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A search for enhanced very high energy GAMMA-RAY emission from the 2013 march crab nebula flare
(2014)
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Aune, T. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lyutikov, M. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Sheidaei, F. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Theiling, M. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zitzer, B.
In 2013 March, a flaring episode from the Crab Nebula lasting similar to 2 weeks was detected by Fermi-LAT (Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope). The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) provides simultaneous observations throughout this period. During the flare, Fermi-LAT detected a 20 fold increase in flux above the average synchrotron flux >100 MeV seen from the Crab Nebula. Simultaneous measurements with VERITAS are consistent with the non-variable long-term average Crab Nebula flux at TeV energies. Assuming a linear correlation between the very high energy flux change >1 TeV and the flux change seen in the Fermi-LAT band >100 MeV during the period of simultaneous observations, the linear correlation factor can be constrained to be at most 8.6 x 10(-3) with 95% confidence.
A Search for Pulsed Very High-energy Gamma-Rays from 13 Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data
(2019)
Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Chromey, A. J. ; Cui, Wei ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, J. P. ; Fortson, Lucy ; Furniss, Amy ; Gent, A. ; Gueta, O. ; Hanna, David ; Hassan, T. ; Hervet, Olivier ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, Adam Nepomuk ; Pandel, D. ; Park, N. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Sadeh, I ; Santander, Marcos ; Scott, S. S. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Sushch, Iurii ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Williamson, T. J. ; Zitzer, B.
We conduct a search for periodic emission in the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray band (E > 100 GeV) from a total of 13 pulsars in an archival VERITAS data set with a total exposure of over 450 hr. The set of pulsars includes many of the brightest young gamma-ray pulsars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The data analysis resulted in nondetections of pulsed VHE gamma-rays from each pulsar. Upper limits on a potential VHE gamma-ray flux are derived at the 95% confidence level above three energy thresholds using two methods. These are the first such searches for pulsed VHE emission from each of the pulsars, and the obtained limits constrain a possible flux component manifesting at VHEs as is seen for the Crab pulsar.
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, Wei ; Errando, Manel ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, John P. ; Flinders, A. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, Amy ; Gillanders, Gerard H. ; Huetten, M. ; Hanna, David ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krause, Maria ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, Gernot ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, Jeremy S. ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, Alexis ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, David A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Vurm, Indrek ; Beloborodov, Andrei
On 2015 March 23, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) responded to a Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) detection of a gamma-ray burst, with observations beginning 270 s after the onset of BAT emission, and only 135 s after the main BAT emission peak. No statistically significant signal is detected above 140 GeV. The VERITAS upper limit on the fluence in a 40-minute integration corresponds to about 1% of the prompt fluence. Our limit is particularly significant because the very-high-energy (VHE) observation started only similar to 2 minutes after the prompt emission peaked, and Fermi-Large Area Telescope observations of numerous other bursts have revealed that the high-energy emission is typically delayed relative to the prompt radiation and lasts significantly longer. Also, the proximity of GRB 150323A (z = 0.593) limits the attenuation by the extragalactic background light to similar to 50% at 100-200 GeV. We conclude that GRB 150323A had an intrinsically very weak high-energy afterglow, or that the GeV spectrum had a turnover below similar to 100 GeV. If the GRB exploded into the stellar wind of a massive progenitor, the VHE non-detection constrains the wind density parameter to be A greater than or similar to 3 x 10(11) g . cm(-1), consistent with a standard Wolf-Rayet progenitor. Alternatively, the VHE emission from the blast wave would be weak in a very tenuous medium such as the interstellar medium, which therefore cannot be ruled out as the environment of GRB 150323A.
Aliu, E. ; Archambault, S. ; Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Behera, B. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Duke, C. ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Theiling, M. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weekes, T. C. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zajczyk, A. ; Zitzer, B.
Abeysekara, A. U. ; Archer, A. ; Aune, Taylor ; Benbow, Wystan ; Bird, Ralph ; Brose, Robert ; Buchovecky, M. ; Bugaev, V. ; Cui, Wei ; Daniel, M. K. ; Falcone, A. ; Feng, Qi ; Finley, John P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Flinders, A. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, Amy ; Gotthelf, Eric V. ; Grube, J. ; Hanna, David ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Huang, K. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Huetten, M. ; Johnson, Caitlin A. ; Kaaret, Philip ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, David ; Krause, Maria ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; Maier, Gernot ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, Reshmi ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, Adam Nepomuk ; Pandel, Dirk ; Park, Nahee ; Petrashyk, A. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, Alexis ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, Gregory T. ; Roache, E. ; Rousselle, J. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, Karlen ; Tyler, J. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wells, R. M. ; Wilcox, P. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, David A. ; Zitzer, B.
We present results from deep observations toward the Cygnus region using 300 hr of very high energy (VHE)gamma-ray data taken with the VERITAS Cerenkov telescope array and over 7 yr of high-energy.-ray data taken with the Fermi satellite at an energy above 1 GeV. As the brightest region of diffuse gamma-ray emission in the northern sky, the Cygnus region provides a promising area to probe the origins of cosmic rays. We report the identification of a potential Fermi-LAT counterpart to VER J2031+415 (TeV J2032+4130) and resolve the extended VHE source VER J2019+368 into two source candidates (VER J2018+367* and VER J2020+368*) and characterize their energy spectra. The Fermi-LAT morphology of 3FGL J2021.0+4031e (the Gamma Cygni supernova remnant) was examined, and a region of enhanced emission coincident with VER J2019+407 was identified and jointly fit with the VERITAS data. By modeling 3FGL J2015.6+3709 as two sources, one located at the location of the pulsar wind nebula CTB 87 and one at the quasar QSO J2015+371, a continuous spectrum from 1 GeV to 10 TeV was extracted for VER J2016+371 (CTB 87). An additional 71 locations coincident with Fermi-LAT sources and other potential objects of interest were tested for VHE gamma-ray emission, with no emission detected and upper limits on the differential flux placed at an average of 2.3% of the Crab Nebula flux. We interpret these observations in a multiwavelength context and present the most detailed gamma-ray view of the region to date.
Arlen, T. ; Aune, T. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Bouvier, A. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cannon, A. ; Cesarini, A. ; Ciupik, L. ; Collins-Hughes, E. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Dickherber, R. ; Dumm, J. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, S. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Finnegan, G. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gall, D. ; Godambe, S. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Holder, J. ; Huan, H. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Imran, A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Karlsson, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lee, K. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; Majumdar, P. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nelson, T. ; de Bhroithe, A. O'Faolain ; Ong, R. A. ; Orr, M. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Pohl, Martin ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Roache, E. ; Ruppel, J. ; Saxon, D. B. ; Schroedter, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Skole, C. ; Smith, A. W. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tesic, G. ; Theiling, M. ; Thibadeau, S. ; Tsurusaki, K. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vivier, M. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Ward, J. E. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; Pfrommer, C. ; Pinzke, A.
Observations of radio halos and relics in galaxy clusters indicate efficient electron acceleration. Protons should likewise be accelerated and, on account of weak energy losses, can accumulate, suggesting that clusters may also be sources of very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. We report here on VHE gamma-ray observations of the Coma galaxy cluster with the VERITAS array of imaging Cerenkov telescopes, with complementing Fermi Large Area Telescope observations at GeV energies. No significant gamma-ray emission from the Coma Cluster was detected. Integral flux upper limits at the 99% confidence level were measured to be on the order of (2-5) x 10(-8) photonsm(-2) s(-1) (VERITAS, >220 GeV) and similar to 2 x 10(-6) photonsm(-2) s(-1) (Fermi, 1-3GeV), respectively. We use the gamma-ray upper limits to constrain cosmic rays (CRs) and magnetic fields in Coma. Using an analytical approach, the CR-to-thermal pressure ratio is constrained to be < 16% from VERITAS data and <1.7% from Fermi data (averaged within the virial radius). These upper limits are starting to constrain the CR physics in self-consistent cosmological cluster simulations and cap the maximum CR acceleration efficiency at structure formation shocks to be <50%. Alternatively, this may argue for non-negligible CR transport processes such as CR streaming and diffusion into the outer cluster regions. Assuming that the radio-emitting electrons of the Coma halo result from hadronic CR interactions, the observations imply a lower limit on the central magnetic field in Coma of similar to(2-5.5) mu G, depending on the radial magnetic field profile and on the gamma-ray spectral index. Since these values are below those inferred by Faraday rotation measurements in Coma (for most of the parameter space), this renders the hadronic model a very plausible explanation of the Coma radio halo. Finally, since galaxy clusters are dark matter (DM) dominated, the VERITAS upper limits have been used to place constraints on the thermally averaged product of the total self-annihilation cross section and the relative velocity of the DM particles, <sigma nu >.
Ahnen, M. L. ; Ansoldi, S. ; Antonelli, L. A. ; Arcaro, C. ; Babie, A. ; Banerjee, B. ; Bangale, P. ; de Almeida, U. Barres ; Barrio, J. A. ; Gonzalez, J. Becerra ; Bednarek, W. ; Bernardini, E. ; Berti, A. ; Biasuzzi, B. ; Biland, A. ; Blanch, O. ; Bonnefoy, S. ; Bonnoli, G. ; Borracci, F. ; Carosi, R. ; Carosi, A. ; Chatterjee, A. ; Colin, P. ; Colombo, E. ; Contreras, J. L. ; Cortina, J. ; Covino, S. ; Cumani, P. ; Da Vela, P. ; Dazzi, F. ; De Angelis, A. ; De Lotto, B. ; Wilhelmi, E. de Ona ; Di Pierro, F. ; Doert, M. ; Dominguez, A. ; Prester, D. Dominis ; Dorner, D. ; Doro, M. ; Einecke, S. ; Glawion, D. Eisenacher ; Elsaesser, D. ; Engelkemeier, M. ; Ramazani, V. Fallah ; Fernandez-Barra, A. ; Fidalgo, D. ; Fonseca, M. V. ; Font, L. ; Fruck, C. ; Galindo, D. ; Lopez, R. J. Garcia ; Garczarczyk, M. ; Gaug, M. ; Giammaria, P. ; Godinovie, N. ; Gora, D. ; Griffiths, S. ; Guberman, D. ; Hadasch, D. ; Hahn, A. ; Hassan, T. ; Hayashida, M. ; Herrera, J. ; Hose, J. ; Hrupec, D. ; Hughes, G. ; Ishio, K. ; Konno, Y. ; Kubo, H. ; Kushida, J. ; Kuvezdie, D. ; Lelas, D. ; Lindfors, E. ; Lombardi, S. ; Longo, F. ; Lopez, M. ; Lopez-Oramas, A. ; Majumdar, P. ; Makariev, M. ; Maneva, G. ; Manganaro, M. ; Mannheim, K. ; Maraschi, L. ; Mariotti, M. ; Martinez, M. ; Mazin, D. ; Menzel, U. ; Minev, M. ; Mirzoyan, R. ; Moralejo, A. ; Moreno, V. ; Moretti, E. ; Munar-Adrover, P. ; Neustroev, V. ; Niedzwiecki, A. ; Rosillo, M. Nievas ; Nilsson, K. ; Nishijima, K. ; Noda, K. ; Nogues, L. ; Paiano, S. ; Palacio, J. ; Paneque, D. ; Paoletti, R. ; Paredes, J. M. ; Paredes-Fortuny, X. ; Pedaletti, G. ; Peresano, M. ; Perri, L. ; Persic, M. ; Moroni, P. G. Prada ; Prandini, E. ; Puljak, I. ; Garcia, J. R. ; Reichardt, I. ; Rhode, W. ; Riti, M. ; Rico, J. ; Saito, T. ; Satalecka, K. ; Schroeder, S. ; Schweizer, T. ; Shore, S. N. ; Sillanpaa, A. ; Sitarek, J. ; Sobczynskall, D. ; Stamerra, A. ; Strzys, M. ; Surie, T. ; Takalo, L. ; Tavecchio, F. ; Temnikov, P. ; Terzie, T. ; Tescaro, D. ; Teshima, M. ; Torres, D. F. ; Torres-Alla, N. ; Treves, A. ; Vanzo, G. ; Acosta, M. Vazquez ; Vovk, I. ; Ward, J. E. ; Will, M. ; Wu, M. H. ; Zarie, D. ; Abdalla, Hassan E. ; Abramowski, A. ; Aharonian, Felix A. ; Benkhali, F. Ait ; Akhperjanian, A. G. ; Andersson, T. ; Angüner, Ekrem Oǧuzhan ; Arakawa, M. ; Arrieta, M. ; Aubert, P. ; Backes, M. ; Balzer, A. ; Barnard, M. ; Becherini, Y. ; Tjus, J. Becker ; Berge, D. ; Bernhard, S. ; Bernlohr, K. ; Blackwell, R. ; Bottcher, M. ; Boisson, C. ; Bolmont, J. ; Bordas, Pol ; Bregeon, J. ; Brun, F. ; Brun, P. ; Bryan, M. ; Btichele, M. ; Bulik, T. ; Capasso, M. ; Carr, J. ; Casanova, Sabrina ; Cerruti, M. ; Chakraborty, N. ; Chalme-Calvet, R. ; Chaves, R. C. G. ; Chen, A. ; Chevalier, J. ; Chretien, M. ; Coffaro, M. ; Colafrancesco, S. ; Cologna, G. ; Condon, B. ; Conrad, J. ; Cui, Y. ; Davids, I. D. ; Decock, J. ; Degrange, B. ; Dei, C. ; Devin, J. ; Dewilt, P. ; Dirson, L. ; Djannati-Atai, A. ; Domainko, W. ; Donath, A. ; Dutson, K. ; Dyks, J. ; Edwards, T. ; Egberts, Kathrin ; Eger, P. ; Ernenwein, J. -P. ; Eschbach, S. ; Farnier, C. ; Fegan, S. ; Fernandes, M. V. ; Fiasson, A. ; Fontaine, G. ; Forster, A. ; Funk, S. ; Ftifiling, M. ; Gabici, S. ; Gajdus, M. ; Gallant, Y. A. ; Garrigoux, T. ; Giavitto, G. ; Giebels, B. ; Glicenstein, J. F. ; Gottschal, D. ; Goya, A. ; Grondin, M. -H. ; Hahn, J. ; Haupt, M. ; Hawkes, J. ; Heinzelmann, G. ; Henri, G. ; Hermann, G. ; Hervet, O. ; Hinton, J. A. ; Hofmann, W. ; Hoischen, Clemens ; Holler, M. ; Horns, D. ; Ivascenko, A. ; Iwasaki, H. ; Jacholkowska, A. ; Jamrozy, M. ; Janiak, M. ; Jankowsky, D. ; Jankowsky, F. ; Jingo, M. ; Jogler, T. ; Jouvin, L. ; Jung-Richardt, I. ; Kastendieck, M. A. ; Katarzyfiski, K. ; Katsuragawa, M. ; Katz, U. ; Kerszberg, D. ; Khangulyan, D. ; Khelifi, B. ; Kieffer, M. ; King, J. ; Klepser, S. ; Klochkov, D. ; Kluiniak, W. ; Kolitzus, D. ; Komin, Nu. ; Kosack, K. ; Krakau, S. ; Kraus, M. ; Krtiger, P. P. ; Laffon, H. ; Lamanna, G. ; Lau, J. ; Lees, J. -P. ; Lefaucheur, J. ; Lefranc, V. ; Lemiere, A. ; Lemoine-Goumard, M. ; Lenain, J. -P. ; Leser, Eva ; Lohse, T. ; Lorentz, M. ; Liu, R. ; Lopez-Coto, R. ; Lypova, I. ; Marandon, V. ; Marcowith, Alexandre ; Mariaud, C. ; Marx, R. ; Maurin, G. ; Maxted, N. ; Mayer, M. ; Meintjes, P. J. ; Meyer, M. ; Mitche, A. M. W. ; Moderski, R. ; Mohamed, M. ; Mohrmann, L. ; Mora, K. ; Moulin, Emmanuel ; Murach, T. ; Nakashima, S. ; De Naurois, M. ; Niederwanger, F. ; Niemiec, J. ; Oakes, L. ; Odaka, H. ; Ott, S. ; Ohm, S. ; Ostrowski, M. ; Oya, I. ; Padovani, M. ; Panter, M. ; Parsons, R. D. ; Pekeur, N. W. ; Pelletier, G. ; Perennes, C. ; Petrucci, P. -O. ; Peyaud, B. ; Pie, Q. ; Pita, S. ; Poon, H. ; Prokhorov, D. ; Prokoph, H. ; Ptffilhofer, G. ; Punch, M. ; Quirrenbach, A. ; Raab, S. ; Reimer, A. ; Reimer, O. ; Renaud, M. ; De Los Reyes, R. ; Richter, S. ; Rieger, F. ; Romoli, C. ; Rowell, G. ; Rudak, B. ; Rulten, C. B. ; Safi-Harb, S. ; Sahakian, V. ; Saito, S. ; Salek, D. ; Sanchez, D. A. ; Santangelo, Andrea ; Sasaki, M. ; Schlickeiser, R. ; Schtissler, F. ; Schulz, A. ; Schwanke, U. ; Schwemmer, S. ; Seglar-Arroyo, M. ; Settimo, M. ; Seyffert, A. S. ; Shafi, N. ; Shilon, I. ; Simoni, R. ; So, H. ; Spanier, F. ; Spengler, G. ; Spies, F. ; Stawarz, L. ; Steenkamp, R. ; Stegmann, Christian ; Stycz, K. ; Sushch, I. ; Takahashi, T. ; Tavernet, J. -P. ; Tavernier, T. ; Taylor, A. M. ; Terrier, R. ; Tibaldo, L. ; Tiziani, D. ; Tluczykont, M. ; Trichard, C. ; Tsuji, N. ; Tuffs, R. ; Uchiyama, Y. ; Van der Walt, D. J. ; Van Eldik, C. ; Van Rensburg, C. ; Van Soelen, B. ; Vasileiadis, G. ; Veh, J. ; Venter, C. ; Viana, A. ; Vincent, P. ; Vink, J. ; Voisin, F. ; Vok, H. J. ; Vuillaume, T. ; Wadiasingh, Z. ; Wagner, S. J. ; Wagner, P. ; Wagner, R. M. ; White, R. ; Wierzcholska, A. ; Willmann, P. ; Wornlein, A. ; Wouters, D. ; Yang, R. ; Zabalza, V. ; Zaborov, D. ; Zacharias, M. ; Zanin, R. ; Zdziarski, A. A. ; Zech, Alraune ; Zefi, F. ; Ziegler, A. ; Zywuckan, N.
Context. The large jet kinetic power and non-thermal processes occurring in the microquasar SS 433 make this source a good candidate for a very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emitter. Gamma-ray fluxes above the sensitivity limits of current Cherenkov telescopes have been predicted for both the central X-ray binary system and the interaction regions of SS 433 jets with the surrounding W50 nebula. Non-thermal emission at lower energies has been previously reported, indicating that efficient particle acceleration is taking place in the system. Aims. We explore the capability of SS 433 to emit VHE gamma rays during periods in which the expected flux attenuation due to periodic eclipses (P-orb similar to 13.1 days) and precession of the circumstellar disk (P-pre similar to 162 days) periodically covering the central binary system is expected to be at its minimum. The eastern and western SS 433/W50 interaction regions are also examined using the whole data set available. We aim to constrain some theoretical models previously developed for this system with our observations. Methods. We made use of dedicated observations from the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescopes (MAGIC) and High Energy Spectroscopic System (H.E.S.S.) of SS 433 taken from 2006 to 2011. These observation were combined for the first time and accounted for a total effective observation time of 16.5 h, which were scheduled considering the expected phases of minimum absorption of the putative VHE emission. Gamma-ray attenuation does not affect the jet/medium interaction regions. In this case, the analysis of a larger data set amounting to similar to 40-80 h, depending on the region, was employed. Results. No evidence of VHE gamma-ray emission either from the central binary system or from the eastern/western interaction regions was found. Upper limits were computed for the combined data set. Differential fluxes from the central system are found to be less than or similar to 10(-12)-10(-13) TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1) in an energy interval ranging from similar to few x 100 GeV to similar to few TeV. Integral flux limits down to similar to 10(-12)-10(-13) ph cm(-2) s(-1) and similar to 10(-13)-10(-14) ph cm(-2) s(-1) are obtained at 300 and 800 GeV, respectively. Our results are used to place constraints on the particle acceleration fraction at the inner jet regions and on the physics of the jet/medium interactions. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the fraction of the jet kinetic power that is transferred to relativistic protons must be relatively small in SS 433, q(p) <= 2.5 x 10(-5), to explain the lack of TeV and neutrino emission from the central system. At the SS 433/W50 interface, the presence of magnetic fields greater than or similar to 10 mu G is derived assuming a synchrotron origin for the observed X-ray emission. This also implies the presence of high-energy electrons with E-e up to 50 TeV, preventing an efficient production of gamma-ray fluxes in these interaction regions.
Aliu, E. ; Aune, T. ; Barnacka, Anna ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Biteau, Jonathan ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connaughton, V. ; Cui, W. ; Dickinson, H. J. ; Eisch, J. D. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortin, P. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hakansson, Nils ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; McArthur, S. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Millis, J. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weiner, O. M. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B. ; McEnery, J. E. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Veres, P. ; Zhu, S.
Prompt emission from the very fluent and nearby (z = 0.34) gamma-ray burst GRB130427A was detected by several orbiting telescopes and by ground-based, wide-field-of-view optical transient monitors. Apart from the intensity and proximity of this GRB, it is exceptional due to the extremely long-lived high-energy (100 MeV to 100 GeV) gamma-ray emission, which was detected by the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope for similar to 70 ks after the initial burst. The persistent, hard-spectrum, high-energy emission suggests that the highest-energy gamma rays may have been produced via synchrotron self-Compton processes though there is also evidence that the high-energy emission may instead be an extension of the synchrotron spectrum. VERITAS, a ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array, began follow-up observations of GRB130427A similar to 71 ks (similar to 20 hr) after the onset of the burst. The GRB was not detected with VERITAS; however, the high elevation of the observations, coupled with the low redshift of the GRB, make VERITAS a very sensitive probe of the emission from GRB130427A for E > 100 GeV. The non-detection and consequent upper limit derived place constraints on the synchrotron self-Compton model of high-energy gamma-ray emission from this burst.
Dark matter constraints from a joint analysis of dwarf Spheroidal galaxy observations with VERITAS
(2017)
Archambault, S. ; Archer, A. ; Benbow, W. ; Bird, R. ; Bourbeau, E. ; Brantseg, T. ; Buchovecky, M. ; Buckley, J. H. ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cerruti, M. ; Christiansen, J. L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, W. ; Daniel, M. K. ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Geringer-Sameth, A. ; Griffin, S. ; Grube, J. ; Hütten, M. ; Hakansson, N. ; Hanna, D. ; Hervet, O. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Hummensky, B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kar, P. ; Kelley-Hoskins, N. ; Kertzman, M. ; Kieda, D. ; Koushiappas, S. ; Krause, M. ; Krennrich, F. ; Lang, M. J. ; Lin, T. T. Y. ; McArthur, S. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, D. ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Pohl, M. ; Popkow, A. ; Pueschel, Elisa ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Rulten, C. ; Sadeh, I. ; Santander, M. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Smith, A. W. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Trepanier, S. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Wilcox, P. ; Williams, D. A. ; Zitzer, B.
We present constraints on the annihilation cross section of weakly interacting massive particles dark matter based on the joint statistical analysis of four dwarf galaxies with VERITAS. These results are derived from an optimized photon weighting statistical technique that improves on standard imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT) analyses by utilizing the spectral and spatial properties of individual photon events. We report on the results of similar to 230 hours of observations of five dwarf galaxies and the joint statistical analysis of four of the dwarf galaxies. We find no evidence of gamma-ray emission from any individual dwarf nor in the joint analysis. The derived upper limit on the dark matter annihilation cross section from the joint analysis is 1.35 x 10(-23) cm(3) s(-1) at 1 TeV for the bottom quark (b (b) over bar) final state, 2.85 x 10(-24) cm(3) s(-1) at 1 TeV for the tau lepton (tau+tau(-)) final state and 1.32 x 10-25 cm(3) s(-1) at 1 TeV for the gauge boson (gamma gamma) final state.
Archambault, S. ; Aune, T. ; Behera, B. ; Beilicke, M. ; Benbow, W. ; Berger, K. ; Bird, R. ; Biteau, Jonathan ; Bugaev, V. ; Byrum, K. ; Cardenzana, J. V. ; Cerruti, M. ; Chen, Xuhui ; Ciupik, L. ; Connolly, M. P. ; Cui, Wei ; Dumm, J. ; Errando, M. ; Falcone, A. ; Federici, Simone ; Feng, Q. ; Finley, J. P. ; Fleischhack, H. ; Fortson, L. ; Furniss, A. ; Galante, N. ; Gillanders, G. H. ; Griffin, S. ; Griffiths, S. T. ; Grube, J. ; Gyuk, G. ; Hanna, D. ; Holder, J. ; Hughes, G. ; Humensky, T. B. ; Johnson, C. A. ; Kaaret, P. ; Kertzman, M. ; Khassen, Y. ; Kieda, D. ; Krawczynski, H. ; Krennrich, F. ; Kumar, S. ; Lang, M. J. ; Madhavan, A. S. ; Maier, G. ; McCann, A. ; Meagher, K. ; Moriarty, P. ; Mukherjee, R. ; Nieto, Daniel ; Ong, R. A. ; Otte, A. N. ; Park, N. ; Pohl, Martin ; Popkow, A. ; Prokoph, H. ; Quinn, J. ; Ragan, K. ; Rajotte, J. ; Reyes, L. C. ; Reynolds, P. T. ; Richards, G. T. ; Roache, E. ; Sembroski, G. H. ; Shahinyan, K. ; Staszak, D. ; Telezhinsky, Igor O. ; Tucci, J. V. ; Tyler, J. ; Varlotta, A. ; Vassiliev, V. V. ; Vincent, S. ; Wakely, S. P. ; Weinstein, A. ; Welsing, R. ; Wilhelm, Alina ; Williams, D. A. ; Ackermann, Margit ; Ajello, M. ; Albert, A. ; Baldini, L. ; Bastieri, D. ; Bellazzini, R. ; Bissaldi, E. ; Bregeon, Johan ; Buehler, R. ; Buson, S. ; Caliandro, G. A. ; Cameron, R. A. ; Caraveo, P. A. ; Cavazzuti, E. ; Charles, E. ; Chiang, J. ; Ciprini, S. ; Claus, R. ; Cutini, S. ; de Angelis, A. ; de Palma, F. ; Dermer, C. D. ; Digel, S. W. ; Di Venere, L. ; Drell, P. S. ; Favuzzi, C. ; Franckowiak, A. ; Fusco, P. ; Gargano, F. ; Gasparrini, D. ; Giglietto, N. ; Giordano, F. ; Giroletti, M. ; Grenier, I. A. ; Guiriec, S. ; Jogler, T. ; Kuss, M. ; Larsson, S. ; Latronico, L. ; Longo, F. ; Loparco, F. ; Lubrano, P. ; Madejski, G. M. ; Mayer, M. ; Mazziotta, Mario Nicola ; Michelson, P. F. ; Mizuno, T. ; Monzani, M. E. ; Morselli, Aldo ; Murgia, S. ; Nuss, E. ; Ohsugi, T. ; Ormes, J. F. ; Paneque, D. ; Perkins, J. S. ; Piron, F. ; Pivato, G. ; Raino, S. ; Razzano, M. ; Reimer, A. ; Reimer, Olaf ; Ritz, S. ; Schaal, M. ; Sgro, C. ; Siskind, E. J. ; Spinelli, P. ; Takahashi, H. ; Tibaldo, L. ; Tinivella, M. ; Troja, E. ; Vianello, G. ; Werner, M. ; Wood, M.
We present deep VERITAS observations of the blazar PKS 1424+240, along with contemporaneous Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope, and Swift UV Optical Telescope data between 2009 February 19 and 2013 June 8. This blazar resides at a redshift of z >= 0.6035, displaying a significantly attenuated gamma-ray flux above 100 GeV due to photon absorption via pair-production with the extragalactic background light. We present more than 100 hr of VERITAS observations over three years, a multiwavelength light curve, and the contemporaneous spectral energy distributions. The source shows a higher flux of (2.1 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) photons m(-2) s(-1) above 120 GeV in 2009 and 2011 as compared to the flux measured in 2013, corresponding to (1.02 +/- 0.08) x 10-7 photons m(-2) s(-1) above 120 GeV. The measured differential very high energy (VHE; E >= 100 GeV) spectral indices are Gamma = 3.8 +/- 0.3, 4.3 +/- 0.6 and 4.5 +/- 0.2 in 2009, 2011, and 2013, respectively. No significant spectral change across the observation epochs is detected. We find no evidence for variability at gamma-ray opacities of greater than tau = 2, where it is postulated that any variability would be small and occur on timescales longer than a year if hadronic cosmic-ray interactions with extragalactic photon fields provide a secondary VHE photon flux. The data cannot rule out such variability due to low statistics.