arXiv subjects

M. Boettcher

Publications and source records attributed to M. Boettcher.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

A very-high-energy component deep in the Gamma-ray Burst afterglow

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are brief flashes of gamma rays, considered to be the most energetic explosive phenomena in the Universe. The emission from GRBs comprises a short (typically tens of seconds) and bright prompt emission, followed by a much longer afterglow phase. During the afterglow phase, the shocked outflow -- produced by the interaction between the ejected matter and the circumburst medium -- slows down, and a gradual decrease in brightness is observed. GRBs typically emit most of their energy via gamma-rays with energies in the kiloelectronvolt-to-megaelectronvolt range, but a few photons with energies of tens of gigaelectronvolts have been detected by space-based instruments. However, the origins of such high-energy (above one gigaelectronvolt) photons and the presence of very-high-energy (more than 100 gigaelectronvolts) emission have remained elussive. Here we report observations of very-high-energy emission in the bright GRB 180720B deep in the GRB afterglow -ten hours after the end of the prompt emission phase, when the X-ray flux had already decayed by four orders of magnitude. Two possible explanations exist for the observed radiation: inverse Compton emission and synchrotron emission of ultrarelativistic electrons. Our observations show that the energy fluxes in the X-ray and gamma-ray range and their photon indices remain comparable to each other throughout the afterglow. This discovery places distinct constraints on the GRB environment for both emission mechanisms, with the inverse Compton explanation alleviating the particle energy requirements for the emission observed at late times. The late timing of this detection has consequences for the future observations of GRBs at the highest energies.

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arXiv2019

H.E.S.S. observations of the flaring gravitationally lensed galaxy PKS 1830-211

PKS 1830-211 is a known macrolensed quasar located at a redshift of z=2.5. Its high-energy gamma-ray emission has been detected with the Fermi-LAT instrument and evidence for lensing was obtained by several authors from its high-energy data. Observations of PKS 1830-211 were taken with the H.E.S.S. array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes in August 2014, following a flare alert by the Fermi- LAT collaboration. The H.E.S.S observations were aimed at detecting a gamma-ray flare delayed by 20-27 days from the alert flare, as expected from observations at other wavelengths. More than twelve hours of good quality data were taken with an analysis threshold of $\sim67$ GeV. The significance of a potential signal is computed as a function of the date as well as the average significance over the whole period. Data are compared to simultaneous observations by Fermi-LAT. No photon excess or significant signal is detected. An upper limit on PKS 1830-211 flux above 67 GeV is computed and compared to the extrapolation of the Fermi-LAT flare spectrum.

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arXiv2018

Science with e-ASTROGAM (A space mission for MeV-GeV gamma-ray astrophysics)

e-ASTROGAM (enhanced ASTROGAM) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV - the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and LISA.

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arXiv2016

RoboPol: The optical polarization of gamma-ray--loud and gamma-ray--quiet blazars

We present average R-band optopolarimetric data, as well as variability parameters, from the first and second RoboPol observing season. We investigate whether gamma- ray--loud and gamma-ray--quiet blazars exhibit systematic differences in their optical polarization properties. We find that gamma-ray--loud blazars have a systematically higher polarization fraction (0.092) than gamma-ray--quiet blazars (0.031), with the hypothesis of the two samples being drawn from the same distribution of polarization fractions being rejected at the 3σ level. We have not found any evidence that this discrepancy is related to differences in the redshift distribution, rest-frame R-band lu- minosity density, or the source classification. The median polarization fraction versus synchrotron-peak-frequency plot shows an envelope implying that high synchrotron- peaked sources have a smaller range of median polarization fractions concentrated around lower values. Our gamma-ray--quiet sources show similar median polarization fractions although they are all low synchrotron-peaked. We also find that the random- ness of the polarization angle depends on the synchrotron peak frequency. For high synchrotron-peaked sources it tends to concentrate around preferred directions while for low synchrotron-peaked sources it is more variable and less likely to have a pre- ferred direction. We propose a scenario which mediates efficient particle acceleration in shocks and increases the helical B-field component immediately downstream of the shock.

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arXiv2016

Discovery of Very High Energy Gamma Rays from 1ES 1440+122

The BL Lacertae object 1ES 1440+122 was observed in the energy range from 85 GeV to 30 TeV by the VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The observations, taken between 2008 May and 2010 June and totalling 53 hours, resulted in the discovery of $γ$-ray emission from the blazar, which has a redshift $z$=0.163. 1ES 1440+122 is detected at a statistical significance of 5.5 standard deviations above the background with an integral flux of (2.8$\pm0.7_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm0.8_{\mathrm{sys}}$) $\times$ 10$^{-12}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (1.2\% of the Crab Nebula's flux) above 200 GeV. The measured spectrum is described well by a power law from 0.2 TeV to 1.3 TeV with a photon index of 3.1 $\pm$ 0.4$_{\mathrm{stat}}$ $\pm$ 0.2$_{\mathrm{sys}}$. Quasi-simultaneous multi-wavelength data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (0.3--300 GeV) and the Swift X-ray Telescope (0.2--10 keV) are additionally used to model the properties of the emission region. A synchrotron self-Compton model produces a good representation of the multi-wavelength data. Adding an external-Compton or a hadronic component also adequately describes the data.

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arXiv2015

VHE observations of the gamma-ray binary system LS 5039 with H.E.S.S

LS 5039 is a gamma-ray binary system observed in a broad energy range, from radio to TeV energies. The binary system exhibits both flux and spectral modulation as a function of its orbital period. The X-ray and very-high-energy (VHE, E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray fluxes display a maximum/minimum at inferior/superior conjunction, with spectra becoming respectively harder/softer, a behaviour that is completely reversed in the high-energy domain (HE, 0.1 < E < 100 GeV). The HE spectrum cuts off at a few GeV, with a new hard component emerging at E > 10 GeV that is compatible with the low-energy tail of the TeV emission. The low 10 - 100 GeV flux, however, makes the HE and VHE components difficult to reconcile with a scenario including emission from only a single particle population. We report on new observations of LS 5039 conducted with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes from 2006 to 2015. This new data set enables for an unprecedentedly-deep phase-folded coverage of the source at TeV energies, as well as an extension of the VHE spectral range down to ~120 GeV, which makes LS 5039 the first gamma-ray binary system in which a spectral overlap between satellite and ground-based gamma-ray observatories is obtained.

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arXiv2015

Short Timescale Photometric and Polarimetric Behavior of two BL Lacertae Type Objects

Blazars are astrophysical sources whose emission is dominated by non-thermal processes, typically interpreted as synchrotron and inverse Compton emission. Although the general picture is rather robust and consistent with observations, many aspects are still unexplored. Polarimetric monitoring can offer a wealth of information about the physical processes in blazars. Models with largely different physical ingredients can often provide almost indistinguishable predictions for the total flux, but usually are characterized by markedly different polarization properties. We explore, with a pilot study, the possibility to derive structural information about the emitting regions of blazars by means of a joint analysis of rapid variability of the total and polarized flux at optical wavelengths. Short timescale (from tens of seconds to a couple of minutes) optical linear polarimetry and photometry for two blazars, BL Lacertae and PKS 1424+240, was carried out with the PAOLO polarimeter at the 3.6m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. Several hours of almost continuous observations were obtained for both sources. Our intense monitoring allowed us to draw strongly different scenarios for BL Lacertae and PKS 1424+240, with the former characterized by intense variability on time-scales from hours to a few minutes and the latter practically constant in total flux. Essentially the same behavior is observed for the polarized flux and the position angle. The variability time-scales turned out to be as short as a few minutes, although involving only a few percent variation of the flux. The polarization variability time-scale is generally consistent with the total flux variability. Total and polarized flux appear to be essentially uncorrelated. However, even during our relatively short monitoring, different regimes can be singled out. (abridged)

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arXiv2013

Multiwavelength observations and modeling of 1ES 1959+650 in a low flux state

We report on the VERITAS observations of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650 in the period 2007-2011. This source is detected at TeV energies by VERITAS at 16.4 standard deviation (sigma) significance in 7.6 hours of observation in a low flux state. A multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) is constructed from contemporaneous data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE PCA, and Swift UVOT. Swift XRT data is not included in the SED due to a lack of simultaneous observations with VERITAS. In contrast to the orphan gamma-ray flare exhibited by this source in 2002, the X-ray flux of the source is found to vary by an order of magnitude, while other energy regimes exhibit less variable emission. A quasi-equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton model with an additional external radiation field is used to describe three SEDs corresponding to the lowest, highest, and average X-ray states. The variation in the X-ray spectrum is modeled by changing the electron injection spectral index, with minor adjustments of the kinetic luminosity in electrons. This scenario produces small-scale flux variability of order >~2 in the HE (E>1 MeV) and VHE (E>100 GeV) gamma-ray regimes, which is corroborated by the Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and Whipple 10m telescope light curves.

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arXiv2013

Leptonic and Hadronic Modeling of Fermi-Detected Blazars

We describe new implementations of leptonic and hadronic models for the broadband emission from relativistic jets in AGN in a temporary steady state. For the leptonic model, a temporary equilibrium between particle injection/acceleration, radiative cooling, and escape from a spherical emission region is evaluated, and the self-consistent radiative output is calculated. For the hadronic model, a temporary equilibrium between particle injection/acceleration, radiative and adiabatic cooling, and escape is evaluated for both primary electrons and protons. A new, semi-analytical method to evaluate the radiative output from cascades initiated by internal gamma-gamma pair production is presented. We use our codes to fit snap-shot spectral energy distributions of a representative set of Fermi-LAT detected blazars. We find that the leptonic model provides acceptable fits to the SEDs of almost all blazars with parameters close to equipartition between the magnetic field and the relativistic electron population. However, the hard gamma-ray spectrum of AO 0235+164, in contrast to the very steep IR-optical-UV continuum, poses a severe problem for the leptonic model. If charge neutrality in leptonic models is provided by cold protons, the kinetic energy carried by the jet should be dominated by protons. We find satisfactory representations of the snapshot SEDs of most blazars in our sample with the hadronic model presented here. However, in the case of two quasars the characteristic break at a few GeV energies can not be well modelled. All of our hadronic model fits require powers in relativistic protons in the range L_p ~ 1e47 - 1e49 erg/s.

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arXiv2013

Gamma-Ray Observational Properties of TeV-Detected Blazars

The synergy between the Fermi-LAT and ground-based Cherenkov telescope arrays gives us the opportunity for the first time to characterize the high-energy emission from blazars over 5 decades in energy, from 100 MeV to 10 TeV. In this study, we perform a Fermi-LAT spectral analysis for TeV-detected blazars and combine it with archival TeV data. We examine the observational properties in the gamma-ray band of our sample of TeV-detected blazars and compare the results with X-ray and GeV-selected populations. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that result from combining Fermi-LAT and ground-based spectra are studied in detail. Simple parameterizations such as a power-law function do not always reproduce the high-energy SEDs, where spectral features that could indicate intrinsic absorption are observed.

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arXiv2013

Rapid Variability: What do we learn from correlated mm-/gamma-ray variability in jets ?

Densely time sampled multi-frequency flux measurements of the extreme BL Lac object S5 0716+714 over the past three years allow us to study its broad-band variability, and the detailed underlying physics, with emphasis on the location and size of the emitting regions and the evolution with time. We study the characteristics of some prominent mm-/gamma-ray flares in the context of the shock-in-jet model and investigate the location of the high energy emission region. The rapid rise and decay of the radio flares is in agreement with the formation of a shock and its evolution, if a geometrical variation is included in addition to intrinsic variations of the source. We find evidence for a correlation between flux variations at gamma-ray and radio frequencies. A two month time-delay between gamma-ray and radio flares indicates a non-cospatial origin of gamma-rays and radio flux variations in S5 0716+714.

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arXiv2013

Radio to gamma-ray variability study of blazar S5 0716+714

We present the results of a series of radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray observations of the BL Lac object S50716+714 carried out between April 2007 and January 2011. The multi-frequency observations were obtained using several ground and space based facilities. The intense optical monitoring of the source reveals faster repetitive variations superimposed on a long-term variability trend at a time scale of ~350 days. Episodes of fast variability recur on time scales of ~ 60-70 days. The intense and simultaneous activity at optical and gamma-ray frequencies favors the SSC mechanism for the production of the high-energy emission. Two major low-peaking radio flares were observed during this high optical/gamma-ray activity period. The radio flares are characterized by a rising and a decaying stage and are in agreement with the formation of a shock and its evolution. We found that the evolution of the radio flares requires a geometrical variation in addition to intrinsic variations of the source. Different estimates yield a robust and self-consistent lower limits of δ> 20 and equipartition magnetic field B_eq > 0.36 G. Causality arguments constrain the size of emission region θ< 0.004 mas. We found a significant correlation between flux variations at radio frequencies with those at optical and gamma-rays. The optical/GeV flux variations lead the radio variability by ~65 days. The longer time delays between low-peaking radio outbursts and optical flares imply that optical flares are the precursors of radio ones. An orphan X-ray flare challenges the simple, one-zone emission models, rendering them too simple. Here we also describe the spectral energy distribution modeling of the source from simultaneous data taken through different activity periods.

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arXiv2012

Studies of active galactic nuclei with CTA

In this paper, we review the prospects for studies of active galactic nuclei (AGN) using the envisioned future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). This review focuses on jetted AGN, which constitute the vast majority of AGN detected at gamma-ray energies. Future progress will be driven by the planned lower energy threshold for very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray detections to ~10 GeV and improved flux sensitivity compared to current-generation Cherenkov Telescope facilities. We argue that CTA will enable substantial progress on gamma-ray population studies by deepening existing surveys both through increased flux sensitivity and by improving the chances of detecting a larger number of low-frequency peaked blazars because of the lower energy threshold. More detailed studies of the VHE gamma-ray spectral shape and variability might furthermore yield insight into unsolved questions concerning jet formation and composition, the acceleration of particles within relativistic jets, and the microphysics of the radiation mechanisms leading to the observable high-energy emission. The broad energy range covered by CTA includes energies where gamma-rays are unaffected from absorption while propagating in the extragalactic background light (EBL), and extends to an energy regime where VHE spectra are strongly distorted. This will help to reduce systematic effects in the spectra from different instruments, leading to a more reliable EBL determination, and hence will make it possible to constrain blazar models up to the highest energies with less ambiguity.

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arXiv2012

Discovery of High-energy and Very High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from the Blazar RBS 0413

We report on the discovery of high-energy (HE; E > 0.1 GeV) and very high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the high-frequency-peaked BL Lac object RBS 0413. VERITAS, a ground-based gamma-ray observatory, detected VHE gamma rays from RBS 0413 with a statistical significance of 5.5 standard deviations (sigma) and a gamma-ray flux of (1.5 \pm 0.6stat \pm 0.7syst) \times 10^(-8) photons m^(-2) s^(-1) (\sim 1% of the Crab Nebula flux) above 250 GeV. The observed spectrum can be described by a power law with a photon index of 3.18 \pm 0.68stat \pm 0.30syst. Contemporaneous observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected HE gamma rays from RBS 0413 with a statistical significance of more than 9 sigma, a power-law photon index of 1.57 \pm 0.12stat +0.11sys -0.12sys and a gamma-ray flux between 300 MeV and 300 GeV of (1.64 \pm 0.43stat +0.31sys -0.22sys) \times 10^(-5) photons m^(-2) s^(-1). We present the results from Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, including a spectral energy distribution modeling of the gamma-ray, quasi-simultaneous X-ray (Swift-XRT), ultraviolet (Swift-UVOT) and R-band optical (MDM) data. We find that, if conditions close to equipartition are required, both the combined synchrotron self-Compton/external-Compton and the lepto-hadronic models are preferred over a pure synchrotron self-Compton model.

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arXiv2011

Radio-loud AGN contribution to the Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background

Origin of extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB) is still a matter of debate. EGRB can either have truly diffuse or unresolved discrete point sources origin. Majority of the Fermi and EGRET detected identified sources are blazar. So, they are expected to be a significant contributors to the EGRB. In order to estimate their contribution to the EGRB one needs to construct their luminosity functions. Here, we examine and construct the evolution and luminosity function of blazars using first LAT AGN catalog. We consider both pure luminosity and pure density evolution models for flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). We also describe the methodology to estimate the contribution from misaligned blazars to the EGRB.

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arXiv2011

GeV-TeV Blazar Population Studies

The synergy between the Fermi-LAT and ground-based Cherenkov telescope arrays gives us the opportunity for the first time to characterize the high energy emission (100 MeV - 10 TeV) from more than 30 blazars. In this study we performed a Fermi-LAT spectral analysis for all TeV-detected blazars and combined it with archival TeV spectra. Our results for low synchrotron-peaked BL Lacs (LBL) show hints of absorption features in the GeV band that could be interpreted as internal opacity at the source. We note that simple or broken power laws cannot describe all the observed GeV-TeV spectra and more complex spectral shapes seem required.

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arXiv2011

Radio-Optical-Gamma-Ray properties of MOJAVE AGN detected by Fermi/LAT

Aims. We use a sample of 83 core-dominated active galactic nuclei (AGN) selected from the MOJAVE (Monitoring of Jets in AGN with VLBA Experiments) radio-flux-limited sample and detected with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) to study the relations between non-simultaneous radio, optical, and gamma-ray measurements. Methods. We perform a multi-band statistical analysis to investigate the relations between the emissions in different bands and reproduce these relations by modeling of the spectral energy distributions of blazars. Results. There is a significant correlation between the gamma-ray luminosity and the optical nuclear and radio (15 GHz) luminosities of blazars. We report a well defined positive correlation between the gamma-ray luminosity and the radio-optical loudness for quasars and BL Lacertae type objects (BL Lacs). A strong positive correlation is found between the radio luminosity and the gamma-ray-optical loudness for quasars, while a negative correlation between the optical luminosity and the gamma-ray-radio loudness is present for BL Lacs. Modeling of these correlations with a simple leptonic jet model for blazars indicates that variations of the accretion disk luminosity (and hence the jet power) is able to reproduce the trends observed in most of the correlations. To reproduce all observed correlations, variations of several parameters, such as the accretion power, jet viewing angle, Lorentz factor, and magnetic field of the jet, are required.

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arXiv2011

Multiwavelength Observations of the Gamma-Ray Blazar PKS 0528+134 in Quiescence

We present multiwavelength observations of the ultraluminous blazar-type radio loud quasar PKS 0528+134 in quiescence during the period July to December 2009. Significant flux variability on a time scale of several hours was found in the optical regime, accompanied by a weak trend of spectral softening with increasing flux. We suggest that this might be the signature of a contribution from the accretion disk at the blue end of the optical spectrum. The optical flux is weakly polarized with rapid variations of the degree and direction of polarization, while the polarization of the 43 GHz radio core remains steady. Optical spectropolarimetry suggests a trend of increasing degree of polarization with increasing wavelength, providing additional evidence for an accretion disc contribution towards the blue end of the optical spectrum. We constructed four SEDs indicating that even in the quiescent state, the bolometric luminosity of PKS 0528+134 is dominated by its gamma-ray emission. A leptonic single-zone jet model produced acceptable fits to the SEDs with contributions to the high-energy emission from synchrotron self-Compton radiation and Comptonization of direct accretion disk emission. Fit parameters close to equipartition were obtained. The moderate variability on long time scales implies the existence of on-going particle acceleration, while the observed optical polarization variability seems to point towards a turbulent acceleration process. Turbulent particle acceleration at stationary features along the jet therefore appears to be a viable possibility for the quiescent state of PKS 0528+134.

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