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arXiv 1502.03012astro-ph.HE
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VERITAS对甚高能量Blazar的观测及其对宇宙学研究的潜力

VERITAS Observations of Very High Energy Blazars and Potential for Cosmological Insight

Amy Furniss

摘要:

伽玛射线耀变体是最极端的天体物理学来源之一,其所包含的现象比地球加速器所能达到的能量要高得多。这些星系被认为是活动星系核,由超大质量黑洞吸积提供动力,并具有沿地球视线指向的相对论喷流。所显示的发射在迄今为止探测的所有波长和时间尺度上都是可变的,需要同时进行宽带观测来解开相对论喷流内发射过程的细节。甚高能量(VHE;由这些源发射的光子($E\ge$ 100 GeV)可以用地面成像大气切伦科夫望远镜(如VERITAS)探测到。当这些光子传播到银河系外的距离时,与弥漫在整个宇宙中的漫射星光的相互作用导致了依赖于距离和能量的伽马射线不透明度,为探测宇宙尺度上的光子密度提供了一种独特的方法。这些星系也被假定为超高能宇宙射线的潜在来源,这一理论可以通过对探测中等伽马射线不透明度的源进行深伽马射线观测来检验。在这项工作中,我将强调正在进行的研究,从VERITAS观测VHE耀变体的宽带发射,以及利用它们的宇宙学洞察力的潜力。

英文摘要:

Gamma-ray blazars are among the most extreme astrophysical sources, harboring phenomena far more energetic than those attainable by terrestrial accelerators. These galaxies are understood to be active galactic nuclei that are powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes and have relativistic jets pointed along the Earth line of sight. The emission displayed is variable at all wavelengths and timescales probed thus far, necessitating contemporaneous broadband observations to disentangle the details of the emission processes within the relativistic jets. The very high energy (VHE; $E\ge$100 GeV) photons emitted by these sources are detectable with ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes such as VERITAS. As these photons propagate extragalactic distances, the interaction with the diffuse starlight that pervades the entire Universe results in a distance and energy dependent gamma-ray opacity, offering a unique method for probing photon densities on cosmological scales. These galaxies have also been postulated to be potential sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, a theory which can be examined through deep gamma-ray observations of sources which probe moderate gamma-ray opacities. Within this work, I will highlight ongoing research regarding the broadband emission from VERITAS-observed VHE blazars, as well as the potential to use them for cosmological insight.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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