Engineering topics

Hou, X.

Publications and source records attributed to Hou, X..

30 records · Page 2

DOE OSTI2013

CONSTRAINTS ON THE GALACTIC POPULATION OF TeV PULSAR WIND NEBULAE USING FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS

Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) have been established as the most populous class of TeV {gamma}-ray emitters. Since launch, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has identified five high-energy (100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) {gamma}-ray sources as PWNe and detected a large number of PWN candidates, all powered by young and energetic pulsars. The wealth of multi-wavelength data available and the new results provided by Fermi-LAT give us an opportunity to find new PWNe and to explore the radiative processes taking place in known ones. The TeV {gamma}-ray unidentified (UNID) sources are the best candidates for finding new PWNe. Using 45 months of Fermi-LAT data for energies above 10 GeV, an analysis was performed near the position of 58 TeV PWNe and UNIDs within 5 Degree-Sign of the Galactic plane to establish new constraints on PWN properties and find new clues on the nature of UNIDs. Of the 58 sources, 30 were detected, and this work provides their {gamma}-ray fluxes for energies above 10 GeV. The spectral energy distributions and upper limits, in the multi-wavelength context, also provide new information on the source nature and can help distinguish between emission scenarios, i.e., between classification as a pulsar candidate or as a PWN candidate. Six new GeV PWN candidates are described in detail and compared with existing models. A population study of GeV PWN candidates as a function of the pulsar/PWN system characteristics is presented.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

THE FERMI ALL-SKY VARIABILITY ANALYSIS: A LIST OF FLARING GAMMA-RAY SOURCES AND THE SEARCH FOR TRANSIENTS IN OUR GALAXY

In this paper, we present the Fermi All-sky Variability Analysis (FAVA), a tool to systematically study the variability of the gamma-ray sky measured by the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. For each direction on the sky, FAVA compares the number of gamma-rays observed in a given time window to the number of gamma-rays expected for the average emission detected from that direction. This method is used in weekly time intervals to derive a list of 215 flaring gamma-ray sources. We proceed to discuss the 27 sources found at Galactic latitudes smaller than 10 Degree-Sign and show that, despite their low latitudes, most of them are likely of extragalactic origin.

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DOE OSTI2013

DETERMINATION OF THE POINT-SPREAD FUNCTION FOR THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE FROM ON-ORBIT DATA AND LIMITS ON PAIR HALOS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is a pair-conversion telescope designed to detect photons with energies from Almost-Equal-To 20 MeV to >300 GeV. The pre-launch response functions of the LAT were determined through extensive Monte Carlo simulations and beam tests. The point-spread function (PSF) characterizing the angular distribution of reconstructed photons as a function of energy and geometry in the detector is determined here from two years of on-orbit data by examining the distributions of {gamma} rays from pulsars and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Above 3 GeV, the PSF is found to be broader than the pre-launch PSF. We checked for dependence of the PSF on the class of {gamma}-ray source and observation epoch and found none. We also investigated several possible spatial models for pair-halo emission around BL Lac AGNs. We found no evidence for a component with spatial extension larger than the PSF and set upper limits on the amplitude of halo emission in stacked images of low- and high-redshift BL Lac AGNs and the TeV blazars 1ES0229+200 and 1ES0347-121.

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DOE OSTI2013

Six millisecond pulsars detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and the radio/gamma-ray connection of millisecond pulsars

In this work, we report on the discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from five millisecond pulsars (MSPs) using the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and timing ephemerides provided by various radio observatories. We also present confirmation of the gamma-ray pulsations from a sixth source, PSR J2051-0827. Five of these six MSPs are in binary systems: PSRs J1713+0747, J1741+1351, J1600-3053 and the two black widow binary pulsars PSRs J0610-2100 and J2051-0827. The only isolated MSP is the nearby PSR J1024-0719, which is also known to emit X-rays. We present X-ray observations in the direction of PSRs J1600-3053 and J2051-0827. While PSR J2051-0827 is firmly detected, we can only give upper limits for the X-ray flux of PSR J1600-3053. There are no dedicated X-ray observations available for the other three objects. The MSPs mentioned above, together with most of the MSPs detected by Fermi, are used to put together a sample of 30 gamma-ray MSPs. This sample is used to study the morphology and phase connection of radio and gamma-ray pulse profiles. We show that MSPs with pulsed gamma-ray emission which is phase-aligned with the radio emission present the steepest radio spectra and the largest magnetic fields at the light cylinder among all MSPs. Also, we observe a trend towards very low, or undetectable, radio linear polarization levels. These properties could be attributed to caustic radio emission produced at a range of different altitudes in the magnetosphere. In conclusion, we note that most of these characteristics are also observed in the Crab pulsar, the only other radio pulsar known to exhibit phase-aligned radio and gamma-ray emission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Binary Millisecond Pulsar Discovery via Gamma-Ray Pulsations

We present that millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such “recycled” rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by their spin-modulated radio emission. In a computing-intensive blind search of gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (with partial constraints from optical data), we detected a 2.5-millisecond pulsar, PSR J1311-3430. This unambiguously explains a formerly unidentified gamma-ray source that had been a decade-long enigma, confirming previous conjectures. Lastly, the pulsar is in a circular orbit with an orbital period of only 93 minutes, the shortest of any spin-powered pulsar binary ever found.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE ON ORBIT: EVENT CLASSIFICATION, INSTRUMENT RESPONSE FUNCTIONS, AND CALIBRATION

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT, hereafter LAT), the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) mission, is an imaging, wide field-of-view, high-energy {gamma}-ray telescope, covering the energy range from 20 MeV to more than 300 GeV. During the first years of the mission, the LAT team has gained considerable insight into the in-flight performance of the instrument. Accordingly, we have updated the analysis used to reduce LAT data for public release as well as the instrument response functions (IRFs), the description of the instrument performance provided for data analysis. In this paper, we describe the effects that motivated these updates. Furthermore, we discuss how we originally derived IRFs from Monte Carlo simulations and later corrected those IRFs for discrepancies observed between flight and simulated data. We also give details of the validations performed using flight data and quantify the residual uncertainties in the IRFs. Finally, we describe techniques the LAT team has developed to propagate those uncertainties into estimates of the systematic errors on common measurements such as fluxes and spectra of astrophysical sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

GRB110721A: AN EXTREME PEAK ENERGY AND SIGNATURES OF THE PHOTOSPHERE

GRB110721A was observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope using its two instruments, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). The burst consisted of one major emission episode which lasted for {approx}24.5 s (in the GBM) and had a peak flux of (5.7 {+-} 0.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2}. The time-resolved emission spectrum is best modeled with a combination of a Band function and a blackbody spectrum. The peak energy of the Band component was initially 15 {+-} 2 MeV, which is the highest value ever detected in a GRB. This measurement was made possible by combining GBM/BGO data with LAT Low Energy events to achieve continuous 10-100 MeV coverage. The peak energy later decreased as a power law in time with an index of -1.89 {+-} 0.10. The temperature of the blackbody component also decreased, starting from {approx}80 keV, and the decay showed a significant break after {approx}2 s. The spectrum provides strong constraints on the standard synchrotron model, indicating that alternative mechanisms may give rise to the emission at these energies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE STUDY OF COSMIC RAYS AND THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN NEARBY MOLECULAR CLOUDS

We report an analysis of the interstellar {gamma}-ray emission from the Chamaeleon, R Coronae Australis (R CrA), and Cepheus and Polaris flare regions with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. They are among the nearest molecular cloud complexes, within {approx}300 pc from the solar system. The {gamma}-ray emission produced by interactions of cosmic rays (CRs) and interstellar gas in those molecular clouds is useful to study the CR densities and distributions of molecular gas close to the solar system. The obtained {gamma}-ray emissivities above 250 MeV are (5.9 {+-} 0.1{sub stat}{sup +0.9}{sub -1.0sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -27} photons s{sup -1} sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1}, (10.2 {+-} 0.4{sub stat}{sup +1.2}{sub -1.7sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -27} photons s{sup -1} sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1}, and (9.1 {+-} 0.3{sub stat}{sup +1.5}{sub -0.6sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -27} photons s{sup -1} sr{sup -1} H-atom{sup -1} for the Chamaeleon, R CrA, and Cepheus and Polaris flare regions, respectively. Whereas the energy dependences of the emissivities agree well with that predicted from direct CR observations at the Earth, the measured emissivities from 250 MeV to 10 GeV indicate a variation of the CR density by {approx}20% in the neighborhood of the solar system, even if we consider systematic uncertainties. The molecular mass calibrating ratio, X{sub CO} = N(H{sub 2})/W{sub CO}, is found to be (0.96 {+-} 0.06{sub stat}{sup +0.15}{sub -0.12sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20} H{sub 2}-molecule cm{sup -2} (K km s{sup -1}){sup -1}, (0.99 {+-} 0.08{sub stat}{sup +0.18}{sub -0.10sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20} H{sub 2}-molecule cm{sup -2} (K km s{sup -1}){sup -1}, and (0.63 {+-} 0.02{sub stat}{sup +0.09}{sub -0.07sys}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20} H{sub 2}-molecule cm{sup -2} (K km s{sup -1}){sup -1} for the Chamaeleon, R CrA, and Cepheus and Polaris flare regions, respectively, suggesting a variation of X{sub CO} in the vicinity of the solar system. From the obtained values of X{sub CO}, the masses of molecular gas traced by W{sub CO} in the Chamaeleon, R CrA, and Cepheus and Polaris flare regions are estimated to be {approx}5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 3} M{sub Sun }, {approx}10{sup 3} M{sub Sun }, and {approx}3.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 4} M{sub Sun }, respectively. A comparable amount of gas not traced well by standard H I and CO surveys is found in the regions investigated.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Gamma-ray observations of the Orion Molecular Clouds with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

We report on the gamma-ray observations of giant molecular clouds Orion A and B with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray emission in the energy band between ~100 MeV and ~100 GeV is predicted to trace the gas mass distribution in the clouds through nuclear interactions between the Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and interstellar gas. The gamma-ray production cross-section for the nuclear interaction is known to ~10% precision which makes the LAT a powerful tool to measure the gas mass column density distribution of molecular clouds for a known CR intensity. We present here such distributions for Orion A and B, and correlate them with those of the velocity-integrated CO intensity (W CO) at a 1° × 1° pixel level. The correlation is found to be linear over a W CO range of ~10-fold when divided in three regions, suggesting penetration of nuclear CRs to most of the cloud volumes. The W CO-to-mass conversion factor, X CO, is found to be ~2.3 × 10 20 cm -2 (K km s –1 ) –1 for the high-longitude part of Orion A (l > 212°), ~1.7 times higher than ~1.3 × 10 20 found for the rest of Orion A and B. We interpret the apparent high X CO in the high-longitude region of Orion A in the light of recent works proposing a nonlinear relation between H2 and CO densities in the diffuse molecular gas. W CO decreases faster than the H 2 column density in the region making the gas "darker" to W CO.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

A STATISTICAL APPROACH TO RECOGNIZING SOURCE CLASSES FOR UNASSOCIATED SOURCES IN THE FIRST FERMI-LAT CATALOG

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) First Source Catalog (1FGL) provided spatial, spectral, and temporal properties for a large number of {gamma}-ray sources using a uniform analysis method. After correlating with the most-complete catalogs of source types known to emit {gamma} rays, 630 of these sources are 'unassociated' (i.e., have no obvious counterparts at other wavelengths). Here, we employ two statistical analyses of the primary {gamma}-ray characteristics for these unassociated sources in an effort to correlate their {gamma}-ray properties with the active galactic nucleus (AGN) and pulsar populations in 1FGL. Based on the correlation results, we classify 221 AGN-like and 134 pulsar-like sources in the 1FGL unassociated sources. The results of these source 'classifications' appear to match the expected source distributions, especially at high Galactic latitudes. While useful for planning future multiwavelength follow-up observations, these analyses use limited inputs, and their predictions should not be considered equivalent to 'probable source classes' for these sources. We discuss multiwavelength results and catalog cross-correlations to date, and provide new source associations for 229 Fermi-LAT sources that had no association listed in the 1FGL catalog. By validating the source classifications against these new associations, we find that the new association matches the predicted source class in {approx}80% of the sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

FERMI-LAT OBSERVATIONS OF THE DIFFUSE {gamma}-RAY EMISSION: IMPLICATIONS FOR COSMIC RAYS AND THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

The {gamma}-ray sky >100 MeV is dominated by the diffuse emissions from interactions of cosmic rays with the interstellar gas and radiation fields of the Milky Way. Observations of these diffuse emissions provide a tool to study cosmic-ray origin and propagation, and the interstellar medium. We present measurements from the first 21 months of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) mission and compare with models of the diffuse {gamma}-ray emission generated using the GALPROP code. The models are fitted to cosmic-ray data and incorporate astrophysical input for the distribution of cosmic-ray sources, interstellar gas, and radiation fields. To assess uncertainties associated with the astrophysical input, a grid of models is created by varying within observational limits the distribution of cosmic-ray sources, the size of the cosmic-ray confinement volume (halo), and the distribution of interstellar gas. An all-sky maximum-likelihood fit is used to determine the X{sub CO} factor, the ratio between integrated CO-line intensity and H{sub 2} column density, the fluxes and spectra of the {gamma}-ray point sources from the first Fermi-LAT catalog, and the intensity and spectrum of the isotropic background including residual cosmic rays that were misclassified as {gamma}-rays, all of which have some dependency on the assumed diffuse emission model. The models are compared on the basis of their maximum-likelihood ratios as well as spectra, longitude, and latitude profiles. We also provide residual maps for the data following subtraction of the diffuse emission models. The models are consistent with the data at high and intermediate latitudes but underpredict the data in the inner Galaxy for energies above a few GeV. Possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed, including the contribution by undetected point-source populations and spectral variations of cosmic rays throughout the Galaxy. In the outer Galaxy, we find that the data prefer models with a flatter distribution of cosmic-ray sources, a larger cosmic-ray halo, or greater gas density than is usually assumed. Our results in the outer Galaxy are consistent with other Fermi-LAT studies of this region that used different analysis methods than employed in this paper.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Anisotropies in the diffuse gamma-ray background measured by the Fermi LAT

The contribution of unresolved sources to the diffuse gamma-ray background could induce anisotropies in this emission on small angular scales. Here, we analyze the angular power spectrum of the diffuse emission measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope at Galactic latitudes | b | > 30 ° in four energy bins spanning 1–50 GeV. At multipoles ℓ ≥ 155 , corresponding to angular scales ≲ 2 ° , angular power above the photon noise level is detected at > 99.99 % confidence level in the 1–2 GeV, 2–5 GeV, and 5–10 GeV energy bins, and at > 99 % confidence level at 10–50 GeV. Within each energy bin the measured angular power takes approximately the same value at all multipoles ℓ ≥ 155 , suggesting that it originates from the contribution of one or more unclustered source populations. Furthermore, the amplitude of the angular power normalized to the mean intensity in each energy bin is consistent with a constant value at all energies, C P / < I > 2 = 9.05 ± 0.84 × 10 - 6 sr , while the energy dependence of C P is consistent with the anisotropy arising from one or more source populations with power-law photon spectra with spectral index Γ s = 2.40 ± 0.07 . We also discuss the implications of the measured angular power for gamma-ray source populations that may provide a contribution to the diffuse gamma-ray background.

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