arXiv subjects

T. Vieu

Publications and source records attributed to T. Vieu.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Extended gamma-ray emission in the vicinity of the Westerlund 1 massive star cluster and Kes 41 supernova remnant seen by the Fermi Large Area Telescope

There is growing evidence for cosmic-ray acceleration in massive stellar clusters. Furthermore, extended gamma-ray emission suggests that particle transport in the vicinity of their sources is influenced by physical processes markedly different from large-scale diffusion in the Milky Way. We characterize extended gamma-ray emission in the direction of the Westerlund 1 stellar cluster and Kes 41 supernova remnant using > 16 years of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) at energies > 0.8 GeV. We test whether clusters of gamma-ray sources not associated to multiwavelength counterparts are better described by extended emission components. We report the detection of three new extended emission components with soft spectra towards regions of high gas column density in the Galactic plane. One extended component associated with the natal cloud of Kes 41 is statistically preferred over the point source previously reported towards the supernova remnant shell. The other two extended components overlap with neutral gas within ~100 pc from the edge of the Westerlund 1 superbubble. The extended emission may be explained either by mismodeled gas in the interstellar background model or by the local injection of particles. Under the latter hypothesis, explaining the component associated with Kes 41 requires converting $\lesssim 5\%$ of the supernova remnant energy into accelerated particles, while accounting for the two components near Westerlund 1 requires converting $10^{-4}$ of the cluster wind mechanical power into gamma rays. Nevertheless, our results strengthen the evidence for gamma-ray emission structures arising at intermediate spatial scales between isolated objects and the large-scale diffuse emission from the interstellar medium. This could explain a part of the soft unassociated Galactic sources detected by the Fermi LAT. (Abridged)

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Deciphering the gamma-ray emission in the Cygnus region

The Cygnus region is a vast star-forming complex harbouring a population of powerful objects, including massive star clusters and associations, Wolf-Rayet stars, pulsars, and supernova remnants. The multi-wavelength picture is far from understood, in particular the recent LHAASO detection of multi-degree scale diffuse gamma-ray emission up to PeV energies. We aim to model the broadband gamma-ray data, discriminating plausible scenarios amongst all candidate accelerators. We consider in particular relic hadronic emission from a supernova remnant expanding in a low-density environment and inverse Compton emission from stellar-wind termination shocks in the Cygnus OB2 stellar association. We first estimate the maximum particle energy from a 3D hydrodynamical simulation of the supernova remnant scenario. The transport equation is then solved numerically to determine the radial distribution of non-thermal protons and electrons. In order to compute synthetic gamma-ray spectra and emission maps, we develop a 3D model of the gas distribution. This includes, firstly, a HI component with a low-density superbubble around Cygnus OB2 and, secondly, molecular clouds lying at the edge of the superbubble and in the foreground. We find that a powerful, ~50 kyr-old supernova remnant can account for both the morphology and spectrum from 10 TeV-PeV. At PeV energies, the microquasar Cygnus X-3 and diffuse Galactic cosmic rays might also contribute to the flux. Below about 10 TeV, hadronic models are incompatible with the expected existence of a superbubble centred on Cygnus OB2. Instead, the spectrum is well fitted with inverse Compton emission from electrons accelerated at stellar-wind termination shocks in Cygnus OB2 in line with existing multi-wavelength limits.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Laboratory realization of relativistic pair-plasma beams

Relativistic electron-positron plasmas are ubiquitous in extreme astrophysical environments such as black holes and neutron star magnetospheres, where accretion-powered jets and pulsar winds are expected to be enriched with such pair plasmas. Their behaviour is quite different from typical electron-ion plasmas due to the matter-antimatter symmetry of the charged components and their role in the dynamics of such compact objects is believed to be fundamental. So far, our experimental inability to produce large yields of positrons in quasi-neutral beams has restricted the understanding of electron-positron pair plasmas to simple numerical and analytical studies which are rather limited. We present first experimental results confirming the generation of high-density, quasi-neutral, relativistic electron-positron pair beams using the 440 GeV/c beam at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator. The produced pair beams have a volume that fills multiple Debye spheres and are thus able to sustain collective plasma oscillations. Our work opens up the possibility of directly probing the microphysics of pair plasmas beyond quasi-linear evolution into regimes that are challenging to simulate or measure via astronomical observations.

physics.plasm-ph↗