J. Biteau

The extragalactic background light, the Hubble constant, and anomalies: conclusions from 20 years of TeV gamma-ray observations

Ground-based observatories have been collecting 0.2 - 20 TeV gamma rays from blazars for about twenty years. These gamma rays can experience absorption along the line of sight due to interactions with the extragalactic background light (EBL). In this paper, we show that the gamma-ray optical depth can be reduced to the convolution product of an EBL kernel with the EBL intensity, assuming a particular form for the EBL evolution. We extract the absorption signal from the most extensive set of TeV spectra from blazars collected so far and unveil a broad-band EBL spectrum from mid-ultraviolet to far infrared. This spectrum is in good agreement with the accumulated emission of galaxies, constraining unresolved populations of sources. We propose a data-driven estimate of the Hubble constant based on the comparison of local and gamma-ray measurements of the EBL. After setting stringent upper-limits on the redshift of four TeV blazars, we investigate the 106 gamma-ray spectra in our sample and find no significant evidence for anomalies. The intrinsic TeV spectra are not harder than their GeV counterpart, and no spectral upturn is visible at the highest optical depths. Finally, we investigate a modification of the pair-creation threshold due to Lorentz invariance violation. A mild excess prevents us from ruling out an effect at the Planck energy, and we constrain for the first time the energy scale of the modification to values larger than sixty percent of the Planck energy.

VERITAS DETECTION OF γ-RAY FLARING ACTIVITY FROM THE BL LAC OBJECT 1ES 1727+502 DURING BRIGHT MOONLIGHT OBSERVATIONS

During moonlit nights, observations with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes at very high energies (VHEs, GeV) are constrained since the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) in the telescope camera are extremely sensitive to the background moonlight. Observations with the VERITAS telescopes in the standard configuration are performed only with a moon illumination less than 35% of full moon. Since 2012, the VERITAS collaboration has implemented a new observing mode under bright moonlight, by either reducing the voltage applied to the PMTs (reduced-high-voltage; RHV configuration), or by utilizing UV-transparent filters. While these operating modes result in lower sensitivity and increased energy thresholds, the extension of the available observing time is useful for monitoring variable sources such as blazars and sources requiring spectral measurements at the highest energies. In this paper we report the detection of γ-ray flaring activity from the BL Lac object 1ES 1727+502 during RHV observations. This detection represents the first evidence of VHE variability from this blazar. The integral flux is above 250 GeV, which is about five times higher than the low-flux state. The detection triggered additional VERITAS observations during standard dark-time. Multiwavelength observations with the FLWO 48″ telescope, and the Swift and Fermi satellites are presented and used to produce the first spectral energy distribution (SED) of this object during γ-ray flaring activity. The SED is then fitted with a standard synchrotron-self-Compton model, placing constraints on the properties of the emitting region and of the acceleration mechanism at the origin of the relativistic particle population in the jet.

Very-high Energy Observations of the Galactic Center Region by VERITAS in 2010-2012

The Galactic center is an interesting region for high-energy (0.1-100 GeV) and very-high-energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray observations. Potential sources of GeV/TeV gamma-ray emission have been suggested, e.g., the accretion of matter onto the supermassive black hole, cosmic rays from a nearby supernova remnant (e.g., Sgr A East), particle acceleration in a plerion, or the annihilation of dark matter particles. The Galactic center has been detected by EGRET and by Fermi/LAT in the MeV/GeV energy band. At TeV energies, the Galactic center was detected with moderate significance by the CANGAROO and Whipple 10 m telescopes and with high significance by H.E.S.S., MAGIC, and VERITAS. We present the results from three years of VERITAS observations conducted at large zenith angles resulting in a detection of the Galactic center on the level of 18 standard deviations at energies above similar to 2.5 TeV. The energy spectrum is derived and is found to be compatible with hadronic, leptonic, and hybrid emission models discussed in the literature. Future, more detailed measurements of the high-energy cutoff and better constraints on the high-energy flux variability will help to refine and/or disentangle the individual models.

Upper limits from five years of blazar observations with the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes

Between the beginning of its full-scale scientific operations in 2007 and 2012, the VERITAS Cherenkov telescope array observed more than 130 blazars; of these, 26 were detected as very-high-energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) -ray sources. In this work, we present the analysis results of a sample of 114 undetected objects. The observations constitute a total live-time of 570 hours. The sample includes several unidentified Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) sources (located at high Galactic latitude) as well as all the sources from the second Fermi-LAT catalog which are contained within the field of view of the VERITAS observations. We have also performed optical spectroscopy measurements in order to estimate the redshift of some of these blazars that do not have a spectroscopic distance estimate. We present new optical spectra from the Kast instrument on the Shane telescope at the Lick observatory for 18 blazars included in this work, which allowed for the successful measurement or constraint on the redshift of four of them. For each of the blazars included in our sample we provide the flux upper limit in the VERITAS energy band. We also study the properties of the significance distributions and we present the result of a stacked analysis of the data-set, which shows a 4 excess.

Development of a SiPM Camera for a Schwarzschild-Couder Cherenkov Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

We present the development of a novel 11328 pixel silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) camera for use with a ground-based Cherenkov telescope with Schwarzschild-Couder optics as a possible medium-sized telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The finely pixelated camera samples air-shower images with more than twice the optical resolution of cameras that are used in current Cherenkov telescopes. Advantages of the higher resolution will be a better event reconstruction yielding improved background suppression and angular resolution of the reconstructed gamma-ray events, which is crucial in morphology studies of, for example, Galactic particle accelerators and the search for gamma-ray halos around extragalactic sources. Packing such a large number of pixels into an area of only half a square meter and having a fast readout directly attached to the back of the sensors is a challenging task. For the prototype camera development, SiPMs from Hamamatsu with through silicon via (TSV) technology are used. We give a status report of the camera design and highlight a number of technological advancements that made this development possible.

A SEARCH FOR VERY HIGH ENERGY GAMMA RAYS FROM THE MISSING LINK BINARY PULSAR J1023+0038 WITH VERITAS

The binary millisecond radio pulsar PSR J1023+0038 exhibits many characteristics similar to the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259–63/LS 2883, making it an ideal candidate for the study of highenergy non-thermal emission. It has been the subject of multi-wavelength campaigns following the disappearance of the pulsed radio emission in 2013 June, which revealed the appearance of an accretion disk around the neutron star. We present the results of very high-energy gamma-ray observations carried out by VERITAS before and after this change of state. Searches for steady and pulsed emission of both data sets yield no significant gamma-ray signal above 100 GeV, and upper limits are given for both a steady and pulsed gamma-ray flux. These upper limits are used to constrain the magnetic field strength in the shock region of the PSR J1023+0038 system. Assuming that very high-energy gamma rays are produced via an inverse-Compton mechanism in the shock region, we constrain the shock magnetic field to be greater than ∼2 G before the disappearance of the radio pulsar and greater than ∼10 G afterwards. Subject headings: pulsars: general — pulsars: individual(PSR J1023+0038) — gamma rays: general — binaries: general

Performance of Silicon Photomultipliers for the Dual-Mirror Medium-Sized Telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Gamma-ray observations in the very-high-energy domain (E > 30 GeV) can exploit the imaging of few-nanosecond Cherenkov flashes from atmospheric particle showers. Photomultipliers have been used as the primary photosensors to detect gamma-ray induced Cherenkov light for the past 25 years, but they are increasingly challenged by the swift progress of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). We are working to identify the optimal photosensors for medium-sized Schwarzschild-Couder telescopes (SCT), which are proposed to contribute a significant fraction of the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array in its core energy range. We present the capabilities of the latest SiPMs from the Hamamatsu, SensL, and Excelitas companies that we have characterized in our laboratory, and compare them to the SiPMs equipping the prototype SCT camera that is under construction.

Gamma-ray cosmology and fundamental physics with TeV blazars: results from 20 years of observations

Gamma rays from TeV blazars have been detected by ground-based experiments for more than two decades. We have collected the most extensive set of archival spectra from these sources in order to constrain the processes affecting gamma-ray propagation on cosmological distances. We discuss our results on the diffuse photon field that populates universe, called the extragalactic background light, on the expansion rate of the Universe, and on fundamental physics in the form of axion-like particles and Lorentz-invariance violation. Specifically, we present a spectrum of the extragalactic background light from 0.26 to 105 microns constructed from the gamma-ray observations, we measure a value of the Hubble constant compatible with other estimates, and we constrain the energy scale at which Lorentz-invariance violation impacts gamma-ray absorption by the extragalactic background light to be larger than sixty percent of the Planck scale.

Discovery of gamma-ray emission from the extragalactic pulsar wind nebula N157B with the High Energy Stereoscopic System

We present the significant detection of the first extragalactic pulsar wind nebula (PWN) detected in gamma rays, N157B, located in the large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Pulsars with high spin-down luminosity are found to power energised nebulae that emit gamma rays up to energies of several tens of TeV. N157B is associated with PSRJ0537-6910, which is the pulsar with the highest known spin-down luminosity. The High Energy Stereoscopic System telescope array observed this nebula on a yearly basis from 2004 to 2009 with a dead-time corrected exposure of 46 h. The gamma-ray spectrum between 600 GeV and 12 TeV is well-described by a pure power-law with a photon index of 2.8 pm 0.2(stat) pm 0.3(syst) and a normalisation at 1 TeV of (8.2 pm 0.8(stat) pm 2.5(syst)) times 10^-13 cm^-2s^-1TeV^-1. A leptonic multi-wavelength model shows that an energy of about 4 times 10^49erg is stored in electrons and positrons. The apparent efficiency, which is the ratio of the TeV gamma-ray luminosity to the pulsars spindown luminosity, 0.08% pm 0.01%, is comparable to those of PWNe found in the Milky Way. The detection of a PWN at such a large distance is possible due to the pulsars favourable spin-down luminosity and a bright infrared photon-field serving as an inverse-Compton-scattering target for accelerated leptons. By applying a calorimetric technique to these observations, the pulsars birth period is estimated to be shorter than 10 ms.