On Integral Upper Limits Assuming Power-law Spectra and the Sensitivity in High-energy Astronomy

Journal Article · Mon Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA5B97· OSTI ID:22663773

Ahnen, Max L., E-mail: [e-mail] ^[1]

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1. Institute for Particle Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland)

The high-energy non-thermal universe is dominated by power-law-like spectra. Therefore, results in high-energy astronomy are often reported as parameters of power-law fits, or, in the case of a non-detection, as an upper limit assuming the underlying unseen spectrum behaves as a power law. In this paper, I demonstrate a simple and powerful one-to-one relation of the integral upper limit in the two-dimensional power-law parameter space into the spectrum parameter space and use this method to unravel the so-far convoluted question of the sensitivity of astroparticle telescopes.

• OSTI ID: 22663773
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 836, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
DETECTION
GAMMA RADIATION
SENSITIVITY
SPECTRA
TELESCOPES
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS
UNIVERSE