arXiv subjects

Martina Cardillo

Publications and source records attributed to Martina Cardillo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Missing MeV Window for Identifying Galactic PeVatrons: the need for a dedicated MeV Observatory

The identification of the sources responsible for accelerating Galactic cosmic-rays up to PeV energies remains a major open question in high-energy astrophysics. Recent observations by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) have revealed a growing population of Galactic PeVatron candidates. However, the detection of TeV-PeV gamma-rays alone does not uniquely identify the nature of the emitting particles. In many cases, both hadronic and leptonic scenarios can reproduce the observed very-high-energy emission, leaving the origin of the radiation unresolved. The most robust and least model-dependent electromagnetic tracer of hadronic acceleration is provided by neutral-pion decay, which produces the characteristic pion bump in the 10-100 MeV energy range. Observations in this energy band are therefore essential to establish whether candidate PeVatrons are accelerating protons and nuclei and, consequently, to assess their role in the origin of Galactic cosmic-rays. More broadly, the MeV domain addresses key astrophysical questions, but remains one of the least explored regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. As current and future VHE facilities expand the Galactic PeVatron census, the lack of MeV observations is becoming a major limitation for source identification. We discuss the astrophysical science drivers and observational requirements for a dedicated MeV gamma-ray capability optimized for pion-bump studies. We explore the concept of a compact, focused, and potentially fast-track mission capable of filling the impending MeV observational gap while more ambitious next-generation MeV facilities are developed and evaluated. Such a mission would provide the missing diagnostic needed to distinguish hadronic and leptonic emission, identify Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators, and fully exploit the scientific return of the emerging generation of TeV observatories.

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arXiv2026

EXPO: a quantum leap in fast, wide-band X-ray polarimetry for astrophysics

The Enhanced X-ray Polarimetry Observatory (EXPO) is a mission concept proposed to ESA as an M8 candidate, with a prospective launch in 2041. Building on the scientific success of IXPE, EXPO is designed to overcome its two main limitations, the narrow 2-8 keV energy band and the very slow repointing time, and to enable new scientific capabilities. A wide energy band and fast repointing are essential for investigating the hard X-ray emission of magnetars and black-hole binaries, particle acceleration in supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae, radiative transfer in highly magnetized plasmas, X-ray reflection in accretion flows and active galactic nuclei, and the prompt and afterglow emission of gamma-ray bursts and magnetar flares. EXPO comprises five focusing X-ray telescopes and gas photoelectric polarimeters based on the Timepix ASIC family with InGrid amplification, enabling three-dimensional track imaging and operation in the 2-35 keV band through optimized low- and medium-energy detector configurations. The mirror modules use proven electroformed nickel technology with Au-C coatings and an XMM-like focal length of 7.5 m. The polarimeters are complemented by a coded-mask Wide Field Instrument (WFI), derived from SVOM/ECLAIRs for continuous monitoring of a 2 sr field of view; a Spectral Imaging Camera (SIC), based on stacked CMOS and CdTe detectors for broadband imaging spectroscopy and accurate spectro-polarimetric decomposition; and an Instrument Control Unit (ICU) for payload management, onboard WFI image reconstruction, transient identification, and autonomous spacecraft repointing requests. These capabilities extend X-ray polarimetry into the hard X-ray domain and open a new observational window on fast transients, time-domain astrophysics, and multi-messenger astronomy.

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arXiv2026

Gamma-ray emission from particle illumination and shock-cloud interaction in the W51 Complex

In the current era of very-high-energy (VHE) and ultra-high-energy (UHE) $\gamma$-ray astronomy, understanding Galactic PeVatrons and their acceleration mechanisms remains a primary objective. Recent LHAASO observations of the W51 Complex make it an ideal laboratory for investigating the origin of UHE emission, particularly due to the presence of massive and dense molecular environment surrounding multiple potential particle accelerators. In this work, we study two hadronic scenarios for the W51 Complex. First, we model the direct interaction between the SNR W51C and the nearby clouds in W51B, incorporating fresh particle acceleration, shock-driven adiabatic compression, and reacceleration of permeating Galactic cosmic rays. Second, we explore an accelerator-independent illumination scenario in which the W51B cloud acts as a long-term confinement region for high-energy particles injected during an earlier epoch. We find that the direct shock-cloud interaction scenario successfully reproduces the GeV emission observed by Fermi-LAT, but fails to account for the UHE emission detected by LHAASO. In contrast, the illumination scenario naturally explains the UHE spectrum, indicating that dense molecular clouds can efficiently confine and sustain energetic hadronic populations over long timescales. Although the inferred injection history is compatible with a young SNR origin, the source-independent nature of the illumination framework also permits other accelerators within the W51 Complex. Our results therefore identify dense molecular environments as the key structures sustaining historical PeVatron activity and shaping the observed UHE $\gamma$-ray emission.

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arXiv2026

The Origin of Multi-TeV Gamma-rays in LHAASO J0341+5258 via Cosmic Ray Illumination of Molecular Clouds

We investigate the origin of the ultra-high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) from the source LHAASO J0341+5258, which has not yet been associated with any known astrophysical object within the detector's field of view. The observed UHE emission is modelled within two independent frameworks: initially with a time-dependent, source-independent hadronic scenario implemented with the numerical package GAMERA, where particles propagate through the interstellar medium and subsequently interact with the molecular gas observed in the region and finally with an analytical description of the interaction between the accelerated cosmic-ray population from a supernova remnant (SNR) and the molecular gas around it. The relevant parameter space for the hypothetical past SNR is explored using the observed TeV $\gamma$-rays. We show that, for physically plausible source-cloud separations and propagation timescales, GAMERA provides a first-order approximation to the spectral modifications induced by particle transport and yields an adequate fit to the ultra-high-energy $\gamma$-ray data. Within the framework of our analytical approach, we demonstrated that the observed GeV emission can plausibly originate from the SNR itself, while the TeV emission detected by LHAASO can be consistently interpreted as arising from particles that have escaped from the SNR and are illuminating nearby molecular clouds. We invoke a spatio-temporally evolved SNR-molecular cloud interaction scenario to account self-consistently for the entire $\gamma$-ray spectrum from GeV to TeV energies. Despite the remaining uncertainty regarding the nature of the acceleration source, we conclude that the TeV emission detected by LHAASO can be consistently interpreted within the framework of an illumination scenario.

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arXiv2025

Studying SNR-MC interactions as galactic PeVatrons in the era of CTAO and ASTRI Mini-Array

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are widely recognized as key accelerators of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs), supported by the detection of the characteristic pion bump in the gamma-ray spectra of several SNRs. However, the recent observation of ultra-high-energy (UHE, greater than 100 TeV) gamma-rays by LHAASO from sources such as W51 region challenges standard models, which predict CR acceleration up to PeV energies only during the early (~ 100 year) phase of SNR evolution. Given the older age of known SNRs, alternative mechanisms - such as the interaction of runaway CRs with nearby molecular clouds (MCs) - have been proposed to explain the persistent UHE emission. In this study, we focus on the W51 complex, particularly the W51C-B region, as a promising site for investigating SNR-MC interactions. Simulated observations with the CTAO and the ASTRI Mini-Array are presented to demonstrate their crucial role in bridging the energy gap between Fermi-LAT and LHAASO, especially in the 0.3-100 TeV range. Their improved angular resolution will also help disentangle emission components from the interaction zone and nearby sources. Our theoretical modelling suggests that accelerated particles at the shock can account for the radio and GeV data, while UHE emission could be best explained by the combined contribution from both acceleration and adiabatic compression of cloud material at the SNR-MC interface.

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arXiv2024

Discovery of a shock-compressed magnetic field in the north-western rim of the young supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 with X-ray polarimetry

Supernova remnants (SNRs) provide insights into cosmic-ray acceleration and magnetic field dynamics at shock fronts. Recent X-ray polarimetric measurements by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) have revealed radial magnetic fields near particle acceleration sites in young SNRs, including Cassiopeia A, Tycho, and SN 1006. We present here the spatially-resolved IXPE X-ray polarimetric observation of the northwestern rim of SNR RX J1713.7-3946. For the first time, our analysis shows that the magnetic field in particle acceleration sites of this SNR is oriented tangentially with respect to the shock front. Because of the lack of precise Faraday-rotation measurements in the radio band, this was not possible before. The average measured polarization degree (PD) of the synchtrotron emission is 12.5 {\pm} 3.3%, lower than the one measured by IXPE in SN 1006, comparable to the Tycho one, but notably higher than the one in Cassiopeia A. On sub-parsec scales, localized patches within RX J1713.7-3946 display PD up to 41.5 {\pm} 9.5%. These results are compatible with a shock-compressed magnetic field. However, in order to explain the observed PD, either the presence of a radial net magnetic field upstream of the shock, or partial reisotropization of the turbulence downstream by radial magneto-hydrodynamical instabilities, can be invoked. From comparison of PD and magnetic field distribution with γ-rays and 12 CO data, our results provide new inputs in favor of a leptonic origin of the γ-ray emission.

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arXiv2024

Gamma-rays and Neutrinos from Giant Molecular Cloud Populations in the Galactic Plane

The recent IceCube detection of significant neutrino flux from the inner Galactic plane has provided us valuable insights on the spectrum of cosmic rays in our Galaxy. This flux can be produced either by a population of Galactic point sources or by diffused emission from cosmic ray interactions with the interstellar medium or by a mixture of both. In this work, we compute diffused gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes produced by a population of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our Galaxy, assuming different parametrizations of the Galactic diffused cosmic ray distribution. In particular, we take into account two main cases: (I) constant cosmic ray luminosity in our Galaxy, and (II) space-dependent cosmic ray luminosity, based on the supernovae distribution in our Galaxy. For Case-I, we found that the neutrino flux from GMCs is a factor of $\sim 10$ below compared to $π^0$ and KRA$_γ$ best-fitted models of IceCube observations at $10^5$ GeV. Instead, for Case-II the model can explain up to $\sim 90 \%$ of the neutrino flux at that energy. Moreover, for this last scenario IceCube detector could be able to detect neutrino events from the Galactic centre regions. We then calculated gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes from individual GMCs and noticed that several current and future Cherenkov telescopes and neutrino observatories have the right sensitivities to study these objects. In particular, very neutrino-bright region such as Aquila Rift is favourable for detection by the IceCube-Gen2 observatory.

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arXiv2024

Supernova Remnants in Gamma Rays

In the 1960s, the remnants of supernova explosions (SNRs) were indicated as a possible source of galactic cosmic rays through the Diffusive Shock Acceleration (DSA) mechanism. Since then, the observation of gamma-ray emission from relativistic ions in these objects has been one of the main goals of high-energy astrophysics. A few dozen SNRs have been detected at GeV and TeV photon energies in the last two decades. However, these observations have shown a complex phenomenology that is not easy to reduce to the standard paradigm based on DSA acceleration. Although the understanding of these objects has greatly increased, and their nature as efficient electron and proton accelerators has been observed, it remains to be clarified whether these objects are the main contributors to galactic cosmic rays. Here, we review the observations of γ-ray emission from SNRs and the perspectives for the future.

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arXiv2023

Interpreting the GeV-TeV Gamma-Ray Spectra of Local Giant Molecular Clouds using GEANT4 Simulation

Recently, the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray satellite has detected six Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) located in the Gould Belt and the Aquila Rift regions. In half of these objects (Taurus, Orion A, Orion B), the observed gamma-ray spectrum can be explained using the Galactic diffused Cosmic Ray (CR) interactions with the gas environments. In the remaining three GMCs (Rho Oph, Aquila Rift, Cepheus), the origin of the gamma-ray spectrum is still not well established. We use the GEometry ANd Tracking (GEANT4) simulation framework in order to simulate gamma-ray emission due to CR/GMC interaction in these three objects, taking into account the gas density distribution inside the GMCs. We find that propagation of diffused Galactic CRs inside these GMCs can explain the Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray spectra. Further, our estimated TeV-PeV fluxes are consistent with the HAWC upper limits, available for the Aquila Rift GMC. As last step, we compute the total neutrino flux estimated for these GMCs and compare it with the IceCube detection sensitivity.

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arXiv2023

The LHAASO PeVatron bright sky: what we learned

The recent detection of 12 gamma-ray Galactic sources well above E > 100 TeV by the LHAASO observatory has been a breakthrough in the context of Cosmic Ray (CR) origin search. Although most of these sources are unidentified, they are often spatially correlated with leptonic accelerators, like pulsar and pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). This dramatically affects the paradigm for which a gamma-ray detection at E > 100 TeV implies the presence of a hadronic accelerator of PeV particles (PeVatron). Moreover, the LHAASO results support the idea that sources other than the standard candidates, Supernova Remnants, can accelerate Galactic CRs. In this context, the good angular resolution of future Cherenkov telescopes, such as the ASTRI Mini-Array and CTA, and the higher sensitivity of future neutrino detectors, such as KM3NeT and IceCube-Gen2, will be of crucial importance. In this brief review, we want to summarize the efforts done up to now, from both theoretical and experimental points of view, to fully understand the LHAASO results in the context of the CR acceleration issue.

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arXiv2023

The ASTRI Mini-Array: in the search for hidden Pevatrons

Despite the enormous efforts done in very recent years, both theoretically and experimentally, the basic three questions about the cosmic rays origin remain without clear answers: what are their sources, how are they accelerated, how do they propagate? Gamma-ray astronomy plays a fundamental role in this field. Both relativistic protons and electrons can emit in the gamma-ray band through different processes, but only the detection of hadronic gamma-ray emission can probe the acceleration of cosmic rays. In particular, due to the Klein-Nishina suppression of inverse Compton emission at the highest energies, the detection of gamma-ray emission above 100 TeV was expected to provide firm proof of the acceleration of PeV hadrons. However, the recent results published by the LHAASO collaboration revealed the existence of several PeV sources likely related to PWNe, well known leptonic factories (e.g. the Crab Nebula for all). As a consequence, a gamma-ray detection at PeV energies may no longer be the final proof of hadronic acceleration. However, the limited angular resolution of LHAASO makes associations uncertain and more detailed and deeper studies are needed. In this context, the ASTRI Mini-Array, with its unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution at E>10 TeV, not only can extend the gamma-ray spectra of candidate Cosmic Ray factories but could help to distinguish emission regions from PWNe and other LHAASO sources, shedding light on the nature of the highest energy emission.

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arXiv2022

AGILE Observations of GRB 220101A: A "New Year's Burst" with an Exceptionally Huge Energy Release

We report the AGILE observations of GRB 220101A, which took place at the beginning of 1st January 2022 and was recognized as one of the most energetic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) ever detected since their discovery. The AGILE satellite acquired interesting data concerning the prompt phase of this burst, providing an overall temporal and spectral description of the event in a wide energy range, from tens of keV to tens of MeV. Dividing the prompt emission into three main intervals, we notice an interesting spectral evolution, featuring a notable hardening of the spectrum in the central part of the burst. The average fluxes encountered in the different time intervals are relatively moderate, with respect to those of other remarkable bursts, and the overall fluence exhibits a quite ordinary value among the GRBs detected by MCAL. However, GRB 220101A is the second farthest event detected by AGILE, and the burst with the highest isotropic equivalent energy of the whole MCAL GRB sample, releasing E_iso=2.54x10^54 erg and exhibiting an isotropic luminosity of L_iso=2.34x10^52 erg/s (both in the 400 keV - 10 MeV energy range). We also analyzed the first 10^6 s of the afterglow phase, using the publicly available Swift XRT data, carrying out a theoretical analysis of the afterglow, based on the forward shock model. We notice that GRB 220101A is with high probability surrounded with a wind-like density medium, and that the energy carried by the initial shock shall be a fraction of the total E_iso, presumably near 50%.

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arXiv2019

All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory: Exploring the Extreme Multimessenger Universe

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) is a probe class mission concept that will provide essential contributions to multimessenger astrophysics in the late 2020s and beyond. AMEGO combines high sensitivity in the 200 keV to 10 GeV energy range with a wide field of view, good spectral resolution, and polarization sensitivity. Therefore, AMEGO is key in the study of multimessenger astrophysical objects that have unique signatures in the gamma-ray regime, such as neutron star mergers, supernovae, and flaring active galactic nuclei. The order-of-magnitude improvement compared to previous MeV missions also enables discoveries of a wide range of phenomena whose energy output peaks in the relatively unexplored medium-energy gamma-ray band.

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arXiv2019

The Important Role of Cosmic-Ray Re-Acceleration

In the last decades, the improvement of high energy instruments has enabled a deeper understanding of the Cosmic Ray origin issue. In particular, the gamma-ray satellites AGILE (Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero) and Fermi-LAT (Fermi-Large Area Telescope) have strongly contributed to the confirmation of direct involvement of Supernova Remnants in Cosmic Ray energization. Despite several attempts to fit experimental data assuming the presence of freshly accelerated particles, the scientific community is now aware that the role of pre-existing Cosmic Ray re-acceleration cannot be neglected. In this work, we highlight the importance of pre-existing Cosmic Ray re-acceleration in the Galaxy showing its fundamental contribution in middle aged Supernova Remnant shocks and in the forward shock of stellar winds.

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arXiv2019

The Orion Region: Evidence of enhanced cosmic-ray density in a stellar wind forward shock interaction with a high density shell

Context. In recent years, an in-depth gamma-ray analysis of the Orion region has been carried out by the AGILE and Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope) teams with the aim of estimating the H2-CO conversion factor, XCO. The comparison of the data from both satellites with models of diffuse gamma-ray Galactic emission unveiled an excess at (l,b)=[213.9, -19.5], in a region at a short angular distance from the OB star k-Ori. Possible explanations of this excess are scattering of the so-called "dark gas", non-linearity in the H2-CO relation, or Cosmic-Ray (CR) energization at the k-Ori wind shock. Aims. Concerning this last hypothesis, we want to verify whether cosmic-ray acceleration or re-acceleration could be triggered at the k-Ori forward shock, which we suppose to be interacting with a star-forming shell detected in several wavebands and probably triggered by high energy particles. Methods. Starting from the AGILE spectrum of the detected gamma-ray excess, showed here for the first time, we developed a valid physical model for cosmic-ray energization, taking into account re-acceleration, acceleration, energy losses, and secondary electron contribution. Results. Despite the characteristic low velocity of an OB star forward shock during its "snowplow" expansion phase, we find that the Orion gamma-ray excess could be explained by re-acceleration of pre-existing cosmic rays in the interaction between the forward shock of k-Ori and the CO-detected, star-forming shell swept-up by the star expansion. According to our calculations, a possible contribution from freshly accelerated particles is sub-dominant with respect the re-acceleration contribution. However, a simple adiabatic compression of the shell could also explain the detected gamma-ray emission. Futher GeV and TeV observations of this region are highly recommended in order to correctly identify the real physical scenario.

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arXiv2017

The e-ASTROGAM mission (exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV-GeV range)

e-ASTROGAM (`enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory mission dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. In the largely unexplored MeV-GeV domain, 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 Galactic ecosystems. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, 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 the promise of eLISA. Keywords: High-energy gamma-ray astronomy, High-energy astrophysics, Nuclear Astrophysics, Compton and Pair creation telescope, Gamma-ray bursts, Active Galactic Nuclei, Jets, Outflows, Multiwavelength observations of the Universe, Counterparts of gravitational waves, Fermi, Dark Matter, Nucleosynthesis, Early Universe, Supernovae, Cosmic Rays, Cosmic antimatter.

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arXiv2016

The supernova remnant W44: a case of cosmic-Ray reacceleration

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are thought to be the primary sources of Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs). In the last few years, the wealth of gamma-ray data collected by GeV and TeV instruments has provided important information about particle energisation in these astrophysical sources, allowing us to make progress in assessing their role as CR accelerators. In particular, the spectrum of the gamma-ray emission detected by AGILE and Fermi-LAT from the two middle aged Supernova Remnants (SNRs) W44 and IC443, has been proposed as a proof of CR acceleration in SNRs. Here we discuss the possibility that the radio and gamma-ray spectra from W44 may be explained in terms of re-acceleration and compression of Galactic CRs. The recent measurement of the interstellar CR flux by Voyager I has been instrumental for our work, in that the result of the reprocessing of CRs by the shock in W44 depends on the CR spectrum at energies that are precluded to terrestrial measurement due to solar modulation. We introduce both CR protons and helium nuclei in our calculations, and secondary electrons produced in situ are compared with the flux of Galactic CR electrons reprocessed by the slow shock of this SNR.We find that the multi-wavelength spectrum of W44 can be explained by reaccelerated particles with no need of imposing any break on their distribution, but just a high energy cut-off at the maximum energy the accelerator can provide.We also find that a model including both re-acceleration and a very small fraction of freshly accelerated particles may be more satisfactory on physical grounds

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arXiv2015

On the cosmic ray spectrum from type II Supernovae

One of the most important challenges for the largely accepted idea that Galactic CRs are accelerated in SNR shocks is the maximum energy at which particles can be accelerated. The resonant streaming instability, long invoked for magnetic field amplification at shocks, can not provide sufficiently high fields and efficient enough scattering so as to ensure particle acceleration up to the knee. Here we discuss the non-resonant version of this instability which, with its faster growth and larger value of the amplified field, increases the achievable maximum energy. Because of their higher explosion rate, we focus on type II SNe expanding in their red supergiant wind and we find that the transition between Ejecta Dominated (ED) and Sedov-Taylor (ST) phases takes place at very early times. In this environment, the accelerated particle spectrum shows no high energy exponential cut-off but a spectral break at the maximum energy (EM). Moreover, the maximum energy of protons can easily reach PeV energies. With this model, we tried to fit KASCADE Grande and ARGO -YBJ data but failed to find a parameter combination that can explain both data sets. We discuss the different scenarios implied by the two data sets.

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