First Detection of Photons with Energy beyond 100 TeV from an Astrophysical Source

Amenomori, M.; Bao, Yiwei; Bi, X. J.; Chen, D; Chen, T L; Chen, W Y; Cai, X.; Chen, Y; Cui, S. W.; Ding, L. K.; Fang, J.; Fang, Kun; Feng, C.; Feng, Z.; Feng, Z. Y.; Gao, Qi; Gou, Q. B.; Guo, Y. Q.; He, H. H.; He, Ze; Hibino, K.; Hotta, N.; Hu, Haibing; Hu, Hongbo; Huang, J.; Jia, H. Y.; Jiang, L.; Jin, Hong-Bo; Kajino, F.; Kasahara, K.; Katayose, Y.; Kato, C.; Kato, Shinsuke; Kawata, K.; Kozai, M.; Le, G. M.; Li, A F; Li, H J; Li, W J; Lin, Yu-Hui; Liu, B; Liu, C; Liu, J S; Liu, M Y; Lou, Y.; Lü, H.; Meng, X. R.; Mitsui, H.; Munakata, K.; Nakamura, Yuya

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.123.051101

Cited by 184 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…pevatron_aa_04092019 exclusion of the leptonic scenario for a given γ-ray source is, however, very challenging. For example, as recently discussed, even the production of γ-rays with an energy exceeding 100 TeV is possible in a leptonic scenario (Amenomori et al 2019). The non-detection of a γ-ray energy cutoff at energies below few 100 TeV is therefore not considered as a sufficient criteria for the identification of a hadronic Pevatron.…”

Section: Pevatron Candidate Search Methodsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Search for Galactic Pevatron candidates in a population of unidentifiedγ-ray sources

Spengler

2020

A&A

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Aims.A list of Pevatron candidates is presented to enable deeper observations and dedicated analyses. Methods. Lower limits on the energy cutoff for unidentified γ-ray sources detected in the HESS galactic plane survey are derived. Additional public data from the VERITAS, HESS and Milagro experiments are used for MGRO J1908+06 to confirm the limit derived from the HESS galactic plane survey data and to enable further conclusions on the presence of spectral breaks. Results. Five Pevatron candidates are identified in the HESS galactic plane survey. The cutoff of the γ-ray spectrum for these sources is larger than 20 TeV at 90% confidence level. The γ-ray sources MGRO J1908+06 and HESS J1641-463, found to be Pevatron candidates in the analysis of the HESS galactic plane survey catalog, had been discussed as Pevatron candidates before. For MGRO J1908+06, the lower limit on the γ-ray energy cutoff is 30 TeV at 90% confidence level. This is a factor of almost two larger than previous results. Additionally, a break in the γ-ray spectrum at energies between 1 TeV and 10 TeV with an index change ∆Γ > 0.5 can be excluded at 90% confidence level for MGRO J1908+06. The energy cutoff of accelerated particles is larger than 100 TeV at 90% confidence level in a hadronic scenario for all five Pevatron candidates. A hadronic scenario is plausible for at least three of the Pevatron candidates, based on the presence of nearby molecular clouds and supernova remnants.

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Section: Pevatron Candidate Search Methodsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Search for Galactic Pevatron candidates in a population of unidentifiedγ-ray sources

Spengler

2020

A&A

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“…n = 2 in this case. We explicitly note that, since E QG ∼ 10 19 GeV, second order effects are almost not relevant even for photons of at 0.1 PeV energies (10 14 eV), the highest energy photons ever recorded, recently confirmed to be emitted by the Crab Nebula [34]. Indeed also for these extreme photons (E PHOT /E QG ) 2 ∼ 10 −28 .…”

Section: Gw Triangulation and Em Counterparts (Fermi Gbm Integral Hermentioning

confidence: 79%

GrailQuest and HERMES: hunting for gravitational wave electromagnetic counterparts and probing space-time quantum foam

Burderi

Salvo

Riggio

et al. 2021

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2020: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

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GrailQuest (Gamma-ray Astronomy International Laboratory for Quantum Exploration of Space-Time) is an ambitious astrophysical mission concept that uses a fleet of small satellites whose main objective is to search for a dispersion law for light propagation in vacuo. Within Quantum Gravity theories, different models for space-time quantization predict relative discrepancies of the speed of photons w.r.t. the speed of light that depend on the ratio of the photon energy to the Planck energy. This ratio is as small as 10 −23 for photons in the γ − ray band (100 keV). Therefore, to detect this effect, light must propagate over enormous distances and the experiment must have extraordinary sensitivity. Gamma-Ray Bursts, occurring at cosmological distances, could be used to detect this tiny signature of space-time granularity. This can be obtained by coherently combine a huge number of small instruments distributed in space to act as a single detector of unprecedented effective area. This is the first example of high-energy distributed astronomy: a new concept of modular observatory of huge overall collecting area consisting in a fleet of small satellites in low orbits, with sub-microsecond time resolution and wide energy band (keV-MeV). The enormous number of collected photons will allow to effectively search these energy dependent delays. Moreover, GrailQuest will allow to perform temporal triangulation of impulsive events with arc-second positional accuracies: an extraordinary sensitive X-ray/Gamma all-sky monitor crucial for hunting the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of Gravitational Waves, that will play a paramount role in the future of Multi-messenger Astronomy. A pathfinder of GrailQuest is already under development through the HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) project: a fleet of six 3U cube-sats to be launched by the end of 2022.

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“…Based on the criterion of muon number measured in an air shower by the MD, we successfully suppress 99.9% of the cosmic-ray background events with energies E > 100 TeV. As a result, 24 gamma-like events with E > 100 TeV were observed from the Crab Nebula against 5.5 cosmic-ray background events, corresponding to 5.6σ statistical significance, with the Tibet AS array and the underground water-Cherenkov-type MD array (Tibet AS+MD array) [1]. This is the first detection of the highest energy gamma rays beyond 100 TeV from an astrophysical source, and a pioneering work opening a new higher energy window in the astronomy and astrophysics.…”

Section: Observations Of the Crab Nebula From Tev To Sub-pevmentioning

confidence: 89%

100 TeV Gamma-Ray Observation of the Crab Nebula with the Tibet Air Shower Array

Kawata¹

2019

Proceedings of 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2019)

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The Tibet air shower (AS) array and underground water-Cherenkov-type muon detector (MD) array have been successfully operated since 2014, at an altitude of 4,300 m in Tibet, China. we observed 24 gamma-ray events with energy greater than 100 TeV against 5.5 background events, which corresponds to 5.6σ statistical significance [1]. The highest energy of the detected gamma rays is estimated to be 450 TeV. This is the first detection of gamma rays beyond 100 TeV from an astrophysical source, and a pioneering work opening a new higher energy window in the astronomy and astrophysics.

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First Detection of Photons with Energy beyond 100 TeV from an Astrophysical Source

Cited by 184 publications

References 28 publications

Search for Galactic Pevatron candidates in a population of unidentifiedγ-ray sources

Search for Galactic Pevatron candidates in a population of unidentifiedγ-ray sources

GrailQuest and HERMES: hunting for gravitational wave electromagnetic counterparts and probing space-time quantum foam

100 TeV Gamma-Ray Observation of the Crab Nebula with the Tibet Air Shower Array

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