Measurement of the Crab Nebula Spectrum Past 100 TeV with HAWC

Abeysekara, A. U.; Albert, A.; Alfaro, R.; Alvarez, C.; Álvarez, J. D.; Camacho, J. R.  Angeles; Arceo, R.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Arunbabu, K. P.; Rojas, D. Avila; Solares, H. A.  Ayala; Baghmanyan, V.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; BenZvi, S. Y.; Brisbois, C.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Capistrán, T.; Carramiñana, A.; Casanova, S.; Cotti, U.; Cotzomi, J.; de León, S. Coutiño; Fuente, E. De la; León, C. de; Dichiara, S.; Dingus, B. L.; DuVernois, M. A.; Díaz-Vélez, J. C.; Ellsworth, R. W.; Engel, K.; Espinoza, C.; Fick, B.; Fleischhack, H.; Fraija, N.; Galván-Gámez, A.; García-González, J. A.; Garfias, F.; González, M. M.; Goodman, J. A.; Harding, J. P.; Hernandez, S.; Hinton, J.; Hona, B.; Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F.; Hui, C. M.; Hüntemeyer, P.; Iriarte, A.; Jardin-Blicq, A.; Joshi, V.; Kaufmann, S.; Kieda, D.; Lara, A.; Lee, W. H.; Vargas, H. León; Linnemann, J. T.; Longinotti, A. L.; Luis-Raya, G.; Lundeen, J.; Malone, K.; Marinelli, S. S.; Martinez, O.; Martinez-Castellanos, I.; Martínez-Castro, J.; Martínez-Huerta, H.; Matthews, J. A.; Miranda-Romagnoli, P.; Morales-Soto, J. A.; Moreno, E.; Mostafá, M.; Nayerhoda, A.; Nellen, L.; Newbold, M.; Nisa, M. U.; Noriega-Papaqui, R.; Peisker, A.; Pérez-Pérez, E. G.; Pretz, J.; Ren, Z.; Rho, C. D.; Rivière, C.; Rosa-González, D.; Rosenberg, M.; Ruiz-Velasco, E.; Salazar, H.; Greus, F. Salesa; Sandoval, A.; Schneider, M.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Arroyo, M. Seglar; Sinnis, G.; Smith, A. J.; Springer, R. W.; Surajbali, P.; Tabachnick, E.; Tanner, M.; Tibolla, O.; Tollefson, K.; Torres, I.; Weisgarber, T.; Westerhoff, S.; Wood, J.; Yapici, T.; Zepeda, A.; Zhou, H.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab2f7d

Measurement of the Crab Nebula Spectrum Past 100 TeV with HAWC

Journal Article · Wed Aug 21 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab2f7d· OSTI ID:1565817

Abeysekara, A. U.; ; Alfaro, R.; Alvarez, C.; Álvarez, J. D.; Camacho, J. R. Angeles; Arceo, R.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Arunbabu, K. P.; Rojas, D. Avila; ; Baghmanyan, V.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; BenZvi, S. Y.; Brisbois, C.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Capistrán, T.; Carramiñana, A.; Casanova, S.; Cotti, U. more »

In this study, we present TeV gamma-ray observations of the Crab Nebula, the standard reference source in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, using data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory. In this analysis we use two independent energy estimation methods that utilize extensive air shower variables such as the core position, shower angle, and shower lateral energy distribution. In contrast, the previously published HAWC energy spectrum roughly estimated the shower energy with only the number of photomultipliers triggered. This new methodology yields a much-improved energy resolution over the previous analysis and extends HAWC's ability to accurately measure gamma-ray energies well beyond 100 TeV. The energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula is well fit to a log-parabola shape $$\left(\tfrac{{dN}}{{dE}}={\phi }_{0}{\left(E/7\mathrm{TeV}\right)}^{-\alpha -\beta \mathrm{ln}\left(E/7\mathrm{TeV}\right)}\right)$$ with emission up to at least 100 TeV. For the first estimator, a ground parameter that utilizes fits to the lateral distribution function to measure the charge density 40 m from the shower axis, the best-fit values are $${\phi }_{o}=(2.35\pm {0.04}_{-0.21}^{+0.20})\times {10}^{-13}$$ (TeV cm² s)^-1, $$\alpha =2.79\pm {0.02}_{-0.03}^{+0.01}$$, and $$\beta =0.10\pm {0.01}_{-0.03}^{+0.01}$$. For the second estimator, a neural network that uses the charge distribution in annuli around the core and other variables, these values are $${\phi }_{o}=(2.31\pm {0.02}_{-0.17}^{+0.32})\times {10}^{-13}$$ (TeV cm² s)^-1, $$\alpha =2.73\pm {0.02}_{-0.02}^{+0.03}$$, and β = 0.06 ± 0.01 ± 0.02. The first set of uncertainties is statistical; the second set is systematic. Both methods yield compatible results. Finally, these measurements are the highest-energy observation of a gamma-ray source to date.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)

Contributing Organization:: HAWC Collaboration

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1565817

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--19-24703

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 881; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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