SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF FERMI -LAT BLAZARS ABOVE 50 GEV

Domínguez, Alberto; Ajello, Marco

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/813/2/L34

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF FERMI -LAT BLAZARS ABOVE 50 GEV

Journal Article · Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 EST 2015 · The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/813/2/L34· OSTI ID:1354852

Domínguez, Alberto ^[1]; ^[2]

Clemson Univ., SC (United States); Univ. Complutense Madrid (Spain)
Clemson Univ., SC (United States)

We present an analysis of the intrinsic (unattenuated by the extragalactic background light, EBL) power-law spectral indices of 128 extragalactic sources detected up to z ~ 2 with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) at very high energies (VHEs, E ≥50 GeV). The median of the intrinsic index distribution is 2.20 (versus 2.54 for the observed distribution). We also analyze the observed spectral breaks (i.e., the difference between the VHE and high energy, HE, 100 MeV ≤ E ≤ 300 GeV, spectral indices). The Fermi-LAT has now provided a large sample of sources detected both at VHE and HE with comparable exposure that allows us to test models of extragalactic γ-ray photon propagation. We find that our data are compatible with simulations that include intrinsic blazar curvature and EBL attenuation. There is also no evidence of evolution with redshift of the physics that drives the photon emission in high-frequency synchrotron peak (HSP) blazars. This makes HSP blazars excellent probes of the EBL.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1354852

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 22877693

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 813; ISSN 2041-8213

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (42)

A new interpretation of the gamma-ray observations of distant active galactic nuclei Essey, Warren; Kusenko, Alexander Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 33, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2009.11.007	journal	March 2010
The extragalactic background light and the gamma-ray opacity of the universe Dwek, Eli; Krennrich, Frank Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 43 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2012.09.003	journal	March 2013
A low level of extragalactic background light as revealed by γ-rays from blazars Aharonian, F.; Akhperjanian, A. G.; Bazer-Bachi, A. R. Nature, Vol. 440, Issue 7087 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04680	journal	April 2006
Limits on the extragalactic background light in the Fermi era Meyer, M.; Raue, M.; Mazin, D. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 542 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201118284	journal	June 2012
Measurement of the extragalactic background light imprint on the spectra of the brightest blazars observed with H.E.S.S. Abramowski, A.; Acero, F.; Aharonian, F. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 550 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220355	journal	January 2013
Evidence for a cosmological effect in γ -ray spectra of BL Lacertae Sanchez, D. A.; Fegan, S.; Giebels, B. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 554 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220631	journal	June 2013
The Spectral Index Distribution of EGRET Blazars: Prospects for GLAST Venters, Tonia M.; Pavlidou, Vasiliki THE FIRST GLAST SYMPOSIUM, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2757293	conference	January 2007
Limits on the extragalactic background light in the Fermi era Meyer, Manuel; Raue, Martin; Mazin, Daniel HIGH ENERGY GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY: 5th International Meeting on High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4772332	conference	January 2012
TeV gamma rays from 3C 279 - A possible probe of origin and intergalactic infrared radiation fields Stecker, F. W.; de Jager, O. C.; Salamon, M. H. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 390 https://doi.org/10.1086/186369	journal	May 1992
Intergalactic Photon Spectra from the Far‐IR to the UV Lyman Limit for 0 < z < 6 and the Optical Depth of the Universe to High‐Energy Gamma Rays Stecker, F. W.; Malkan, M. A.; Scully, S. T. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 648, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1086/506188	journal	September 2006
The Spectral Index Distribution of EGRET Blazars: Prospects for GLAST Venters, Tonia M.; Pavlidou, Vasiliki The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 666, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1086/519487	journal	September 2007
Modeling the Extragalactic Background Light from Stars and dust Finke, Justin D.; Razzaque, Soebur; Dermer, Charles D. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 712, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/712/1/238	journal	February 2010
Stochastic Acceleration and the Evolution of Spectral Distributions in Synchro-Self-Compton Sources: a Self-Consistent Modeling of Blazars’ Flares Tramacere, A.; Massaro, E.; Taylor, A. M. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 739, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/739/2/66	journal	September 2011
Discovery of High-Energy and very high Energy γ-Ray Emission from the Blazar rbs 0413 Aliu, E.; Archambault, S.; Arlen, T. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 750, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/94	journal	April 2012
Detection of the Cosmic γ-Ray Horizon from Multiwavelength Observations of Blazars Domínguez, A.; Finke, J. D.; Prada, F. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 770, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/770/1/77	journal	May 2013
AN EMPIRICAL DETERMINATION OF THE INTERGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT USING NEAR-INFRARED DEEP GALAXY SURVEY DATA OUT TO 5 μm AND THE GAMMA-RAY OPACITY OF THE UNIVERSE Scully, Sean T.; Malkan, Matthew A.; Stecker, Floyd W. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 784, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/784/2/138	journal	March 2014
Star Formation History, dust Attenuation, and Extragalactic Background Light Khaire, Vikram; Srianand, Raghunathan The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 805, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/805/1/33	journal	May 2015
THE THIRD CATALOG OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI DETECTED BY THE FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Atwood, W. B. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 810, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/810/1/14	journal	August 2015
THE EXTRAGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT, THE HUBBLE CONSTANT, AND ANOMALIES: CONCLUSIONS FROM 20 YEARS OF TeV GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS Biteau, J.; Williams, D. A. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 812, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/812/1/60	journal	October 2015
FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE THIRD SOURCE CATALOG Acero, F.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 218, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/218/2/23	journal	June 2015
Axion-like particle imprint in cosmological very-high-energy sources Domínguez, A.; Sánchez-Conde, M. A.; Prada, F. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2011, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2011/11/020	journal	November 2011
Indications for a pair-production anomaly from the propagation of VHE gamma-rays Horns, D.; Meyer, M. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2012, Issue 02 https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2012/02/033	journal	February 2012
DERIVATION OF A RELATION FOR THE STEEPENING OF TeV-SELECTED BLAZAR γ-RAY SPECTRA WITH ENERGY AND REDSHIFT Stecker, Floyd William; Scully, Sean T. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 709, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/709/2/L124	journal	January 2010
On weak Redshift Dependence of Gamma-Ray Spectra of Distant Blazars Essey, Warren; Kusenko, Alexander The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 751, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/751/1/L11	journal	May 2012
RECONSTRUCTING THE γ-RAY PHOTON OPTICAL DEPTH OF THE UNIVERSE TO z ∼ 4 FROM MULTIWAVELENGTH GALAXY SURVEY DATA Helgason, Kari; Kashlinsky, Alexander The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 758, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/758/1/L13	journal	September 2012
Hints of the existence of axionlike particles from the gamma-ray spectra of cosmological sources Sánchez-Conde, M. A.; Paneque, D.; Bloom, E. Physical Review D, Vol. 79, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.79.123511	journal	June 2009
Extragalactic background light inferred from AEGIS galaxy-SED-type fractions: EBL from AEGIS galaxy-SED-type fractions Domínguez, A.; Primack, J. R.; Rosario, D. J. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 410, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17631.x	journal	October 2010
Semi-analytic modelling of the extragalactic background light and consequences for extragalactic gamma-ray spectra: Modelling of the EBL and gamma-ray spectra Gilmore, Rudy C.; Somerville, Rachel S.; Primack, Joel R. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 422, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20841.x	journal	April 2012
The Imprint of the Extragalactic Background Light in the Gamma-Ray Spectra of Blazars Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A. Science, Vol. 338, Issue 6111 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1227160	journal	November 2012
Gamma-Rays from Blazars and the Extragalactic Background Light Costamante, Luigi International Journal of Modern Physics D, Vol. 22, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218271813300255	journal	October 2013
The Cosmic Infrared Background: Measurements and Implications Hauser, Michael G.; Dwek, Eli Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 39, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.astro.39.1.249	journal	September 2001
The Third Catalog of Active Galactic Nuclei Detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope Ackermann, Markus; Ajello, M.; Atwood, W. B. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2016-00029	text	January 2015
Hints of the existence of Axion-Like-Particles from the gamma-ray spectra of cosmological sources Sanchez-Conde, M. A.; Paneque, D.; Bloom, E. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0905.3270	text	January 2009
Derivation of a Relation for the Steepening of TeV Selected Blazar Gamma-ray Spectra with Energy and Redshift Stecker, Floyd W.; Scully, Sean T. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.0911.3659	text	January 2009
Axion-like particle imprint in cosmological very-high-energy sources Dominguez, A.; Sanchez-Conde, M. A.; Prada, F. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1106.1860	text	January 2011
On weak redshift dependence of gamma-ray spectra of distant blazars Essey, Warren; Kusenko, Alexander arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1111.0815	text	January 2011
Indications for a pair-production anomaly from the propagation of VHE gamma-rays Horns, Dieter; Meyer, Manuel arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1201.4711	text	January 2012
Limits on the extragalactic background light in the Fermi era Meyer, Manuel; Raue, Martin; Mazin, Daniel arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1202.2867	text	January 2012
Discovery of High-energy and Very High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from the Blazar RBS 0413 Collaboration, Veritas; Aliu, E.; Archambault, S. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1204.0865	text	January 2012
Measurement of the extragalactic background light imprint on the spectra of the brightest blazars observed with H.E.S.S Collaboration, H. E. S. S.; Abramowski, A.; Acero, F. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1212.3409	text	January 2012
Gamma-rays from Blazars and the Extragalactic Background Light Costamante, Luigi arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1309.0612	text	January 2013
The extragalactic background light, the Hubble constant, and anomalies: conclusions from 20 years of TeV gamma-ray observations Biteau, Jonathan; Williams, David A. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1502.04166	text	January 2015

Cited By (27)

GeV-TeV γ $\gamma $ -ray energy spectral break of BL Lac objects Zhong, W.; Liu, W. G.; Zheng, Y. G. Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 363, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-018-3397-8	journal	August 2018
Exploring the bulk of the BL Lacertae object population: II. Gamma-ray properties D’Ammando, F.; Giroletti, M.; Rainó, S. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 618 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833540	journal	October 2018
Extreme HBL behavior of Markarian 501 during 2012 Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 620 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833704	journal	December 2018
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) Armengaud, E.; Attié, D.; Basso, S. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2019, Issue 06 https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2019/06/047	journal	June 2019
Measurement of the extragalactic background light using MAGIC and Fermi-LAT gamma-ray observations of blazars up to z = 1 Acciari, V. A.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 486, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz943	journal	April 2019
Search for Spectral Irregularities due to Photon–Axionlike-Particle Oscillations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Anderson, B. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 116, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.116.161101	journal	April 2016
Fermi Large Area Telescope as a Galactic Supernovae Axionscope Meyer, M.; Giannotti, M.; Mirizzi, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.011103	journal	January 2017
A gamma-ray determination of the Universe’s star formation history Collaboration, Fermi-Lat; Abdollahi, S.; Ackermann, M. Science, Vol. 362, Issue 6418, p. 1031-1034 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat8123	journal	November 2018
Search for Spectral Irregularities due to Photon–Axionlike-Particle Oscillations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope Ajello, M.; Al., Et American Physical Society (APS) https://doi.org/10.13016/m2pvf1-yzz6	collection	January 2016
Search for Spectral Irregularities due to Photon–Axionlike-Particle Oscillations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope Ajello, M.; Albert, A.; Anderson, B. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2016-06170	text	January 2016
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi -LAT Sources Ajello, M.; Atwood, W. B.; Baldini, L. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2017-11473	text	January 2017
The extreme HBL behaviour of Markarian 501 during 2012 Ahnen, M. L.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-00102	text	January 2018
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) Armengaud, E.; Attie, D.; Basso, S. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-02069	text	January 2019
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) Armengaud, E.; Attie, D.; Basso, S. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-02656	text	January 2019
Fermi-LAT Stacking Analysis Technique: An Application to Extreme Blazars and Prospects for their CTA Detection Paliya, Vaidehi Sharan; Domínguez, A.; Ajello, M. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-03436	text	January 2019
Measurement of the extragalactic background light using MAGIC and Fermi-LAT gamma-ray observations of blazars up to z = 1 Acciari, V. A.; Ansoldi, S.; Antonelli, L. A. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2019-03716	text	January 2019
A new measurement of the Hubble constant and matter content of the Universe using extragalactic background light $\gamma$-ray attenuation Domínguez, Alberto; Wojtak, Radoslaw; Finke, Justin Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg https://doi.org/10.3204/pubdb-2020-00208	text	January 2019
Leptonic and Hadronic Modeling of Fermi -LAT Hard Spectrum Quasars and Predictions for High-energy Polarization Paliya, Vaidehi S.; Zhang, Haocheng; Böttcher, Markus The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 863, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aad1f0	journal	August 2018
Identifying the 3FHL Catalog. I. Archival Swift Observations and Source Classification Kaur, A.; Ajello, M.; Marchesi, S. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 871, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aaf649	journal	January 2019
Systematic Physical Characterization of the γ -Ray Spectra of 2FHL Blazars van den Berg, Jacobus P.; Böttcher, Markus; Domínguez, Alberto The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 874, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aafdfd	journal	March 2019
A New Measurement of the Hubble Constant and Matter Content of the Universe Using Extragalactic Background Light γ -Ray Attenuation Domínguez, A.; Wojtak, R.; Finke, J. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 885, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab4a0e	journal	November 2019
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi -LAT Sources Ajello, M.; Atwood, W. B.; Baldini, L. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 232, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aa8221	journal	September 2017
Fermi -LAT Stacking Analysis Technique: An Application to Extreme Blazars and Prospects for their CTA Detection Paliya, Vaidehi S.; Domínguez, A.; Ajello, M. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 882, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab398a	journal	August 2019
3FHL: The Third Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources Collaboration, Lat arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1702.00664	text	January 2017
Exploring the bulk of the BL Lac object population. II. Gamma-ray properties D'Ammando, F.; Giroletti, M.; Rainò, S. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1809.01173	text	January 2018
Systematic Physical Characterization of the Gamma-Ray Spectra of 2FHL Blazars Berg, Jacobus P. van den; Boettcher, Markus; Dominguez, Alberto arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1901.03494	text	January 2019
{\it Fermi}-LAT Stacking Analysis Technique: An Application to Extreme Blazars and Prospects for their CTA Detection Paliya, Vaidehi S.; Dominguez, Alberto; Ajello, Marco arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1908.02496	text	January 2019

Similar Records

A METHOD FOR SETTING UPPER LIMITS TO THE EXTRAGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT WITH FERMI-LAT AND TeV OBSERVATIONS OF BLAZARS

Journal Article · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal Letters · OSTI ID:21448938

Fermi Large Area Telescope detection of two very-high-energy (E > 100 GeV) γ-ray photons from the z = 1.1 blazar PKS 0426–380

Journal Article · Thu Oct 17 20:00:00 EDT 2013 · The Astrophysical Journal. Letters · OSTI ID:1356553

Fermi LARGE AREA TELESCOPE DETECTION OF TWO VERY-HIGH-ENERGY (E > 100 GeV) γ-RAY PHOTONS FROM THE z = 1.1 BLAZAR PKS 0426–380

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal Letters · OSTI ID:22215389

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF FERMI -LAT BLAZARS ABOVE 50 GEV

Citation Formats

References (42)

Cited By (27)

Similar Records

Related Subjects