Data taken with the atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS at energies above 350 GeV were used together with observations at X-ray energies obtained with Swift-XRT, Chandra, XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and Suzaku. Some of these observations were accompanied by measurements of the Hα emission line. A significant detection of the modulation of the VHE gamma-ray fluxes with a period of 316.7+-4.4 days is reported, consistent with the period of 317.3+-0.7 days obtained with a refined analysis of X-ray data. The analysis of data of four orbital cycles with dense observational coverage reveals short timescale variability, with flux-decay timescales of less than 20 days at very high energies. Flux variations observed over the time scale of several years indicate orbit-to-orbit variability. The analysis confirms the previously reported correlation of X-ray and gamma-ray emission from the system at very high significance, but can not find any correlation of optical Hα parameters with X-ray or gamma-ray energy fluxes in simultaneous observations. The key finding is that the emission of HESS J0632+057 in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands is highly variable on different time scales. The ratio of gamma-ray to X-ray flux shows the equality or even dominance of the gamma-ray energy range. This wealth of new data is interpreted taking into account the insufficient knowledge of the ephemeris of the system, and discussed in the context of results reported on other gamma-ray binary systems.

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Physics Performance of the Large-Sized Telescope prototype of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Large-Sized Telescope (LST) prototype of the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is located at the Northern site of CTA, on the Canary Island of La Palma. It is designed to provide optimal performance in the lowest part of the energy range covered by CTA, observing gamma rays down to energies of tens of GeV. The LST prototype started performing astronomical observations in November 2019 during the commissioning of the telescope and it has been taking data since then. In this contribution, we will present the tuning of the characteristics of the telescope in the Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to describe the data obtained, the estimation of its angular and energy resolution, and an evaluation of its sensitivity, both with simulations and with observations of the Crab Nebula.

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Search for Very High-Energy Emission from the millisecond pulsar PSR J0218+4232

PSR J0218+4232 is one of the most energetic millisecond pulsars known and has long been considered as one of the best candidates for very high-energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. Using 11.5 years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) data between 100 MeV and 870 GeV, and ~90 hours of MAGIC observations in the 20 GeV to 20 TeV range, we have searched for the highest energy gamma-ray emission from PSR J0218+4232. Based on the analysis of the LAT data, we find evidence for pulsed emission above 25 GeV, but see no evidence for emission above 100 GeV (VHE) with MAGIC. We present the results of searches for gamma-ray emission, along with theoretical modeling, to interpret the lack of VHE emission. We conclude that, based on the experimental observations and theoretical modeling, it will remain extremely challenging to detect VHE emission from PSR J0218+4232 with the current generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), and maybe even with future ones, such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).

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Development of an advanced SiPM camera for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) have become the baseline choice for cameras of the small-sized telescopes (SSTs) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). On the other hand, SiPMs are relatively new to the field and covering large surfaces and operating at high data rates still are challenges to outperform photomultipliers (PMTs). The higher sensitivity in the near infra-red and longer signals compared to PMTs result in higher night sky background rate for SiPMs. However, the robustness of the SiPMs represents a unique opportunity to ensure long-term operation with low maintenance and better duty cycle than PMTs. The proposed camera for large size telescopes will feature $0.05 degree pixels, low power and fast front-end electronics and a fully digital readout. In this work, we present the status of dedicated simulations and data analysis for the performance estimation. The design features and the different strategies identified, so far, to tackle the demanding requirements and the improved performance are described.

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