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COSMIC RAY ORIGINS

COSMIC RAY ORIGINS. Stella Bradbury, University of Leeds, U.K. g -ray sources the cosmic ray connection detection technique galactic and extragalactic accelerators future instruments and new targets Ultra High Energies. Cosmic Rays ?.

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COSMIC RAY ORIGINS

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  1. COSMIC RAY ORIGINS Stella Bradbury, University of Leeds, U.K. • g-ray sources • the cosmic ray connection • detection technique • galactic and extragalactic accelerators • future instruments and new targets • Ultra High Energies

  2. Cosmic Rays ? On 7th August 1912, Victor Hess demonstrated that the flux of “ionising radiation” increased above 2 km altitude

  3. < 0.1 % of the “cosmic rays” are actually g-rays • collection area of satellite detector ~ 0.8 m2 • collection area of Cherenkov Telescope ~ 40,000 m2 • typically number of g-rays per m 2 above energy E E-1.5

  4. cosmic ray nuclei should produce g-raysin collisions with interstellar material diffuse g-raybackground along galactic plane? • high energy g-rays indicate extreme environments and particle acceleration processes • g-rays which are not deflected by galactic magnetic fields may point to localized cosmic sources  g-ray astronomy

  5. TECHNIQUE • < 50 GeV e-e+ pairs produced in satellite volume and trapped • > 250 GeV sample the Cherenkov light pool at ground  calorimetric measurement • ~ 0.01% of primary energy  Cherenkov light

  6. g-ray proton • Background Rejection • g-ray generates “airshower” through e+e- pair production & bremsstrahlung • cosmic ray and air nuclei collide  p0  g, p  m + n (simulations rely on extrapolation from accelerator data) Simulated Cherenkov lateral distribution at ground:

  7. Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes • Energy threshold depends on • Cherenkov light collection efficiency • location - altitude and background light level • trigger efficiency for g-rays

  8. a single 12.5 mm Ø photomultiplier pixel of the Whipple Telescope camera subtends 0.12º • width of a typical g-ray Cherenkov image is 0.3º • use cluster trigger g-ray ? nucleon? local muon ?

  9. field stars, night sky light • moving targets! Nature’s Challenges • humidity • unexpected loads! • temperature cycle • lightning

  10. Analogue Optical Fibre Signal Transmission • 120 prototype channels based on VCSELs in the Whipple Telescope camera • 150 MHz bandwidth • low pulse-dispersion allows a short ADC gate  less background light included • lightweight - 50 kg for a 1000 pixel camera vs. 400 kg for co-axial cable • attractiveness to rats - similar to co-ax

  11. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory 1991 - 2000 EGRET 100 MeV - 30 GeV • spark chamber • time of flight scintillators • NaI calorimeter

  12. g-ray sources • Likely g-ray production mechanisms : • p+ + p+ p+ + p+ +p+ +p- +p0 then p0  g + g • thermal photon + p+ X then p0  g + g • e- bremsstrahlung or synchrotron  g below a few 100 MeV • inverse Compton scattering of thermal photons  g by relativistic e- Solar flare EGRET solar flare spectrum : • evidence for p+ collisions p0 decayg-rays of mean Eg ~ mpc2 ~ 67 MeV • excess g-rays < 100 MeV require e- bremsstrahlung

  13. Diffuse background due to p+CR + Hnuclei p0  g g observed but where do we get the p+CR from?

  14. The Crab Nebula, standard candle of TeV astronomy. • The Crab pulsar wind shock injects relativistic particles into its surrounding supernova remnant. Chandra X-ray image VLT optical image • 1965: TeV g-rays from Crab Nebula predicted • 1989: 9s detection above 700 GeV published from 82 hours of data TeV g-rays - point source

  15. Spectral energy distribution  g-ray production mechanism? TeV spectrum consistent with e- synchrotron self-Compton emission  magnetic field ~16 nT within 0.4 pc of the pulsar.

  16. Where docosmic ray nucleons come from? • Shell-type supernova remnants? • outer layers of dead star bounce off collapsing core (in which e- + p+ n + ne) • huge release of energy + O, N… Fe present • shock front propagates, sweeping up gas from interstellar medium 1st order Fermi acceleration • compressed B fields act as scattering centres for relativistic charged particles • particles gain momentum as they cross the shock front repeatedly

  17. Detection of TeV g-rays from Cassiopeia A by HEGRA can still be explained as e- inverse Compton without e.g. a po decay component Chandra X-ray image of Cas A Still no conclusive evidence for acceleration of relativistic nuclei

  18. Giant molecular clouds could act as a target for p+CR + H p0 g + g if bathed in uniform cosmic rays or as a cosmic beam dump for a neighboring particle accelerator such as a black hole binary: Cosmic ray production must be high in starburst galaxies where there is a high supernova rate and strong stellar winds?

  19. Of 271 discrete sources detected by EGRET above 100 MeV • 170 remain unidentified • 67 are active galactic nuclei (AGN)

  20. Active Galactic Nuclei ~ 1 % of galaxies have a bright central nucleus that outshines the billions of stars around it Radio and X-ray observations reveal relativistic jets presumed to be powered by a central supermassive black hole • rapid optical variability and lack of thermal emission lines in EGRET’s AGN suggest we are looking almost straight down the jet • g-ray emission region must be > a light day from AGN core to escape absorption via pair production - probably moving along jet • photon flux forward beamed and Doppler shifted

  21. Rapid TeV g-ray flares  emission region only ~ size of solar system! Whipple Telescope - Mkn 421 • optical depth for gTeV + gUV/optical  e± must be less than 1  limits ratio of rest frame luminosity to size of emission region • a Doppler beaming factor of d  9 was derived from flare on right

  22. g-ray Production Mechanism? Assume emission region is associated with shock accelerated particles, then pick any combination of : • synchrotron self-Compton e- + gsynch  e- + g-ray • external inverse Compton e- + gexternal  e- + g-ray • photo-meson production p+ + g  p0, p± g-rays, e ± , n, n

  23. Markarian 501 April ‘97 • Multiwavelength Observations • might expect simultaneous TeV g-ray and X-ray flares if due to the same e- population (self-Compton) • increase in e- density  increase in ratio of self-Compton to synchrotron emission? • in external IC model g-ray & optical flares could come from different sites  time lag? • proton induced cascade  n outbursts?  4.2  2.6  1.7  1.1

  24. Markarian 501 Spectral Energy Distribution • Synchrotron peak shifted from 1 keV to 100 keV during outburst • Power in X-rays & g-rays very similar - both much greater in 1997

  25. TeV g-ray Energy Spectra of Mkn 421 & Mkn 501 Mkn 501 Mkn 421 Common feature is a cut-off at E0 ~ 4 - 6 TeV. Is this intrinsic to such objects - limit of accelerator? There are only 6 established TeV g-ray emitting AGN; the most recent flared to a detectable level on 17/05/02

  26. Extragalactic Infrared Background : may cut-off g-ray flux from distant AGN as gg-ray + gIR  e- + e+ ( cross-section peaks ateg-ray etarget~ 2 (mec2)2 )

  27. TeV g-ray detection of AGN 600 million light years away  limits on IR background density 10  more restrictive than direct satellite measurement in 4 - 50 mm range plagued by foreground starlight g-ray Horizon • Possible IR contributors: • early star formation • Very Massive Objects (dark matter candidates) • nheavy  nlight + gIR for 0.05 eV < mn< 1 eV

  28. A whole new class of objects? 20 keV - 1 MeV VLT optical afterglow of GRB000131 - at redshift 4.5 1013 light years distant (epoch of galaxy formation?) In 1969-70 the Vela 5 nuclear test detection satellites discovered g-ray bursts.

  29. A hypernova ? Cosmological distances  require an astronomical energy source! Invoke shocks in beamed jets! Merging neutron stars ?

  30. Future Instruments • Swift • NASA Gamma Ray Bursts mission • hard X-ray, UV & optical instruments • launch autumn 2003 • INTEGRAL • ESA mission for spectroscopy & imaging at 15 keV - 10 MeV • launch 17th October 2002 • AGILE • Italian Space Agency mission optimised for fast timing & simultaneous coverage at 10 keV - 40 keV & 30 MeV - 30 GeV • launch beginning of 2004

  31. GLASTlaunch due September 2006 lifetime > 5 years Energy range 20 MeV - 300 GeV Gamma Cygni

  32. Lowering the energy threshold of ground-based g-ray detection Solar arrays: very large mirror area but small field of view. STACEE (2001 - ) 50 GeV - 250 GeV > 2000 m2 of heliostats reflect Cherenkov light via a secondary mirror onto a photomultiplier camera in the tower. CELESTE, Solar II & GRAAL use the same principle.

  33. The MAGIC Telescope on La Palma Imaging telescope with a single 17m diameter dish. • operational late 2002 ? • Energy threshold < 15 GeV with future hybrid photodetectors or APDs

  34. VERITAS array of 12m telescopes in Arizona: • 1st telescope on-line 2003 • 7 by end of 2006 • uses stereoscopic technique - viewing Cherenkov flash from different angles to improve background rejection

  35. H.E.S.S. - an array of 4 (  16 ?) 12 m diameter telescopes • energy threshold ~100 GeV • first telescope now in place at the Gamsberg

  36. Flux sensitivity: bridging the gap between ground-based instruments and satellite data Mkn 421

  37. g-rays from Cold Dark Matter? • CDM candidate neutralinos may be collected at the galactic centre • accelerator experiments restrict particle mass to 30 GeV - 3 TeV • an annihilation line may be observable with GLAST or next generation Atmospheric Cherenkov Observatories Simulated GLAST detection above diffuse background c c  g g

  38. UN-conventional TARGETS • neutralinosearchc c  g g or c c  q q  e.g. p decays • primordial black holes - TeV photons emitted during final 1 - 0.1 s of evaporation ? • quantum gravity  E dependent time dispersion of AGN flares ?? • Bose Einstein condensatese.g. coherentbunch of 100 GeV photons could mimic anairshowerdue to a single 1TeV photon • EGRET unidentified sources - position location to 0.02 should reduce number of possible counterparts by  10 • TeV all-sky surveys • cosmic ray composition studies - Cherenkov light emitted before primary interaction  Z2 , independent of energy, arrives 3-6 ns after main image

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