arXiv subjects

Sabrina Casanova

Publications and source records attributed to Sabrina Casanova.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) Community Science Book

The AXIS Community Science Book represents the collective effort of 592 scientists worldwide to define the transformative science enabled by the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS), a next-generation X-ray mission selected by NASA's Astrophysics Probe Program for Phase A study. AXIS will advance the legacy of high-angular-resolution X-ray astronomy with ~1.5'' imaging over a wide 24' field of view and an order of magnitude greater collecting area than Chandra in the 0.3-12 keV band. Combining sharp imaging, high throughput, and rapid response capabilities, AXIS will open new windows on virtually every aspect of modern astrophysics, exploring the birth and growth of supermassive black holes, the feedback processes that shape galaxies, the life cycles of stars and exoplanet environments, and the nature of compact stellar remnants, supernova remnants, and explosive transients. This book compiles 138 community-contributed science cases developed by five Science Working Groups focused on AGN and supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and feedback, compact objects and supernova remnants, stellar physics and exoplanets, and time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics. Together, these studies establish the scientific foundation for next-generation X-ray exploration in the 2030s and highlight strong synergies with facilities of the 2030s, such as JWST, Roman, Rubin/LSST, SKA, ALMA, ngVLA, and next-generation gravitational-wave and neutrino networks.

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arXiv2024

Detection of extended X-ray emission around the PeVatron microquasar V4641 Sgr with XRISM

A recent report on the detection of very-high-energy gamma rays from V4641 Sagittarii (V4641 Sgr) up to ~0.8 peta-electronvolt has made it the second confirmed "PeVatron" microquasar. Here we report on the observation of V4641 Sgr with X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) in September 2024. Thanks to the large field of view and low background, the CCD imager Xtend successfully detected for the first time X-ray extended emission around V4641 Sgr with a significance of > 4.5 sigma and > 10 sigma based on our imaging and spectral analysis, respectively. The spatial extent is estimated to have a radius of $7 \pm 3$ arcmin ($13 \pm 5$ pc at a distance of 6.2 kpc) assuming a Gaussian-like radial distribution, which suggests that the particle acceleration site is within ~10 pc of the microquasar. If the X-ray morphology traces the diffusion of accelerated electrons, this spatial extent can be explained by either an enhanced magnetic field (~80 uG) or a suppressed diffusion coefficient (~$10^{27}$ cm$^2$ s$^{-1}$ at 100 TeV). The integrated X-ray flux, (4-6)$\times 10^{-12}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ (2-10 keV), would require a magnetic field strength higher than the galactic mean (> 8 uG) if the diffuse X-ray emission originates from synchrotron radiation and the gamma-ray emission is predominantly hadronic. If the X-rays are of thermal origin, the measured extension, temperature, and plasma density can be explained by a jet with a luminosity of ~$2\times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$, which is comparable to the Eddington luminosity of this system.

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arXiv2024

The contribution of winds of star clusters to the Galactic cosmic-ray population

Cosmic rays are energetic nuclei that permeate the entire Galactic disk. Their existence requires the presence of powerful particle accelerators. While Galactic supernova explosions may supply the required energy, there is growing evidence that they cannot explain all of the observed properties of cosmic rays, such as their maximum particle energy and isotopic composition. Among Galactic objects, winds from stellar clusters meet the energetic requirement and provide a suitable environment for particle acceleration. The recent detection of some of these objects in gamma rays confirms that they indeed harbor high-energy particles.However, as most supernovae explode inside stellar clusters, it is difficult to distinguish the contribution of winds to particle acceleration. Here we report the detection of young star clusters in the nearby Vela molecular ridge star forming region. The young age of the systems guarantees an unbiased estimate of the stellar CR luminosity free from any supernova or pulsar contamination and allows us to draw conclusions on the acceleration efficiency and the total power supplied by these objects. We demonstrate that much more than 1% of the wind mechanical power is converted into CRs and consequently conclude that a small but non-negligible fraction ~ 1-10% of the CR population is contributed by stellar clusters.

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arXiv2024

Search for synchrotron emission from secondary electrons of proton-proton interaction in Galactic PeVatron candidate HESS J1641$-$463

HESS J1641-463 is an unidentified gamma-ray source with a hard TeV gamma-ray spectrum, and thus it has been proposed to be a possible candidate for cosmic ray (CR) accelerators up to PeV energies (a PeVatron candidate). The source spatially coincides with the radio supernova remnant (SNR) G338.5+0.1, but has not yet been fully explored in the X-ray band. We analyzed newly taken NuSTAR data, pointing at HESS J1641-463, with 82 ks effective exposure time. There is no apparent X-ray counterpart of HESS J1641-463, while nearby stellar cluster, Mercer 81, and stray-light X-rays are detected. Combined with the archival Chandra data, partially covering the source, we derived an upper limit of $\sim 6\times 10^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in 2-10 keV ($\sim 3\times 10^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in 10-20 keV). If the gamma-ray emission is originated from decay of $π^0$ mesons produced in interactions between CR protons and ambient materials, secondary electrons in the proton-proton interactions can potentially emit synchrotron photons in the X-ray band, which can be tested by our X-ray observations. Although the obtained X-ray upper limits cannot place a constraint on the primary proton spectrum, it will be possible with a future hard X-ray mission.

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arXiv2022

Limits on Leptonic TeV Emission from the Cygnus Cocoon with Swift-XRT

$γ$-ray observations of the Cygnus Cocoon, an extended source surrounding the Cygnus X star-forming region, suggest the presence of a cosmic ray accelerator reaching energies up to a few PeV. The very-high-energy (VHE; 0.1-100~TeV) $γ$-ray emission may be explained by the interaction of cosmic-ray hadrons with matter inside the Cocoon, but an origin of inverse Compton radiation by relativistic electrons cannot be ruled out. Inverse Compton $γ$-rays at VHE are accompanied by synchrotron radiation peaked in X-rays. Hence, X-ray observations may probe the electron population and magnetic field of the source. We observed eleven fields in or near the Cygnus Cocoon with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's X-Ray Telescope (Swift-XRT) totaling 110 ksec. We fit the fields to a Galactic and extra-galactic background model and performed a log-likelihood ratio test for an additional diffuse component. We found no significant additional emission and established upper limits in each field. By assuming that the X-ray intensity traces the TeV intensity and follows an $dN/dE\propto E^{-2.5}$ spectrum, we obtained a 90\% upper limit of $F_X < 8.7\times 10^{-11}\rm~erg\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}$ or $< 5.2\times 10^{-11}\rm~erg\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}$ on the X-ray flux of the entire Cygnus Cocoon between 2 and 10 keV depending on the choice of hydrogen column density model. This suggests that no more than one quarter of the $γ$-ray flux at 1 TeV is produced by inverse Compton scattering, when assuming an equipartition magnetic field of $\sim 20\,μ$G.

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arXiv2022

Detailed study of extended gamma-ray morphology in the vicinity of the Coma cluster with Fermi-LAT

Galaxy clusters can be sources of high-energy (HE) $γ$-ray radiation, due to the efficient acceleration of particles exceeding EeV energies. At present, though, the only candidate for emitting HE $γ$-rays is the Coma cluster, towards which an excess of $γ$-ray emission has been detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Using $\mathrm{\sim12.3}$ years of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data, we explored the region of the Coma cluster between energies 100 MeV and 1 TeV by detailed spectral and morphological analysis. In the region of the Coma cluster, we detected diffuse gamma-ray emission of energies between 100 MeV and 1 TeV with a 5.4$σ$ extension significance and a 68\% containment radius of $0.82^{+0.10}_{-0.05}$ degrees derived with a 2D homogeneous disk model. The corresponding gamma-ray spectrum extends up to $\sim50$ GeV, with a power-law index of $\mathrm{Γ=2.23\pm0.11}$ and flux of $\mathrm{(3.84\pm0.67)\times10^{-12}\,erg\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}}$. Using energy arguments we show that point-like sources such as radiogalaxies and star-forming galaxies are unlikely to explain the emission, and more likely, the emission is produced in the Coma cluster. Besides, we also identified three point-like sources in the region. However, due to the limited statistics of the detection, we could neither exclude nor conclude that the total extended emission is contributed to by these three-point like sources.

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arXiv2021

On particle acceleration and transport in plasmas in the Galaxy: theory and observations

Accelerated particles are ubiquitous in the Cosmos and play a fundamental role in many processes governing the evolution of the Universe at all scales, from the sub-AU ones relevant for the formation and evolution of stars and planets to the Mpc ones involved in Galaxy assembly. We reveal the presence of energetic particles in many classes of astrophysical sources thanks to their production of non-thermal radiation, and we detect them directly at Earth as Cosmic Rays. In the last two decades both direct and indirect observations have provided us a wealth of new, high quality data about Cosmic Rays and their interactions both in sources and during propagation, in the Galaxy and in the solar system. Some of the new data have confirmed existing theories about particle acceleration and propagation and their interplay with the environment in which they occur. Some others have brought about interesting surprises, whose interpretation is not straightforward within the standard framework and may require a change of paradigm in terms of our ideas about the origin of cosmic rays of different species or in different energy ranges. In this article, we will focus on Cosmic Rays of galactic origin, namely with energies below a few PeV, where a steepening is observed in the spectrum of energetic particles detected at the Earth. We review the recent observational findings and the current status of the theory about the origin and propagation of Galactic Cosmic Rays.

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arXiv2021

Probing the Cosmic Ray density in the inner Galaxy

The galactic diffuse $γ$-ray emission, as seen by Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), shows a sharp peak in the region around 4 kpc from the Galactic center, which can be interpreted either as due to an enhanced density of cosmic-ray accelerators or to a modification of the particle diffusion in that region. Observations of $γ$-rays originating in molecular clouds are a unique tool to infer the cosmic-ray density point by point, in distant regions of the Galaxy. We report here the analysis of 11 yr Fermi-LAT data, obtained in the direction of nine molecular clouds located in the 1.5--4.5 kpc region. The cosmic-ray density measured at the locations of these clouds is compatible with the locally measured one. We demonstrate that the cosmic-ray density gradient inferred from the diffuse gamma-ray emission is the result of the presence of cosmic-ray accelerators rather than a global change of the sea of Galactic cosmic rays due to their propagation.

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arXiv2020

Evidence of Cosmic-Ray Excess from Local Giant Molecular Clouds

We report the analysis of the Fermi-Large Area Telescope data from six nearby giant molecular clouds (MCs) belonging to the Gould Belt and the Aquila Rift regions. The high statistical γ-ray spectra above 3 GeV well described by power laws make it possible to derive precise estimates of the cosmic-ray (CR) distribution in the MCs. The comparison of γ-ray spectra of Taurus, Orion A, and Orion B clouds with the model expected from Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) CR measurements confirms these clouds as passive clouds, immersed in an AMS-02-like CR spectrum. A similar comparison of Aquila Rift, Rho Oph, and Cepheus spectra yields significant deviation in both spectral indices and absolute fluxes, which can imply an additional acceleration of CRs throughout the entire clouds. Besides, the theoretical modeling of the excess γ-ray spectrum of these clouds, assuming π0-decay interaction of CRs in the cloud, gives a considerable amount of an enhanced CR energy density and it shows a significant deviation in spectral shapes compared to the average AMS-02 CR spectrum between 30 GeV and 10 TeV. We suggest that this variation in the CR spectrum of Cepheus could be accounted for by an efficient acceleration in the shocks of winds of OB associations, while in Rho Oph, similar acceleration can be provided by multiple T-Tauri stars populated in the whole cloud. In the case of Aquila Rift, the excess in absolute CR flux could be related to an additional acceleration of CRs by supernova remnants or propagation effects in the cloud.

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arXiv2020

On the gamma-ray emission of W44 and its surroundings

We present the analysis of 9.7 years Fermi-LAT data of the middle-aged supernova remnant W44 and the massive molecular gas complex that surrounds it. We derived a high-quality spectral energy distribution of gamma-radiation of the shell over three decades. The very hard spectrum below 1 GeV supports the earlier claims regarding the hadronic origin of radiation. We also confirm the presence of two extended $γ$-ray structures located at two opposite edges of the remnant along its major axis. Based on the high-resolution gas maps, we demonstrate that the gamma-ray structures are caused by the enhanced cosmic-ray density rather than the gradient of the gas distribution. We argue that the revealed cosmic-ray "clouds" suggest an anisotropic character of the escape of high-energy particles from the shell along the magnetic field of the remnant.

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arXiv2019

Probing the "Sea" of Galactic Cosmic Rays with Fermi-LAT

High energy $γ$ rays from Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) carry direct information about the spatial and energy distributions of Galactic Cosmic Rays (CRs). The recently released catalogs of GMCs contain sufficiently massive clouds to be used as barometers for probing, through their $γ$-ray emission, the density of CRs throughout the Galactic Disk. Based on the data of \fermi{}, we report the discovery of $γ$-ray signals from nineteen GMCs located at distances up to 12.5 kpc. The galactocentric radial distribution of the CR density derived from the $γ$-ray and CO observations of these objects, as well as from some nearby clouds that belong to the Gould Belt complex, unveil a homogeneous \textquotedblleft sea" of CRs with a constant density and spectral shape close to the flux of directly (locally) measured CRs. We found noticeable deviations from the \textquotedblleft sea level" only in some locations characterized by enhanced CR density in the galactocentric 4--6 kpc ring. Furthermore, we found a hint for fluctuations of the CR density in different locations within the same 4--6 kpc ring. The confirmation of this result with the next-generation $γ$-ray detectors based on the higher quality data and denser coverage of galactocentric distances, would have dramatic implications for the understanding of the origin of Galactic CRs.

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arXiv2015

Creating a high-resolution picture of Cygnus with the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cygnus region hosts one of the most remarkable star-forming regions in the Milky Way. Indeed, the total mass in molecular gas of the Cygnus X complex exceeds 10 times the total mass of all other nearby star-forming regions. Surveys at all wavelengths, from radio to gamma-rays, reveal that Cygnus contains such a wealth and variety of sources---supernova remnants (SNRs), pulsars, pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), H II regions, Wolf-Rayet binaries, OB associations, microquasars, dense molecular clouds and superbubbles---as to practically be a galaxy in microcosm. The gamma-ray observations along reveal a wealth of intriguing sources at energies between 1 GeV and tens of TeV. However, a complete understanding of the physical phenomena producing this gamma-ray emission first requires us to disentangle overlapping sources and reconcile discordant pictures at different energies. This task is made more challenging by the limited angular resolution of instruments such as the Fermi Large Area Telescope, ARGO-YBJ, and HAWC and the limited sensitivity and field of view of current imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), with its improved angular resolution, large field of view, and order of magnitude gain in sensitivity over current IACTs, has the potential to finally create a coherent and well-resolved picture of the Cygnus region between a few tens of GeV and a hundred TeV. We describe a proposed strategy to study the Cygnus region using CTA data, which combines a survey of the whole region at $65^{\circ} < l < 85^{\circ}$ and $-3.5^{\circ} < b < 3.5^{\circ} $ with deeper observations of two sub-regions that host rich groups of known gamma-ray sources.

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arXiv2011

Cosmic ray transport in partially turbulent space plasmas with compressible magnetic turbulence

Recently a new transport theory of cosmic rays in magnetized space plasmas extending the quasilinear approximation to the particle orbit has been developed for the case of an axisymmetric incompressible magnetic turbulence. Here we generalize the approach to the important physical case of a compressible plasma. As previously obtained in the case of an incompressible plasma we allow arbitrary gyrophase deviations from the unperturbed spiral orbits in the uniform magnetic field. For the case of quasi-stationary and spatially homogeneous magnetic turbulence we derive in the small Larmor radius approximation gyro-phase averaged cosmic ray Fokker-Planck coefficients. Upper limits for the perpendicular and pitch-angle Fokker-Planck coefficients and for the perpendicular and parallel spatial diffusion coefficients are presented.

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arXiv2011

Molecular Clouds as Cosmic Ray Laboratories

We will here discuss how the gamma-ray emission from molecular clouds can be used to probe the cosmic ray flux in distant regions of the Galaxy and to constrain the highly unknown cosmic ray diffusion coefficient. In particular we will discuss the GeV to TeV emission from runaway cosmic rays penetrating molecular clouds close to young and old supernova remnants and in molecular clouds illuminated by the background cosmic ray flux.

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arXiv2009

Broad-band nonthermal emission from molecular clouds illuminated by cosmic rays from nearby supernova remnants

Molecular clouds are expected to emit non-thermal radiation due to cosmic ray interactions in the dense magnetized gas. Such emission is amplified if a cloud is located close to an accelerator of cosmic rays and if energetic particles can leave the accelerator site and diffusively reach the cloud. We consider here the situation in which a molecular cloud is located in the proximity of a supernova remnant which is efficiently accelerating cosmic rays and gradually releasing them in the interstellar medium. We calculate the multiwavelength spectrum from radio to gamma rays which is emerging from the cloud as the result of cosmic ray interactions. The total energy output is dominated by the gamma ray emission, which can exceed the emission in other bands by an order of magnitude or more. This suggests that some of the unidentified TeV sources detected so far, with no obvious or very weak counterparts in other wavelengths, might be in fact associated with clouds illuminated by cosmic rays coming from a nearby source. Moreover, under certain conditions, the gamma ray spectrum exhibit a concave shape, being steep at low energies and hard at high energies. This fact might have important implications for the studies of the spectral compatibility of GeV and TeV gamma ray sources.

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arXiv2008

Non-thermal radiation from molecular clouds illuminated by cosmic rays from nearby supernova remnants

Molecular clouds are expected to emit non-thermal radiation due to cosmic ray interactions in the dense magnetized gas. Such emission is amplified if a cloud is located close to an accelerator of cosmic rays and if cosmic rays can leave the accelerator and diffusively reach the cloud. We consider the situation in which a molecular cloud is located in the proximity of a supernova remnant which is accelerating cosmic rays and gradually releasing them into the interstellar medium. We calculate the multiwavelength spectrum from radio to gamma rays which emerges from the cloud as the result of cosmic ray interactions. The total energy output is dominated by the gamma ray emission, which can exceed the emission from other bands by an order of magnitude or more. This suggests that some of the unidentified TeV sources detected so far, with no obvious or very weak counterpart in other wavelengths, might be associated with clouds illuminated by cosmic rays coming from a nearby source.

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arXiv2007

Constraints on the TeV source population and its contribution to the galactic diffuse TeV emission

The detection by the HESS atmospheric Cerenkov telescope of fourteen new sources from the Galactic plane makes it possible to estimate the contribution of unresolved sources like those detected by HESS to the diffuse Galactic emission measured by the Milagro Collaboration. The number-intensity relation and the luminosity function for the HESS source population are investigated. By evaluating the contribution of such a source population to the diffuse emission we conclude that a significant fraction of the TeV energy emission measured by the Milagro experiment could be due to unresolved sources like HESS sources. Predictions concerning the number of sources which Veritas, Milagro, and HAWC should detect are also given.

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arXiv2006

Contribution of unresolved point sources to the galactic diffuse emission

The detection by the HESS atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of fifteen new sources from the Galactic plane makes it possible to estimate the contribution of unresolved point sources like those detected by HESS to the diffuse Galactic emission measured by EGRET and recently at higher energies by the Milagro Collaboration. Assuming that HESS sources have all the same intrinsic luminosity, the contribution of this new source population can account for most of the Milagro $γ$-ray emission at TeV energies and between 10 and 20 per cent of EGRET diffuse Galactic $γ$-ray emission for energies bigger than 10 GeV. Also, by combining the HESS and the Milagro results, constraints can be put on the distribution and the luminosities of gamma ray emitters in the Galaxy.

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