G. De Cesare

Spectroscopic identification of r-process nucleosynthesis in a double neutron star merger

The merger of two neutron stars is predicted to give rise to three major detectable phenomena: a short burst of γ-rays, a gravitational-wave signal, and a transient optical–near-infrared source powered by the synthesis of large amounts of very heavy elements via rapid neutron capture (the r-process). Such transients, named ‘macronovae’ or ‘kilonovae’, are believed to be centres of production of rare elements such as gold and platinum. The most compelling evidence so far for a kilonova was a very faint near-infrared rebrightening in the afterglow of a short γ-ray burst at redshift z = 0.356, although findings indicating bluer events have been reported. Here we report the spectral identification and describe the physical properties of a bright kilonova associated with the gravitational-wave source GW170817 and γ-ray burst GRB 170817A associated with a galaxy at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. Using a series of spectra from ground-based observatories covering the wavelength range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared, we find that the kilonova is characterized by rapidly expanding ejecta with spectral features similar to those predicted by current models. The ejecta is optically thick early on, with a velocity of about 0.2 times light speed, and reaches a radius of about 50 astronomical units in only 1.5 days. As the ejecta expands, broad absorption-like lines appear on the spectral continuum, indicating atomic species produced by nucleosynthesis that occurs in the post-merger fast-moving dynamical ejecta and in two slower (0.05 times light speed) wind regions. Comparison with spectral models suggests that the merger ejected 0.03 to 0.05 solar masses of material, including high-opacity lanthanides.

Gamma-ray bursts afterglows with energy injection from a spinning down neutron star

Aims. We investigate a model for the shallow decay phases of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows discovered by Swift/XRT in the first hours following a GRB event. In the context of the fireball scenario, we consider the possibility that long-lived energy injection from a millisecond spinning, ultramagnetic neutron star (magnetar) powers afterglow emission during this phase. Methods. We consider the energy evolution in a relativistic shock that is subject to both radiative losses and energy injection from a spinning down magnetar in spherical symmetry. We model the energy injection term through magnetic dipole losses and discuss an approximate treatment for the dynamical evolution of the blastwave. We obtain an analytic solution for the energy evolution in the shock and associated lightcurves. To fully illustrate the potential of our solution we calculate lightcurves for a few selected X-ray afterglows observed by Swift and fit them using our theoretical lightcurves. Results. Our solution naturally describes in a single picture the properties of the shallow decay phase and the transition to the socalled normal decay phase. In particular, we obtain remarkably good fits to X-ray afterglows for plausible parameters of the magnetar. Even though approximate, our treatment provides a step forward with respect to previously adopted approximations and provides additional support of the idea that a millisecond spinning (1–3 ms), ultramagnetic (B ∼ 10 14 −10 15 G) neutron star loosing spin energy

3-200 keV spectral states and variability of the INTEGRAL black hole binary IGR J17464-3213

On March 2003, IBIS, the gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, detected an outburst from a new source, IGR J17464-3213, that turned out to be a HEAO 1 transient, H1743-322. In this paper we report on the high-energy behavior of this black hole candidate (BHC) studied with the three main instruments on board INTEGRAL. The data, collected with unprecedented sensitivity in the hard X-ray range, show a quite hard Comptonized emission from 3 up to 150 keV during the rising part of the source outburst, with no thermal emission detectable. A few days later, a prominent soft-disk multicolor component appears, with the hard tail luminosity almost unchanged: ~5 × 10-9 ergs cm-2 s-1. Two months later, during a second monitoring campaign near the end of the outburst, the observed disk component was unchanged. Conversely, the Comptonized emission from the central hot part of the disk reduced by a factor of ~10. We present here its long-term behavior in different energy ranges and the combined JEM-X, SPI, and IBIS wideband spectral evolution of this source.

The magnetic field in the X-ray corona of Cygnus X-1

The different electron distributions in the hard and soft spectral states (HS and SS) of BH binaries could be caused by kinetic processes and changing because of varying physical conditions in the corona. In presence of a magnetic field in the corona, the electron distribution can appear thermal, even when acceleration mechanisms would produce non thermal distributions. This is due to fast and efficient thermalization through synchrotron self-absorption. We have analyzed data from 6 years of observations of Cygnus X-1 with the INTEGRAL observatory and produced 12 high-quality, stacked broad-band hard X-ray spectra representative of the whole range of spectral shapes observed. We then fit these spectra with hybrid thermal/non-thermal Comptonization models and study the evolution of the physical parameters of the accretion flow across the spectral transition. In particular, we use the BELM model to constrain the magnetic field in the corona through its effects on the coronal emission. Indeed, the hot electrons of the X-ray corona produce soft (optical-UV) synchrotron radiation which is then Comptonized and may affect the temperature of the electrons through Compton cooling. We find that in the SS, the emission is dominated by Comptonization of the disc photons and the magnetic field is at most of the order of 1E+06 G. In the hard states, the data are consistent with a pure synchrotron self-Compton model. If the non-thermal excess observed above a few hundred keV in the HS is produced in the same region as the bulk of the thermal Comptonization, we obtain an upper limit on the coronal magnetic field of about 1E+05 G. If, on the other hand, the non-thermal excess is produced in a different location, the constraints on the magnetic field in the HS are somewhat relaxed and the upper limit rises to 1E+07 G. We discuss these constraints in the context of current accretion flow models.

The peculiar 2011 outburst of the black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624, a GRS 1915+105-like source?

We report on the long-term monitoring campaign of the black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624 performed with INTEGRAL and Swift during the peculiar outburst started on 2011 January. We have studied the two-month spectral evolution of the source in detail. Unlike the previous outbursts, the initial transition from the hard to the soft state in 2011 was not followed by the standard spectral evolution expected for a transient black hole binary. IGR J17091−3624 showed pseudo-periodic flare-like events in the light curve, closely resembling those observed from GRS 1915+105. We find evidence that these phenomena are due to the same physical instability process ascribed to GRS 1915+105. Finally, we speculate that the faintness of IGR J17091−3624 could be not only due to the high distance of the source but also due to the high inclination angle of the system.

Spectral States of the X-Ray Binary IGR J17091–3624 Observed by INTEGRAL and RXTE

IGR J17091-3624 was discovered in 2003 April by IBIS, the gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, during its Galactic Center Deep Exposure program. The source was initially detectable only in the 40-100 keV range but after 2 days was also detected in the 15-40 keV range. Its flux had by then increased to 40 and 25 mcrab in the 15-40 and 40-100 keV bands, respectively. RXTE observed the source simultaneously on 2003 April 20, with an effective exposure of 2 ks. We report here the spectral and temporal evolution of the source, which shows a transition between the hard and soft states. We analyze in detail the RXTE/INTEGRAL Comptonized spectrum of the hard state, as well as the JEM-X detection of a blackbody component during the source softening. Even though the source spectral behavior and time variability show a similarity with the outburst of the black hole candidate IGR J17464-3213 (=H1743-322), observed by INTEGRAL in 2003, the nature of its compact object (BH vs. NS) remains controversial.

The puzzling source IGR J17361–4441 in NGC 6388: a possible planetary tidal disruption event

On 2011 August 11, INTEGRAL discovered the hard X-ray source IGR J17361-4441 near the centre of the globular cluster NGC 6388. Follow up observations with Chandra showed the position of the transient was inconsistent with the cluster dynamical centre, and thus not related to its possible intermediate mass black hole. The source showed a peculiar hard spectrum (Gamma \approx 0.8) and no evidence of QPOs, pulsations, type-I bursts, or radio emission. Based on its peak luminosity, IGR J17361-4441 was classified as a very faint X-ray transient, and most likely a low-mass X-ray binary. We re-analysed 200 days of Swift/XRT observations, covering the whole outburst of IGR J17361-4441 and find a t^{-5/3} trend evident in the light curve, and a thermal emission component that does not evolve significantly with time. We investigate whether this source could be a tidal disruption event, and for certain assumptions find an accretion efficiency epsilon \approx 3.5E-04 (M_{Ch}/M) consistent with a massive white dwarf, and a disrupted minor body mass M_{mb}=1.9E+27(M/M_{Ch}) g in the terrestrial-icy planet regime. These numbers yield an inner disc temperature of the order kT_{in} \approx 0.04 keV, consistent with the blackbody temperature of kT_{in} \approx 0.08 keV estimated by spectral fitting. Although the density of white dwarfs and the number of free-floating planets are uncertain, we estimate the rate of planetary tidal disruptions in NGC 6388 to be in the range 3E-06 to 3E-04 yr^{-1}. Averaged over the Milky Way globular clusters, the upper limit value corresponds to 0.05 yr^{-1}, consistent with the observation of a single event by INTEGRAL and Swift.

Investigation of response behavior in CdTe detectors versus inter-electrode charge formation position

Some important features of semiconductor detectors (pulse height, energy resolution, photopeak efficiency) are strongly affected by charge collection efficiency; therefore low charge mobility and trapping/detrapping phenomena can more or less degrade the CdTe based detectors performance, depending on the distance between the charge formation location and the collecting electrodes. Using a narrow photon beam, obtained by a 20 mm thick W collimator having a 0.2/spl times/2 mm/sup 2/ collimating channel, we have studied the response of a 3/spl times/5/spl times/2 mm/sup 3/ CdTe(Cl) planar detector, having the electrodes deposited on the 3/spl times/5 mm/sup 2/ sides. In order to investigate the behavior of the above parameters vs. the charge formation position induced by the incoming radiation we have performed a fine scanning of the interelectrodic region irradiating laterally the detector, that is in the configuration that we indicate as a planar transverse field (PTF). For comparison the same detector was irradiated also with a non collimated beam both in lateral (PTF) and in the classical configuration, that is with the beam entering through the cathode, a planar parallel field (PPF). When irradiated in PTF way, a region of the detector having a very good spectroscopic performance can be identified close to the cathode; this allows one to select region sizes with definite energy resolution values, suitable for different applications.

INTEGRAL high-energy monitoring of the X-ray burster KS 1741−293★

KS 1741-293, discovered in 1989 by the X-ray camera TTM on the Kvant module of the Mir space station and identified as an X-ray burster, had not been detected in the hard X-ray band until the advent of the INTEGRAL observatory. Moreover, this source has recently been the object of scientific discussion, being also associated with a nearby extended radio source that in principle could be the supernova remnant produced by the accretion-induced collapse in the binary system. Our long-term monitoring with INTEGRAL, covering the period from 2003 February to 2005 May, confirms that KS 1741-293 is transient in the soft and hard X-ray bands. When the source is active, from a simultaneous JEM-X and IBIS data analysis, we provide a wide-band spectrum from 5 to 100 keV, which can be fitted by a two-component model: a multiple blackbody for the soft emission and a Comptonized or a cut-off power-law model for the hard component. Finally, by the detection of two X-ray bursters with JEM-X, we confirm the bursting nature of KS 1741-293, including this source in the class of hard-tailed X-ray bursters.

Searching for the 511 keV annihilation line from galactic compact objects with the IBIS gamma ray telescope

The first detection of a gamma ray line with an energy of about 500 keV from the center our Galaxy dates back to the early seventies. Thanks to the astrophysical application of high spectral resolution detectors, it was soon clear that this radiation was due to the 511 keV photons generated by electron-positron annihilation. Even though the physical process are known, the astrophysical origin of this radiation is still a mystery. The spectrometer SPI aboard the INTEGRAL gamma-ray satellite has been used to produce the first all-sky map in light of the 511 keV annihilation, but no direct evidence for 511 keV galactic compact objects has been found [...] We present the first deep IBIS 511 keV all-sky map, obtained by applying standard analysis to about 5 years of data. Possible 511 keV signals are also searched over hour-day-month timescales. The IBIS sensitivity at 511 keV depends on the detector quantum efficiency at this energy and on the background. Both these quantities were estimated in this work. We find no evidence of Galactic 511 keV point sources. With an exposure of 10 Ms in the center of the Galaxy, we estimate a