arXiv subjects

Manuela Vecchi

Publications and source records attributed to Manuela Vecchi.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Geminga and Monogem in the CTAO Era: Probing TeV Halos and Cosmic-Ray Transport

TeV halos around Geminga and Monogem (B0656+14) reveal regions of strongly suppressed diffusion near middle-aged pulsars. Determining the sizes and magnetic-field strengths of these slow-diffusion zones is important for modelling lepton transport and assessing their contribution to the local positron excess. The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will provide arcminute-scale imaging of extended gamma-ray emission. We construct two-zone diffusion models for Geminga and Monogem with GALPROP v57, injecting electrons and positrons according to the pulsar spin-down history and following their propagation through an evolving slow-diffusion bubble and the ambient interstellar medium. Calibrating to HAWC and Fermi-LAT measurements, we forward-fold the models through official CTAO instrument response functions, including realistic diffuse and instrumental backgrounds. For 50 h observations, both halos are detected with high significance ($\sim 13$--$30,\sigma$) from either site. Under optimistic background assumptions, CTAO can distinguish changes of $\Delta\gamma_1 \simeq 0.2$ in the high-energy injection index and $\Delta B \simeq 2,\mu{\rm G}$ in magnetic-field strength. For Monogem, compact bubbles with $R_{\rm SDZ}\approx30,{\rm pc}$ can be distinguished from extended ($\gtrsim50,{\rm pc}$) cases, although very large bubbles remain degenerate because of the finite field of view. Using an alternative Galactic diffuse template in the fit changes detection significances and parameter sensitivities by $\lesssim10%$, indicating robustness against plausible diffuse-background mismodelling.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Search for dark matter around intermediate mass black holes with the H.E.S.S. experiment

Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs), with masses ranging from a hundred and a million solar masses, are hypothesised to be surrounded by dense regions of dark matter known as dark matter spikes, where the annihilation of dark matter particles could produce detectable gamma rays. The detection of dark matter annihilation around IMBHs therefore offers a promising approach for probing the nature of dark matter. In this work, we search for dark matter annihilation around IMBHs using data from the Galactic Plane Survey, the Extragalactic Survey and a selection of satellite galaxies observed by the H.E.S.S. gamma-ray experiment in Namibia. Since no evidence for a gamma-ray signal from dark matter annihilation around IMBHs has been found, we set upper limits on the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section for dark matter masses between 800 GeV and 100 TeV. Our analysis obtains limits on the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section below the thermal relic cross section for dark matter masses between 10 and 100 TeV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Feature Selection Techniques for CR Isotope Identification with the AMS-02 Experiment in Space

Isotopic composition measurements of singly charged cosmic rays (CR) provide essential insights into CR transport in the Galaxy. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) can identify singly charged isotopes up to about 10 GeV/n. However, their identification presents challenges due to the small abundance of CR deuterons compared to the proton background. In particular, a high accuracy for the velocity measured by a ring-imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) is needed to achieve a good isotopic mass separation over a wide range of energies. The velocity measurement with the RICH is particularly challenging for $Z=1$ isotopes due to the low number of photons produced in the Cherenkov rings. This faint signal is easily disrupted by noisy hits leading to a misreconstruction of the particles' ring. Hence, an efficient background reduction process is needed to ensure the quality of the reconstructed Cherenkov rings and provide a correct measurement of the particles' velocity. Machine learning methods, particularly boosted decision trees, are well suited for this task, but their performance relies on the choice of the features needed for their training phase. While physics-driven feature selection methods based on the knowledge of the detector are often used, machine learning algorithms for automated feature selection can provide a helpful alternative that optimises the classification method's performance. We compare five algorithms for selecting the feature samples for RICH background reduction, achieving the best results with the Random Forest method. We also test its performance against the physics-driven selection method, obtaining better results.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Cosmic-ray transport from AMS-02 B/C data: benchmark models and interpretation

This article aims at establishing new benchmark scenarios for Galactic cosmic-ray propagation in the GV-TV rigidity range, based on fits to the AMS-02 B/C data with the USINE v3.5 propagation code. We employ a new fitting procedure, cautiously taking into account data systematic error correlations in different rigidity bins and considering Solar modulation potential and leading nuclear cross-section as nuisance parameters. We delineate specific low, intermediate, and high-rigidity ranges that can be related to both features in the data and peculiar microphysics mechanisms resulting in spectral breaks. We single out a scenario which yields excellent fits to the data and includes all the presumably relevant complexity, the BIG model. This model has two limiting regimes: (i) the SLIM model, a minimal diffusion-only setup, and (ii) the QUAINT model, a convection-reacceleration model where transport is tuned by non-relativistic effects. All models lead to robust predictions in the high-energy regime ($\gtrsim10$GV), i.e. independent of the propagation scenario: at $1σ$, the diffusion slope $δ$ is $[0.43-0.53]$, whereas $K_{10}$, the diffusion coefficient at 10GV, is $[0.26-0.36]$kpc$^2$Myr$^{-1}$; we confirm the robustness of the high-energy break, with a typical value $Δ_h\sim 0.2$. We also find a hint for a similar (reversed) feature at low rigidity around the B/C peak ($\sim 4$GV) which might be related to some effective damping scale in the magnetic turbulence.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Spectral features in galactic cosmic rays

Recent results by space borne experiments took cosmic ray data to a precision level. These new results are able to challenge the conventional scenario for cosmic ray acceleration and propagation in the Milky Way. In these contributions, written for the XVII Vulcano Workshop, we will give an overview of the latest results of the cosmic ray fluxes, and some possible interpretations will be discussed. These measurements have a common feature, namely the presence of unexpected and still not yet fully understood spectral features.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Indications for a high-rigidity break in the cosmic-ray diffusion coefficient

Using cosmic-ray boron to carbon ratio (B/C) data recently released by the AMS-02 experiment, we find tantalizing indications ({\it decisive evidence}, in Bayesian terms) in favor of a diffusive origin for the broken power-law spectra found in protons ($p$) and helium nuclei (He). The result is robust with respect to currently estimated uncertainties in the cross sections, and in the presence of a small component of primary boron, expected because of spallation at the acceleration site. Reduced errors at high energy as well as further cosmic ray nuclei data (as absolute spectra of C, N, O, Li, Be) may definitively confirm this scenario.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Precision measurement of the (e$^+$ + e$^-$) flux in primary cosmic rays from 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

We present a precise measurement of the combined electron plus positron flux from 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV, based on the analysis of the data collected by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer during the first 30 months of operations aboard the International Space Station. The statistics and the high resolution of AMS-02 detector provide a precise measurement of the flux. The flux is smooth and reveals new and distinct information. Above 30.2 GeV, the combined electron plus positron flux can be described accurately by a single power law.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

ANTARES: Status, first results and multi-messenger astronomy

The ANTARES Collaboration has completed in 2008 the deployment of what is currently the largest high energy neutrino detector in the Northern hemisphere. The search for cosmic neutrinos in the energy range between tens of GeV and tens of PeV is performed by means of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), arranged on 12 vertical structures (strings) located in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of about 2500 meters. The detection principle relies on the identification of the Cherenkov light produced as ultra-relativistic muons propagate in water. The main goal of the detector is the search for point-like sources of cosmic neutrinos from both Galactic and extra-Galactic sources. Besides the search for point sources, other analysis topics are strongly pursued and will be described in the following.

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