Author: "Bird, R." - Searchworks@Jio Institute Digital Library Search Results

Author: Greenwood, L., Bliege Bird, R., McGuire, C., Jadai, N., Price, J., Skroblin, A., van Leeuwen, S., and Nimmo, D.
Published: 2024
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26. Cosmic antihelium-3 nuclei sensitivity of the GAPS experiment

Author: Saffold, N., Aramaki, T., Bird, R., Boezio, M., Boggs, S. E., Bonvicini, V., Campana, D., Craig, W. W., von Doetinchem, P., Everson, E., Fabris, L., Fuke, H., Gahbauer, F., Garcia, I., Gerrity, C., Hailey, C. J., Hayashi, T., Kato, C., Kawachi, A., Kobayashi, S., Kozai, M., Lenni, A., Lowell, A., Manghisoni, M., Marcelli, N., Mognet, S. I., Munakata, K., Munini, R., Nakagami, Y., Olson, J., Ong, R. A., Osteria, G., Perez, K., Pope, I., Quinn, S., Re, V., Reed, M., Riceputi, E., Roach, B., Rogers, F., Ryan, J. L., Scotti, V., Shimizu, Y., Sonzogni, M., Sparvoli, R., Stoessl, A., Tiberio, A., Vannuccini, E., Wada, T., Xiao, M., Yamatani, M., Yoshida, A., Yoshida, T., Zampa, G., and Zweerink, J.
Subjects: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract: The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an Antarctic balloon experiment designed for low-energy (0.1$-$0.3 GeV/$n$) cosmic antinuclei as signatures of dark matter annihilation or decay. GAPS is optimized to detect low-energy antideuterons, as well as to provide unprecedented sensitivity to low-energy antiprotons and antihelium nuclei. The novel GAPS antiparticle detection technique, based on the formation, decay, and annihilation of exotic atoms, provides greater identification power for these low-energy antinuclei than previous magnetic spectrometer experiments. This work reports the sensitivity of GAPS to detect antihelium-3 nuclei, based on full instrument simulation, event reconstruction, and realistic atmospheric influence simulations. The report of antihelium nuclei candidate events by AMS-02 has generated considerable interest in antihelium nuclei as probes of dark matter and other beyond the Standard Model theories. GAPS is in a unique position to detect or set upper limits on the cosmic antihelium nuclei flux in an energy range that is essentially free of astrophysical background. In three 35-day long-duration balloon flights, GAPS will be sensitive to an antihelium flux on the level of $1.3^{+4.5}_{-1.2}\cdot 10^{-6}\mathrm{m^{-2}sr^{-1}s^{-1}}(\mathrm{GeV}/n)^{-1}$ (95% confidence level) in the energy range of 0.11$-$0.3 GeV/$n$, opening a new window on rare cosmic physics., Comment: Accepted for publication at Astroparticle Physics, 13 pages, 5 figures
Published: 2020
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27. VERITAS Discovery of VHE Emission from the Radio Galaxy 3C 264: A Multi-Wavelength Study

Author: Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Carini, M. T., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Daniel, M. K., Errando, M., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Fortin, P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Georganopoulos, M., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krennrich, F., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Lister, M. L., Lundy, M., Maier, G., Meyer, E. T., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Pfrang, K., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Ramirez, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rulten, C., Ryan, J. L., Sadun, A., Santander, M., Scott, S. S., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Shang, R., Stevenson, B., Vassiliev, V. V., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., and Williamson, T. J
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The radio source 3C 264, hosted by the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 3862, was observed with VERITAS between February 2017 and May 2019. These deep observations resulted in the discovery of very-high-energy (VHE; E $>100$ GeV) $\gamma$-ray emission from this active galaxy. An analysis of $\sim$57 hours of quality-selected live time yields a detection at the position of the source, corresponding to a statistical significance of 7.8 standard deviations above background. The observed VHE flux is variable on monthly time scales, with an elevated flux seen in 2018 observations. The VHE emission during this elevated state is well-characterized by a power-law spectrum with a photon index $\Gamma = 2.20 \pm 0.27$ and flux F($>315$ GeV) = ($7.6\pm 1.2_{\mathrm stat} \pm 2.3_{\mathrm syst})\times 10^{-13}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, or approximately 0.7% of the Crab Nebula flux above the same threshold. 3C 264 ($z = 0.0217$) is the most distant radio galaxy detected at VHE, and the elevated state is thought to be similar to that of the famously outbursting jet in M 87. Consequently, extensive contemporaneous multi-wavelength data were acquired in 2018 at the time of the VHE high state. An analysis of these data, including VLBA, VLA, HST, Chandra and Swift observations in addition to the VERITAS data, is presented, along with a discussion of the resulting spectral energy distribution., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2020
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28. Evidence for proton acceleration up to TeV energies based on VERITAS and Fermi-LAT observations of the Cas A SNR

Author: Abeysekara, A. U., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Chromey, A. J., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Das, S., Dwarkadas, V. V., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pfrang, K., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Weinstein, A., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, Zitzer, B., and Ghiotto, A.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present a study of $\gamma$-ray emission from the core-collapse supernova remnant Cas~A in the energy range from 0.1GeV to 10TeV. We used 65 hours of VERITAS data to cover 200 GeV - 10 TeV, and 10.8 years of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data to cover 0.1-500 GeV. The spectral analysis of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data shows a significant spectral curvature around $1.3 \pm 0.4_{stat}$ GeV that is consistent with the expected spectrum from pion decay. Above this energy, the joint spectrum from \textit{Fermi}-LAT and VERITAS deviates significantly from a simple power-law, and is best described by a power-law with spectral index of $2.17\pm 0.02_{stat}$ with a cut-off energy of $2.3 \pm 0.5_{stat}$ TeV. These results, along with radio, X-ray and $\gamma$-ray data, are interpreted in the context of leptonic and hadronic models. Assuming a one-zone model, we exclude a purely leptonic scenario and conclude that proton acceleration up to at least 6 TeV is required to explain the observed $\gamma$-ray spectrum. From modeling of the entire multi-wavelength spectrum, a minimum magnetic field inside the remnant of $B_{\mathrm{min}}\approx150\,\mathrm{\mu G}$ is deduced., Comment: 33 pages, 9 Figures, 6 Tables
Published: 2020
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29. Cosmic-ray Antinuclei as Messengers of New Physics: Status and Outlook for the New Decade

Author: von Doetinchem, P., Perez, K., Aramaki, T., Baker, S., Barwick, S., Bird, R., Boezio, M., Boggs, S. E., Cui, M., Datta, A., Donato, F., Evoli, C., Fabris, L., Fabbietti, L., Bueno, E. Ferronato, Fornengo, N., Fuke, H., Gerrity, C., Coral, D. Gomez, Hailey, C., Hooper, D., Kachelriess, M., Korsmeier, M., Kozai, M., Lea, R., Li, N., Lowell, A., Manghisoni, M., Moskalenko, I. V., Munini, R., Naskret, M., Nelson, T., Ng, K. C. Y., Nozzoli, F., Oliva, A., Ong, R. A., Osteria, G., Pierog, T., Poulin, V., Profumo, S., Poeschl, T., Quinn, S., Re, V., Rogers, F., Ryan, J., Saffold, N., Sakai, K., Salati, P., Schael, S., Serksnyte, L., Shukla, A., Stoessl, A., Tjemsland, J., Vannuccini, E., Vecchi, M., Winkler, M. W., Wright, D., Xiao, M., Xu, W., Yoshida, T., Zampa, G., and Zuccon, P.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The precise measurement of cosmic-ray antinuclei serves as an important means for identifying the nature of dark matter and other new astrophysical phenomena, and could be used with other cosmic-ray species to understand cosmic-ray production and propagation in the Galaxy. For instance, low-energy antideuterons would provide a "smoking gun" signature of dark matter annihilation or decay, essentially free of astrophysical background. Studies in recent years have emphasized that models for cosmic-ray antideuterons must be considered together with the abundant cosmic antiprotons and any potential observation of antihelium. Therefore, a second dedicated Antideuteron Workshop was organized at UCLA in March 2019, bringing together a community of theorists and experimentalists to review the status of current observations of cosmic-ray antinuclei, the theoretical work towards understanding these signatures, and the potential of upcoming measurements to illuminate ongoing controversies. This review aims to synthesize this recent work and present implications for the upcoming decade of antinuclei observations and searches. This includes discussion of a possible dark matter signature in the AMS-02 antiproton spectrum, the most recent limits from BESS Polar-II on the cosmic antideuteron flux, and reports of candidate antihelium events by AMS-02; recent collider and cosmic-ray measurements relevant for antinuclei production models; the state of cosmic-ray transport models in light of AMS-02 and Voyager data; and the prospects for upcoming experiments, such as GAPS. This provides a roadmap for progress on cosmic antinuclei signatures of dark matter in the coming years., Comment: 45 pages, 14 figures
Published: 2020
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30. A decade of multi-wavelength observations of the TeV blazar 1ES 1215+303: Extreme shift of the synchrotron peak frequency and long-term optical-gamma-ray flux increase

Author: Valverde, Janeth, Horan, Deirdre, Bernard, Denis, Fegan, Stephen, Abeysekara, A. U., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Christiansen, J. L., Cui, W., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pfrang, K., Pichel, A., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Scott, S. S., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Shang, R., Sushch, I., Vassiliev, V. V., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, Noto, Giuliana, Edwards, P. G., Piner, B. G., Ramazani, V. Fallah, Hovatta, T., Jormanainen, J., Lindfors, E., Nilsson, K., Takalo, L., Kovalev, Y. Y., Lister, M. L., Pushkarev, A. B., Savolainen, T., Kiehlmann, S., Max-Moerbeck, W., Readhead, A. C. S., Lähteenmäki, A., and Tornikoski, M.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Blazars are known for their variability on a wide range of timescales at all wavelengths. Most studies of TeV gamma-ray blazars focus on short timescales, especially during flares. With a decade of observations from the Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, we present an extensive study of the long-term multi-wavelength radio-to-gamma-ray flux-density variability, with the addition of a couple of short-time radio-structure and optical polarization observations of the blazar 1ES 1215+303 (z=0.130), with a focus on its gamma-ray emission from 100 MeV to 30 TeV. Multiple strong GeV gamma-ray flares, a long-term increase in the gamma-ray and optical flux baseline and a linear correlation between these two bands are observed over the ten-year period. Typical HBL behaviors are identified in the radio morphology and broadband spectrum of the source. Three stationary features in the innermost jet are resolved by VLBA at 43.1, 22.2, and 15.3 GHz. We employ a two-component synchrotron self-Compton model to describe different flux states of the source, including the epoch during which an extreme shift in energy of the synchrotron peak frequency from infrared to soft X-rays is observed., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2020
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31. The Great Markarian 421 Flare of February 2010: Multiwavelength variability and correlation studies

Author: Abeysekara, A. U., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Daniel, M. K., Dumm, J., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Galante, N., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nelson, T., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pichel, A., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rovero, A. C., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Stevenson, B., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Vassiliev, V. V., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Zitzer, B., Acciari, V. A., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Engels, A. Arbet, Baack, D., Babić, A., Banerjee, B., de Almeida, U. Barres, Barrio, J. A., González, J. Becerra, Bednarek, W., Bellizzi, L., Bernardini, E., Berti, A., Besenrieder, J., Bhattacharyya, W., Bigongiari, C., Biland, A., Blanch, O., Bonnoli, G., Busetto, G., Carosi, R., Ceribella, G., Chai, Y., Cikota, S., Colak, S. M., Colin, U., Colombo, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Covino, S., D'Elia, V., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Lotto, B., Delfino, M., Delgado, J., Di Pierro, F., Espiñera, E. Do Souto, Prester, D. Dominis, Dorner, D., Doro, M., Einecke, S., Elsaesser, D., Ramazani, V. Fallah, Fattorini, A., Fernández-Barral, A., Ferrara, G., Fidalgo, D., Foffano, L., Fonseca, M. V., Font, L., Fruck, C., Galindo, D., Gallozzi, S., López, R. J. García, Garczarczyk, M., Gasparyan, S., Gaug, M., Godinović, N., Green, D., Guberman, D., Hadasch, D., Hahn, A., Herrera, J., Hoang, J., Hrupec, D., Inoue, S., Ishio, K., Iwamura, Y., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Lamastra, A., Lelas, D., Leone, F., Lindfors, E., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., López, M., López-Coto, R., López-Oramas, A., Fraga, B. Machado de Oliveira, Maggio, C., Majumdar, P., Makariev, M., Mallamaci, M., Maneva, G., Manganaro, M., Mannheim, K., Maraschi, L., Mariotti, M., Martínez, M., Masuda, S., Mazin, D., Miceli, D., Minev, M., Miranda, J. M., Mirzoyan, R., Molina, E., Moralejo, A., Morcuende, D., Moreno, V., Moretti, E., Munar-Adrover, P., Neustroev, V., Niedzwiecki, A., Rosillo, M. Nievas, Nigro, C., Nilsson, K., Ninci, D., Nishijima, K., Noda, K., Nogués, L., Nöthe, M., Paiano, S., Palacio, J., Palatiello, M., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Peñil, P., Peresano, M., Persic, M., Moroni, P. G. Prada, Prandini, E., Puljak, I., Rhode, W., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Righi, C., Rugliancich, A., Saha, L., Sahakyan, N., Saito, T., Satalecka, K., Schweizer, T., Sitarek, J., Šnidarić, I., Sobczynska, D., Somero, A., Stamerra, A., Strom, D., Strzys, M., Sun, S., Surić, T., Tavecchio, F., Temnikov, P., Terzić, T., Teshima, M., Torres-Albà, N., Tsujimoto, S., van Scherpenberg, J., Vanzo, G., Acosta, M. Vazquez, Vovk, I., Will, M., Zarić, D., Aller, H. D., Aller, M. F., Carini, M. T., Horan, D., Jordan, B., Jorstad, Svetlana G., Kurtanidze, O. M., Kurtanidze, S. O., Lähteenmäki, A., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, E. G., Madejski, G., Marscher, Alan P., Max-Moerbeck, W., Moody, J. Ward, Morozova, D. A., Nikolashvili, M. G., Raiteri, C. M., Readhead, A. C. S., Richards, J. L., Sadun, Alberto C., Sakamoto, T., Sigua, L. A., Smith, P. S., Talvikki, H., Tammi, J., Tornikoski, M., Troitsky, I. S., and Villata, M.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report on variability and correlation studies using multiwavelength observations of the blazar Mrk 421 during the month of February, 2010 when an extraordinary flare reaching a level of $\sim$27~Crab Units above 1~TeV was measured in very-high-energy (VHE) $\gamma$-rays with the VERITAS observatory. This is the highest flux state for Mrk 421 ever observed in VHE $\gamma$-rays. Data are analyzed from a coordinated campaign across multiple instruments including VHE $\gamma$-ray (VERITAS, MAGIC), high-energy (HE) $\gamma$-ray (Fermi-LAT), X-ray (Swift}, RXTE, MAXI), optical (including the GASP-WEBT collaboration and polarization data) and radio (Mets\"ahovi, OVRO, UMRAO). Light curves are produced spanning multiple days before and after the peak of the VHE flare, including over several flare `decline' epochs. The main flare statistics allow 2-minute time bins to be constructed in both the VHE and optical bands enabling a cross-correlation analysis that shows evidence for an optical lag of $\sim$25-55 minutes, the first time-lagged correlation between these bands reported on such short timescales. Limits on the Doppler factor ($\delta \gtrsim 33$) and the size of the emission region ($ \delta^{-1}R_B \lesssim 3.8\times 10^{13}\,\,\mbox{cm}$) are obtained from the fast variability observed by VERITAS during the main flare. Analysis of 10-minute-binned VHE and X-ray data over the decline epochs shows an extraordinary range of behavior in the flux-flux relationship: from linear to quadratic to lack of correlation to anti-correlation. Taken together, these detailed observations of an unprecedented flare seen in Mrk 421 are difficult to explain by the classic single-zone synchrotron self-Compton model., Comment: 41 pages including 3 appendices, 13 figures; version accepted to Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2020
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32. VERITAS Detection of LS 5039 and HESS J1825-137

Author: VERITAS Collaboration, Abeysekara, A. U., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Fortson, L., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., Ong, R. A., Pandel, D., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Weinstein, A., Wilcox, P., Williams, D. A., and Williamson, T. J
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: With 8 hours of observations, VERITAS confirms the detection of two very high energy gamma-ray sources. The gamma-ray binary LS 5039 is detected with a statistical significance of $8.8\sigma$. The measured flux above 1 TeV is $(2.5 \pm 0.4) \times 10^{-12} \rm \, cm^{-2} \, s^{-1}$ near inferior conjunction and $(7.8 \pm 2.8) \times 10^{-13} \rm \, cm^{-2} \, s^{-1}$ near superior conjunction. The pulsar wind nebula HESS J1825-137 is detected with a statistical significance of $6.7\sigma$ and a measured flux above 1 TeV of $(3.9 \pm 0.8) \times 10^{-12} \rm \, cm^{-2} \, s^{-1}$., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures
Published: 2020
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33. Probing the Properties of the Pulsar Wind in the Gamma-Ray Binary HESS J0632+057 with NuSTAR and VERITAS Observations

Author: Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Cui, W., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pfrang, K., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Schlenstedt, S., Sembroski, G. H., Sushch, I., Weinstein, A., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, Hailey, C. J., Mandel, S., and Mori, K.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: HESS J0632+057 is a gamma-ray binary composed of a compact object orbiting a Be star with a period of about $315$ days. Extensive X-ray and TeV gamma-ray observations have revealed a peculiar light curve containing two peaks, separated by a dip. We present the results of simultaneous observations in hard X-rays with NuSTAR and in TeV gamma-rays with VERITAS, performed in November and December 2017. These observations correspond to the orbital phases $\phi\approx0.22$ and $0.3$, where the fluxes are rising towards the first light-curve peak. A significant variation of the spectral index from 1.77$\pm$0.05 to 1.56$\pm$0.05 is observed in the X-ray data. The multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions (SED) derived from the observations are interpreted in terms of a leptonic model, in which the compact object is assumed to be a pulsar and non-thermal radiation is emitted by high-energy electrons accelerated at the shock formed by the collision between the stellar and pulsar wind. The results of the SED fitting show that our data can be consistently described within this scenario, and allow us to estimate the magnetization of the pulsar wind at the location of the shock formation. The constraints on the pulsar-wind magnetization provided by our results are shown to be consistent with those obtained from other systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2019
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34. Measurement of the extragalactic background light spectral energy distribution with VERITAS

Author: VERITAS collaboration, Abeysekara, A. U., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Christiansen, J. L., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Fernandez-Alonso, M., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Pfrang, K., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rovero, A. C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, and Zitzer, B.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The extragalactic background light (EBL), a diffuse photon field in the optical and infrared range, is a record of radiative processes over the Universe's history. Spectral measurements of blazars at very high energies ($>$100 GeV) enable the reconstruction of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the EBL, as the blazar spectra are modified by redshift- and energy-dependent interactions of the gamma-ray photons with the EBL. The spectra of 14 VERITAS-detected blazars are included in a new measurement of the EBL SED that is independent of EBL SED models. The resulting SED covers an EBL wavelength range of 0.56--56 $\mu$m, and is in good agreement with lower limits obtained by assuming that the EBL is entirely due to radiation from cataloged galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
Published: 2019
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35. VERITAS contributions to the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference

Author: Abeysekara, A. U., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buckley, J. H., Christiansen, J. L., Chromey, A. J., Daniel, M. K., Das, S., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Lundy, M., Maier, G., Matthews, N., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pfrang, K., Pohl, M., Prado, R. R., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Ribeiro, D., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Schlenstedt, S., Scott, S. S., Sembroski, G. H., Shang, R., Vassiliev, V. V., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Williams, D. A., and Williamson, T. J
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Compilation of papers presented by the VERITAS Collaboration at the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), held July 24 through August 1, 2019 in Madison, Wisconsin., Comment: html page. 2019 ICRC, Madison, Wisconsin
Published: 2019

36. GAPS: Searching for Dark Matter using Antinuclei in Cosmic Rays

Author: Bird, R., Aramaki, T., Boezio, M., Boggs, S. E., Bonvicini, V., Campana, D., Craig, W. W., Everson, E., Fabris, L., Fuke, H., Gahbauer, F., Garcia, I., Gerrity, C., Hailey, C. J., Hayashi, T., Kato, C., Kawachi, A., Kondo, M., Kozai, M., Lowell, A., Manghisoni, M., Marcelli, N., Martucci, M., Mognet, S. I., Munakata, K., Munini, R., Okazaki, S., Olson, J., Ong, R. A., Osteria, G., Perez, K., Quinn, S., Re, V., Riceputi, E., Rogers, F., Ryan, J. L., Saffold, N., Scotti, V., Shimizu, Y., Sparvoli, R., Stoessl, A., Takeuchi, S., Vannuccini, E., von Doetinchem, P., Wada, T., Xiao, M., Yoshida, A., Yoshida, T., Zampa, G., and Zweerink, J.
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract: The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) will carry out a sensitive dark matter search by measuring low-energy ($\mathrm{E} < 0.25 \mathrm{GeV/nucleon}$) cosmic ray antinuclei. The primary targets are low-energy antideuterons produced in the annihilation or decay of dark matter. At these energies antideuterons from secondary/tertiary interactions are expected to have very low fluxes, significantly below those predicted by well-motivated, beyond the standard model theories. GAPS will also conduct low-energy antiproton and antihelium searches. Combined, these observations will provide a powerful search for dark matter and provide the best observations to date on primordial black hole evaporation on Galactic length scales. The GAPS instrument detects antinuclei using the novel exotic atom technique. It consists of a central tracker with a surrounding time-of-flight (TOF) system. The tracker is a one cubic meter volume containing 10 cm-diameter lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors. The TOF is a plastic scintillator system that will both trigger the Si(Li) tracker and enable better reconstruction of particle tracks. After coming to rest in the tracker, antinuclei will form an excited exotic atom. This will then de-excite via characteristic X-ray transitions before producing a pion/proton star when the antiparticle annihilates with the nucleus. This unique event topology will give GAPS the nearly background-free detection capability required for a rare-event search. Here we present the scientific motivation for the GAPS experiment, its design and its current status as it prepares for flight in the austral summer of 2021-22., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Proc. 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2019), Madison, USA
Published: 2019

37. Influence of 3D plasmoid dynamics on the transition from collisional to kinetic reconnection

Author: Stanier, A., Daughton, W., Le, A., Li, X., and Bird, R.
Subjects: Physics - Plasma Physics, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Abstract: Within the resistive magnetohydrodynamic model, high-Lundquist number reconnection layers are unstable to the plasmoid instability, leading to a turbulent evolution where the reconnection rate can be independent of the underlying resistivity. However, the physical relevance of these results remains questionable for many applications. First, the reconnection electric field is often well above the runaway limit, implying that collisional resistivity is invalid. Furthermore, both theory and simulations suggest that plasmoid formation may rapidly induce a transition to kinetic scales, due to the formation of thin current sheets. Here, this problem is studied for the first time using a first-principles kinetic simulation with a Fokker-Planck collision operator in 3D. The low-$\beta$ reconnecting current layer thins rapidly due to Joule heating before onset of the oblique plasmoid instability. Linear growth rates for standard ($k_y = 0$) tearing modes agree with semi-collisional boundary layer theory, but the angular spectrum of oblique ($|k_y|>0$) modes is significantly narrower than predicted. In the non-linear regime, flux-ropes formed by the instability undergo complex interactions as they are advected and rotated by the reconnection outflow jets, leading to a turbulent state with stochastic magnetic field. In a manner similar to previous 2D results, super-Dreicer fields induce a transition to kinetic reconnection in thin current layers that form between flux-ropes. These results may be testable within new laboratory experiments., Comment: Accepted in Physics of Plasmas
Published: 2019
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38. A Search for Pulsed Very High-Energy Gamma Rays from Thirteen Young Pulsars in Archival VERITAS Data

Author: Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Chromey, A. J., Cui, W., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., McCann, A., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Pandel, D., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Scott, S. S., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, and Zitzer, B.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We conduct a search for periodic emission in the very high-energy gamma-ray band (VHE; E > 100 GeV) from a total of 13 pulsars in an archival VERITAS data set with a total exposure of over 450 hours. The set of pulsars includes many of the brightest young gamma-ray pulsars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The data analysis resulted in non-detections of pulsed VHE gamma rays from each pulsar. Upper limits on a potential VHE gamma-ray flux are derived at the 95% confidence level above three energy thresholds using two methods. These are the first such searches for pulsed VHE emission from each of the pulsars, and the obtained limits constrain a possible flux component manifesting at VHEs as is seen for the Crab pulsar., Comment: 32 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Published: 2019
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39. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters by the VERITAS Cherenkov Telescopes

Author: Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Chromey, A. J., Daniel, M. K., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gillanders, G. H., Giuri, C., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Halpern, J., Hassan, T., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Joyce, A. M., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Maier, G., Matthews, N., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nieto, D., Nievas-Rosillo, M., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Wakely, S. P., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., and Williamson, T. J.
Subjects: Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract: The angular size of a star is a critical factor in determining its basic properties. Direct measurement of stellar angular diameters is difficult: at interstellar distances stars are generally too small to resolve by any individual imaging telescope. This fundamental limitation can be overcome by studying the diffraction pattern in the shadow cast when an asteroid occults a star, but only when the photometric uncertainty is smaller than the noise added by atmospheric scintillation. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes used for particle astrophysics observations have not generally been exploited for optical astronomy due to the modest optical quality of the mirror surface. However, their large mirror area makes them well suited for such high-time-resolution precision photometry measurements. Here we report two occultations of stars observed by the VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes with millisecond sampling, from which we are able to provide a direct measurement of the occulted stars' angular diameter at the $\leq0.1$ milliarcsecond scale. This is a resolution never achieved before with optical measurements and represents an order of magnitude improvement over the equivalent lunar occultation method. We compare the resulting stellar radius with empirically derived estimates from temperature and brightness measurements, confirming the latter can be biased for stars with ambiguous stellar classifications., Comment: Accepted for publication in Nature Astronomy
Published: 2019
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40. Monte Carlo studies for the optimisation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array layout

Author: Acharyya, A., Agudo, I., Angüner, E. O., Alfaro, R., Alfaro, J., Alispach, C., Aloisio, R., Batista, R. Alves, Amans, J. -P., Amati, L., Amato, E., Ambrosi, G., Antonelli, L. A., Aramo, C., Armstrong, T., Arqueros, F., Arrabito, L., Asano, K., Ashkar, H., Balazs, C., Balbo, M., Balmaverde, B., Barai, P., Barbano, A., Barkov, M., de Almeida, U. Barres, Barrio, J. A., Bastieri, D., González, J. Becerra, Tjus, J. Becker, Bellizzi, L., Benbow, W., Bernardini, E., Bernardos, M. I., Bernlöhr, K., Berti, A., Berton, M., Bertucci, B., Beshley, V., Biasuzzi, B., Bigongiari, C., Bird, R., Bissaldi, E., Biteau, J., Blanch, O., Blazek, J., Boisson, C., Bonanno, G., Bonardi, A., Bonavolontà, C., Bonnoli, G., Bordas, P., Böttcher, M., Bregeon, J., Brill, A., Brown, A. M., Brügge, K., Brun, P., Bruno, P., Bulgarelli, A., Bulik, T., Burton, M., Burtovoi, A., Busetto, G., Cameron, R., Canestrari, R., Capalbi, M., Caproni, A., Capuzzo-Dolcetta, R., Caraveo, P., Caroff, S., Carosi, R., Casanova, S., Cascone, E., Cassol, F., Catalani, F., Catalano, O., Cauz, D., Cerruti, M., Chaty, S., Chen, A., Chernyakova, M., Chiaro, G., Cieślar, M., Colak, S. M., Conforti, V., Congiu, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Costa, A., Costantini, H., Cotter, G., Cristofari, P., Cumani, P., Cusumano, G., D'Aì, A., D'Ammando, F., Dangeon, L., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Caprio, V., Anjos, R. de Cássia dos, De Frondat, F., Pino, E. M. de Gouveia Dal, De Lotto, B., De Martino, D., de Naurois, M., Wilhelmi, E. de Oña, de Palma, F., de Souza, V., Del Santo, M., Delgado, C., della Volpe, D., Di Girolamo, T., Di Pierro, F., Di Venere, L., Díaz, C., Diebold, S., Djannati-Ataï, A., Dmytriiev, A., Prester, D. Dominis, Donini, A., Dorner, D., Doro, M., Dournaux, J. -L., Ebr, J., Ekoume, T. R. N., Elsässer, D., Emery, G., Falceta-Goncalves, D., Fedorova, E., Fegan, S., Feng, Q., Ferrand, G., Fiandrini, E., Fiasson, A., Filipovic, M., Fioretti, V., Fiori, M., Flis, S., Fonseca, M. V., Fontaine, G., Coromina, L. Freixas, Fukami, S., Fukui, Y., Funk, S., Füßling, M., Gaggero, D., Galanti, G., López, R. J. Garcia, Garczarczyk, M., Gascon, D., Gasparetto, T., Gaug, M., Ghalumyan, A., Gianotti, F., Giavitto, G., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Gironnet, J., Glicenstein, J. -F., Gnatyk, R., Goldoni, P., González, J. M., González, M. M., Gourgouliatos, K. N., Grabarczyk, T., Granot, J., Green, D., Greenshaw, T., Grondin, M. -H., Gueta, O., Hadasch, D., Hassan, T., Hayashida, M., Heller, M., Hervet, O., Hinton, J., Hiroshima, N., Hnatyk, B., Hofmann, W., Horvath, P., Hrabovsky, M., Hrupec, D., Humensky, T. B., Hütten, M., Inada, T., Iocco, F., Ionica, M., Iori, M., Iwamura, Y., Jamrozy, M., Janecek, P., Jankowsky, D., Jean, P., Jouvin, L., Jurysek, J., Kaaret, P., Kadowaki, L. H. S., Karkar, S., Kerszberg, D., Khélifi, B., Kieda, D., Kimeswenger, S., Kluźniak, W., Knapp, J., Knödlseder, J., Kobayashi, Y., Koch, B., Kocot, J., Komin, N., Kong, A., Kowal, G., Krause, M., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Kushwaha, P., La Parola, V., La Rosa, G., Arquillo, M. Lallena, Lang, R. G., Lapington, J., Blanc, O. Le, Lefaucheur, J., de Oliveira, M. A. Leigui, Lemoine-Goumard, M., Lenain, J. -P., Leto, G., Lico, R., Lindfors, E., Lohse, T., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., Lopez, A., López, M., Lopez-Oramas, A., López-Coto, R., Loporchio, S., Luque-Escamilla, P. L., Lyard, E., Maccarone, M. C., Mach, E., Maggio, C., Majumdar, P., Malaguti, G., Mallamaci, M., Mandat, D., Maneva, G., Manganaro, M., Mangano, S., Marculewicz, M., Mariotti, M., Martí, J., Martínez, M., Martínez, G., Martínez-Huerta, H., Masuda, S., Maxted, N., Mazin, D., Meunier, J. -L., Meyer, M., Micanovic, S., Millul, R., Minaya, I. A., Mitchell, A., Mizuno, T., Moderski, R., Mohrmann, L., Montaruli, T., Moralejo, A., Morcuende, D., Morlino, G., Morselli, A., Moulin, E., Mukherjee, R., Munar, P., Mundell, C., Murach, T., Nagai, A., Nagayoshi, T., Naito, T., Nakamori, T., Nemmen, R., Niemiec, J., Nieto, D., Rosillo, M. Nievas, Nikołajuk, M., Ninci, D., Nishijima, K., Noda, K., Nosek, D., Nöthe, M., Nozaki, S., Ohishi, M., Ohtani, Y., Okumura, A., Ong, R. A., Orienti, M., Orito, R., Ostrowski, M., Otte, N., Ou, Z., Oya, I., Pagliaro, A., Palatiello, M., Palatka, M., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Pareschi, G., Parmiggiani, N., Parsons, R. D., Patricelli, B., Pe'er, A., Pech, M., Del Campo, P. Peñil, Pérez-Romero, J., Perri, M., Persic, M., Petrucci, P. -O., Petruk, O., Pfrang, K., Piel, Q., Pietropaolo, E., Pohl, M., Polo, M., Poutanen, J., Prandini, E., Produit, N., Prokoph, H., Prouza, M., Przybilski, H., Pühlhofer, G., Punch, M., Queiroz, F., Quirrenbach, A., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzaque, S., Reimer, O., Renault-Tinacci, N., Renier, Y., Ribeiro, D., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Rieger, F., Rizi, V., Fernandez, G. Rodriguez, Rodriguez-Ramirez, J. C., Vázquez, J. J. Rodríguez, Romano, P., Romeo, G., Roncadelli, M., Rosado, J., Rowell, G., Rudak, B., Rugliancich, A., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Saha, L., Saito, T., Sakurai, S., Greus, F. Salesa, Sangiorgi, P., Sano, H., Santander, M., Santangelo, A., Santos-Lima, R., Sanuy, A., Satalecka, K., Saturni, F. G., Sawangwit, U., Schlenstedt, S., Schovanek, P., Schussler, F., Schwanke, U., Sciacca, E., Scuderi, S., Sedlaczek, K., Seglar-Arroyo, M., Sergijenko, O., Seweryn, K., Shalchi, A., Shellard, R. C., Siejkowski, H., Sillanpää, A., Sinha, A., Sironi, G., Sliusar, V., Slowikowska, A., Sol, H., Specovius, A., Spencer, S., Spengler, G., Stamerra, A., Stanič, S., Stawarz, Ł., Stefanik, S., Stolarczyk, T., Straumann, U., Suomijarvi, T., Świerk, P., Szepieniec, T., Tagliaferri, G., Tajima, H., Tam, T., Tavecchio, F., Taylor, L., Tejedor, L. A., Temnikov, P., Terzic, T., Testa, V., Tibaldo, L., Peixoto, C. J. Todero, Tokanai, F., Tomankova, L., Tonev, D., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Tosti, L., Tothill, N., Toussenel, F., Tovmassian, G., Travnicek, P., Trichard, C., Umana, G., Vagelli, V., Valentino, M., Vallage, B., Vallania, P., Valore, L., Vandenbroucke, J., Varner, G. S., Vasileiadis, G., Vassiliev, V., Acosta, M. Vázquez, Vecchi, M., Vercellone, S., Vergani, S., Vettolani, G. P., Viana, A., Vigorito, C. F., Vink, J., Vitale, V., Voelk, H., Vollhardt, A., Vorobiov, S., Wagner, S. J., Walter, R., Werner, F., White, R., Wierzcholska, A., Will, M., Williams, D. A., Wischnewski, R., Yang, L., Yoshida, T., Yoshikoshi, T., Zacharias, M., Zampieri, L., Zavrtanik, M., Zavrtanik, D., Zdziarski, A. A., Zech, A., Zechlin, H., Zenin, A., Zhdanov, V. I., Zimmer, S., and Zorn, J.
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract: The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the major next-generation observatory for ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will improve the sensitivity of current ground-based instruments by a factor of five to twenty, depending on the energy, greatly improving both their angular and energy resolutions over four decades in energy (from 20 GeV to 300 TeV). This achievement will be possible by using tens of imaging Cherenkov telescopes of three successive sizes. They will be arranged into two arrays, one per hemisphere, located on the La Palma island (Spain) and in Paranal (Chile). We present here the optimised and final telescope arrays for both CTA sites, as well as their foreseen performance, resulting from the analysis of three different large-scale Monte Carlo productions., Comment: 48 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics
Published: 2019
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41. Pulsars in a Bubble? Following Electron Diffusion in the Galaxy with TeV Gamma Rays

Author: Fleischhack, H., Albert, A., Alvarez, C., Arceo, R., Beacom, J. F., Bird, R., Brisbois, C. A., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Carraminana, A., Casanova, S., Cristofari, P., Coppi, P., Dingus, B. L., DuVernois, M. A., Engel, K. L., Goodman, J. A., Greenshaw, T., Harding, J. P., Hona, B., Huentemeyer, P. H., Li, H., Linden, T., Malone, K., Martinez-Castro, J., Mostafa, M. A., Nisa, M. U., Riviere, C., Greus, F. Salesa, Sandoval, A., Smith, A. J., Springer, W., Sudoh, T., Tollefson, K., Zepeda, A., and Zhou, H.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: TeV Halos, extended regions of TeV gamma-ray emission around middle-aged pulsars, have recently been established as a new source class in gamma-ray astronomy. These halos have been attributed to relativistic electrons and positrons that have left the acceleration region close to the pulsar and are diffusing in the surrounding medium. Measuring the morphology of TeV Halos enables for the first time a direct measurement of the electron diffusion on scales of tens of parsecs. There are hints that the presence of relativistic particles affects the diffusion rate in the pulsars' surroundings. Understanding electron diffusion is necessary to constrain the origins of the apparent `excess' of cosmic-ray positrons at tens of GeV. TeV Halos can also be used to find mis-aligned pulsars, as well as study certain properties of the Galaxy's pulsar population. Future VHE gamma-ray instruments will detect more of those TeV Halos and determine how much pulsars contribute to the observed cosmic-ray electron and positron fluxes, and how they affect diffusion in their environments., Comment: Whitepaper for the US Astro2020 decadal survey
Published: 2019

42. Towards open and reproducible multi-instrument analysis in gamma-ray astronomy

Author: Nigro, C., Deil, C., Zanin, R., Hassan, T., King, J., Ruiz, J. E., Saha, L., Terrier, R., Brügge, K., Nöthe, M., Bird, R., Lin, T. T. Y., Aleksić, J., Boisson, C., Contreras, J. L., Donath, A., Jouvin, L., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Khelifi, B., Kosack, K., Rico, J., and Sinha, A.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract: The analysis and combination of data from different gamma-ray instruments involves the use of collaboration proprietary software and case-by-case methods. The effort of defining a common data format for high-level data, namely event lists and instrument response functions (IRFs), has recently started for very-high-energy gamma-ray instruments, driven by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). In this work we implemented this prototypical data format for a small set of MAGIC, VERITAS, FACT, and H.E.S.S. Crab nebula observations, and we analyzed them with the open-source gammapy software package. By combining data from $Fermi$-LAT, and from four of the currently operating imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, we produced a joint maximum likelihood fit of the Crab nebula spectrum. Aspects of the statistical errors and the evaluation of systematic uncertainty are also commented upon, along with the release format of spectral measurements. The results presented in this work are obtained using open-access on-line assets that allow for a long-term reproducibility of the results., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, online material at: https://github.com/open-gamma-ray-astro/joint-crab
Published: 2019
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43. Cosmic-ray antinuclei as messengers of new physics: status and outlook for the new decade.

Author: von Doetinchem, P, Perez, K, Aramaki, T, Baker, S, Barwick, S, Bird, R, Boezio, M, Boggs, SE, Cui, M, Datta, A, Donato, F, Evoli, C, Fabris, L, Fabbietti, L, Ferronato Bueno, E, Fornengo, N, Fuke, H, Gerrity, C, Gomez Coral, D, Hailey, C, Hooper, D, Kachelriess, M, Korsmeier, M, Kozai, M, Lea, R, Li, N, Lowell, A, Manghisoni, M, Moskalenko, IV, Munini, R, Naskret, M, Nelson, T, Ng, KCY, Nozzoli, F, Oliva, A, Ong, RA, Osteria, G, Pierog, T, Poulin, V, Profumo, S, Pöschl, T, Quinn, S, Re, V, Rogers, F, Ryan, J, Saffold, N, Sakai, K, Salati, P, Schael, S, Serksnyte, L, Shukla, A, Stoessl, A, Tjemsland, J, Vannuccini, E, Vecchi, M, Winkler, MW, Wright, D, Xiao, M, Xu, W, Yoshida, T, Zampa, G, and Zuccon, P
Subjects: baryon asymmetry, cosmic ray experiments, cosmic ray theory, dark matter experiments, astro-ph.HE, Nuclear & Particles Physics, Astronomical and Space Sciences, Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
Abstract: The precise measurement of cosmic-ray antinuclei serves as an important means for identifying the nature of dark matter and other new astrophysical phenomena, and could be used with other cosmic-ray species to understand cosmic-ray production and propagation in the Galaxy. For instance, low-energy antideuterons would provide a "smoking gun" signature of dark matter annihilation or decay, essentially free of astrophysical background. Studies in recent years have emphasized that models for cosmic-ray antideuterons must be considered together with the abundant cosmic antiprotons and any potential observation of antihelium. Therefore, a second dedicated Antideuteron Workshop was organized at UCLA in March 2019, bringing together a community of theorists and experimentalists to review the status of current observations of cosmic-ray antinuclei, the theoretical work towards understanding these signatures, and the potential of upcoming measurements to illuminate ongoing controversies. This review aims to synthesize this recent work and present implications for the upcoming decade of antinuclei observations and searches. This includes discussion of a possible dark matter signature in the AMS-02 antiproton spectrum, the most recent limits from BESS Polar-II on the cosmic antideuteron flux, and reports of candidate antihelium events by AMS-02; recent collider and cosmic-ray measurements relevant for antinuclei production models; the state of cosmic-ray transport models in light of AMS-02 and Voyager data; and the prospects for upcoming experiments, such as GAPS. This provides a roadmap for progress on cosmic antinuclei signatures of dark matter in the coming years.
Published: 2020

44. GAPS, low-energy antimatter for indirect dark-matter search

Author: Vannuccini, E., Aramaki, T., Bird, R., Boezio, M., Boggs, S. E., Bonvicini, V., Campana, D., Craig, W. W., von Doetinchem, P., Everson, E., Fabris, L., Gahbauer, F., Gerrity, C., Fuke, H., Hailey, C. J., Hayashi, T., Kato, C., Kawachi, A., Kozai, M., Lowell, A., Martucci, M., Mognet, S. I., Munini, R., Munakata, K., Okazaki, S., Ong, R. A., Osteria, G., Perez, K., Quinn, S., Ryan, J., Re, V., Rogers, F., Saffold, N., Shimizu, Y., Sparvoli, R., Stoessl, A., Yoshida, A., Yoshida, T., Zampa, G., and Zweerink, J.
Subjects: Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract: The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is designed to carry out indirect dark matter search by measuring low-energy cosmic-ray antiparticles. Below a few GeVs the flux of antiparticles produced by cosmic-ray collisions with the interstellar medium is expected to be very low and several well-motivated beyond-standard models predict a sizable contribution to the antideuteron flux. GAPS is planned to fly on a long-duration balloon over Antarctica in the austral summer of 2020. The primary detector is a 1m3 central volume containing planes of Si(Li) detectors. This volume is surrounded by a time-of-flight system to both trigger the Si(Li) detector and reconstruct the particle tracks. The detection principle of the experiment relies on the identification of the antiparticle annihilation pattern. Low energy antiparticles slow down in the apparatus and they are captured in the medium to form exotic excited atoms, which de-excite by emitting characteristic X-rays. Afterwards they undergo nuclear annihilation, resulting in a star of pions and protons. The simultaneous measurement of the stopping depth and the dE/dx loss of the primary antiparticle, of the X-ray energies and of the star particle-multiplicity provides very high rejection power, that is critical in rare-event search. GAPS will be able to perform a precise measurement of the cosmic antiproton flux below 250 MeV, as well as a sensitive search for antideuterons., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Low Energy Antiproton Physics Conference (LEAP) 2018, Paris (France)
Published: 2018

45. Periastron Observations of TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from a Binary System with a 50-year Period

Author: The VERITAS Collaboration, Abeysekara, A. U., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brill, A., Brose, R., Buckley, J. H., Chromey, A. J., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gent, A., Gillanders, G. H., Hanna, D., Hassan, T., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Maier, G., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Schlenstedt, S., Sembroski, G. H., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Vassiliev, V. V., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, Zitzer, B., Collaboration, MAGIC, Acciari, V. A., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Engels, A. Arbet, Baack, D., Babić, A., Banerjee, B., de Almeida, U. Barres, Barrio, J. A., González, J. Becerra, Bednarek, W., Bernardini, E., Berti, A., Besenrieder, J., Bhattacharyya, W., Bigongiari, C., Biland, A., Blanch, O., Bonnoli, G., Busetto, G., Carosi, R., Ceribella, G., Cikota, S., Colak, S. M., Colin, P., Colombo, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Covino, S., D'Elia, V., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Lotto, B., Delfino, M., Delgado, J., Di Pierro, F., Espiñera, E. Do Souto, Domínguez, A., Prester, D. Dominis, Dorner, D., Doro, M., Einecke, S., Elsaesser, D., Ramazani, V. Fallah, Fattorini, A., Fernández-Barral, A., Ferrara, G., Fidalgo, D., Foffano, L., Fonseca, M. V., Font, L., Fruck, C., Galindo, D., Gallozzi, S., López, R. J. García, Garczarczyk, M., Gasparyan, S., Gaug, M., Giammaria, P., Godinović, N., Guberman, D., Hadasch, D., Hahn, A., Herrera, J., Hoang, J., Hrupec, D., Inoue, S., Ishio, K., Iwamura, Y., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Kuveždić, D., Lamastra, A., Lelas, D., Leone, F., Lindfors, E., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., López, M., López-Oramas, A., Fraga, B. Machado de Oliveira, Maggio, C., Majumdar, P., Makariev, M., Mallamaci, M., Maneva, G., Manganaro, M., Mannheim, K., Maraschi, L., Mariotti, M., Martínez, M., Masuda, S., Mazin, D., Minev, M., Miranda, J. M., Mirzoyan, R., Molina, E., Moralejo, A., Moreno, V., Moretti, E., Munar-Adrover, P., Neustroev, V., Niedzwiecki, A., Rosillo, M. Nievas, Nigro, C., Nilsson, K., Ninci, D., Nishijima, K., Noda, K., Nogués, L., Nöthe, M., Paiano, S., Palacio, J., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Pedaletti, G., Peñil, P., Peresano, M., Persic, M., Moroni, P. G. Prada, Prandini, E., Puljak, I., Garcia, J. R., Rhode, W., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Righi, C., Rugliancich, A., Saha, L., Sahakyan, N., Saito, T., Satalecka, K., Schweizer, T., Sitarek, J., Šnidarić, I., Sobczynska, D., Somero, A., Stamerra, A., Strzys, M., Surić, T., Tavecchio, F., Temnikov, P., Terzić, T., Teshima, M., Torres-Albà, N., Tsujimoto, S., van Scherpenberg, J., Vanzo, G., Acosta, M. Vazquez, Vovk, I., Will, M., and Zarić, D.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We report on observations of the pulsar / Be star binary system PSR J2032+4127 / MT91 213 in the energy range between 100 GeV and 20 TeV with the VERITAS and MAGIC imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays. The binary orbit has a period of approximately 50 years, with the most recent periastron occurring on 2017 November 13. Our observations span from 18 months prior to periastron to one month after. A new, point-like, gamma-ray source is detected, coincident with the location of PSR J2032+4127 / MT91 213. The gamma-ray light curve and spectrum are well-characterized over the periastron passage. The flux is variable over at least an order of magnitude, peaking at periastron, thus providing a firm association of the TeV source with the pulsar / Be star system. Observations prior to periastron show a cutoff in the spectrum at an energy around 0.5 TeV. This result adds a new member to the small population of known TeV binaries, and it identifies only the second source of this class in which the nature and properties of the compact object are firmly established. We compare the gamma-ray results with the light curve measured with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on board the Neil Gehrels \textit{Swift} Observatory and with the predictions of recent theoretical models of the system. We conclude that significant revision of the models is required to explain the details of the emission we have observed, and we discuss the relationship between the binary system and the overlapping steady extended source, TeV J2032+4130., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJL
Published: 2018
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46. GAPS: A New Cosmic Ray Anti-matter Experiment

Author: Quinn, S., Aramaki, T., Bird, R., Boezio, M., Boggs, S. E., Bonvicini, V., Campana, D., Craig, W. W., von Doetinchem, P., Everson, E., Fabris, L., Gahbauer, F., Gerrity, C., Fuke, H., Hailey, C. J., Hayashi, T., Kato, C., Kawachi, A., Kozai, M., Lowell, A., Martucci, M., Mognet, S. I., Munini, R., Munakata, K., Okazaki, S., Ong, R. A., Osteria, G., Perez, K., Ryan, J., Re, V., Rogers, F., Saffold, N., Shimizu, Y., Sparvoli, R., Stoessl, A., Vannuccini, E., Yoshida, A., Yoshida, T., Zampa, G., and Zweerink, J.
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract: The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a balloon-borne instrument designed to detect cosmic-ray antimatter using the novel exotic atom technique, obviating the strong magnetic fields required by experiments like AMS, PAMELA, or BESS. It will be sensitive to primary antideuterons with kinetic energies of $\approx0.05-0.2$ GeV/nucleon, providing some overlap with the previously mentioned experiments at the highest energies. For $3\times35$ day balloon flights, and standard classes of primary antideuteron propagation models, GAPS will be sensitive to $m_{\mathrm{DM}}\approx10-100$ GeV c$^{-2}$ WIMPs with a dark-matter flux to astrophysical flux ratio approaching 100. This clean primary channel is a key feature of GAPS and is crucial for a rare event search. Additionally, the antiproton spectrum will be extended with high statistics measurements to cover the $0.07 \leq E \leq 0.25 $ GeV domain. For $E>0.2$ GeV GAPS data will be complementary to existing experiments, while $E<0.2$ GeV explores a new regime. The first flight is scheduled for late 2020 in Antarctica. These proceedings will describe the astrophysical processes and backgrounds relevant to the dark matter search, a brief discussion of detector operation, and construction progress made to date., Comment: Talk presented CIPANP2018. 13 pages, LaTeX, 7 figures. Higher resolution figs at http://gaps1.astro.ucla.edu/gaps/papers2018/cipanp18
Published: 2018

47. VERITAS and Fermi-LAT observations of new HAWC sources

Author: VERITAS Collaboration, Abeysekara, A. U., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Bugaev, V., Chromey, A. J., Connolly, M. P., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Hutten, M., Hanna, D., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., McArthur, S., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J., Zitzer, B., Collaboration, Fermi-LAT, Abdollahi, S., Ajello, M., Baldini, L., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bissaldi, E., Blandford, R. D., Bonino, R., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Cameron, R. A., Caputo, R., Caraveo, P. A., Castro, D., Cavazzuti, E., Charles, E., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Costantin, D., Cutini, S., D'Ammando, F., de Palma, F., Di Lalla, N., Di Mauro, M., Di Venere, L., Dominguez, A., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Green, D., Grenier, I. A., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Hays, E., Hewitt, J. W., Horan, D., Johannesson, G., Kensei, S., Kuss, M., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Li, J., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Magill, J. D., Maldera, S., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Negro, M., Nuss, E., Ojha, R., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Palatiello, M., Paliya, V. S., Paneque, D., Perkins, J. S., Persic, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Petrosian, V., Piron, F., Porter, T. A., Principe, G., Raino, S., Rando, R., Rani, B., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reposeur, T., Sgro, C., Siskind, E. J., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Thayer, J. B., Thompson, D. J., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Valverde, J., Vianello, G., Vogel, M., Wood, K., Yassine, M., Collaboration, HAWC, Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Alvarez, J. D., Arceo, R., Arteaga-Velazquez, J. C., Rojas, D. Avila, Solares, H. A. Ayala, Becerril, A., Belmont-Moreno, E., BenZvi, S. Y., Bernal, A., Braun, J., Brisbois, C., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Capistran, T., Carraminana, A., Casanova, S., Castillo, M., Cotti, U., Cotzomi, J., de Leon, S. Coutino, De Leon, C., De la Fuente, E., Dichiara, S., Dingus, B. L., DuVernois, M. A., Diaz-Velez, J. C., Engel, K., Enriquez-Rivera, O., Fiorino, D. W., Fleischhack, H., Fraija, N., Garcia-Gonzalez, J. A., Garfias, F., Munoz, A. Gonzalez, Gonzalez, M. M., Goodman, J. A., Hampel-Arias, Z., Harding, J. P., Hernandez, S., Hernandez-Almada, A., Hona, B., Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F., Hui, C. M., Huntemeyer, P., Iriarte, A., Jardin-Blicq, A., Joshi, V., Kaufmann, S., Lara, A., Lauer, R. J., Lee, W. H., Lennarz, D., Vargas, H. Leon, Linnemann, J. T., Longinotti, A. L., Luis-Raya, G., Luna-Garcia, R., Lopez-Coto, R., Malone, K., Marinelli, S. S., Martinez, O., Martinez-Castellanos, I., Martinez-Castro, J., Martinez-Huerta, H., Matthews, J. A., Miranda-Romagnoli, P., Moreno, E., Mostafa, M., Nayerhoda, A., Nellen, L., Newbold, M., Nisa, M. U., Noriega-Papaqui, R., Pelayo, R., Pretz, J., Perez-Perez, E. G., Ren, Z., Rho, C. D., Riviere, C., Rosa-Gonzalez, D., Rosenberg, M., Ruiz-Velasco, E., Salazar, H., Greus, F. Salesa, Sandoval, A., Schneider, M., Arroyo, M. Seglar, Sinnis, G., Smith, A. J., Springer, R. W., Surajbali, P., Taboada, I., Tibolla, O., Tollefson, K., Torres, I., Ukwatta, T. N., Villasenor, L., Weisgarber, T., Westerhoff, S., Wisher, I. G., Wood, J., Yapici, T., Yodh, G., Zepeda, A., and Zhou, H.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: The HAWC (High Altitude Water Cherenkov) collaboration recently published their 2HWC catalog, listing 39 very high energy (VHE; >100~GeV) gamma-ray sources based on 507 days of observation. Among these, there are nineteen sources that are not associated with previously known TeV sources. We have studied fourteen of these sources without known counterparts with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT. VERITAS detected weak gamma-ray emission in the 1~TeV-30~TeV band in the region of DA 495, a pulsar wind nebula coinciding with 2HWC J1953+294, confirming the discovery of the source by HAWC. We did not find any counterpart for the selected fourteen new HAWC sources from our analysis of Fermi-LAT data for energies higher than 10 GeV. During the search, we detected GeV gamma-ray emission coincident with a known TeV pulsar wind nebula, SNR G54.1+0.3 (VER J1930+188), and a 2HWC source, 2HWC J1930+188. The fluxes for isolated, steady sources in the 2HWC catalog are generally in good agreement with those measured by imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. However, the VERITAS fluxes for SNR G54.1+0.3, DA 495, and TeV J2032+4130 are lower than those measured by HAWC and several new HAWC sources are not detected by VERITAS. This is likely due to a change in spectral shape, source extension, or the influence of diffuse emission in the source region., Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ, Corresponding author: Nahee Park (VERITAS Collaboration), John W. Hewitt (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Ignacio Taboada (HAWC Collaboration), 30 pages, 12 figures
Published: 2018
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48. Measurement of Cosmic-ray Electrons at TeV Energies by VERITAS

Author: VERITAS Collaboration, Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Buckley, J. H., Bugaev, V., Connolly, M. P., Cui, W., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Gillanders, G., Hütten, M., Hanna, D., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Maier, G., McArthur, S., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Staszak, D., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Wakely, S. P., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, and Zitzer, B.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons (CREs) at GeV-TeV energies are a unique probe of our local Galactic neighborhood. CREs lose energy rapidly via synchrotron radiation and inverse-Compton scattering processes while propagating within the Galaxy and these losses limit their propagation distance. For electrons with TeV energies, the limit is on the order of a kiloparsec. Within that distance there are only a few known astrophysical objects capable of accelerating electrons to such high energies. It is also possible that the CREs are the products of the annihilation or decay of heavy dark matter (DM) particles. VERITAS, an array of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes in southern Arizona, USA, is primarily utilized for gamma-ray astronomy, but also simultaneously collects CREs during all observations. We describe our methods of identifying CREs in VERITAS data and present an energy spectrum, extending from 300 GeV to 5 TeV, obtained from approximately 300 hours of observations. A single power-law fit is ruled out in VERITAS data. We find that the spectrum of CREs is consistent with a broken power law, with a break energy at 710 $\pm$ 40$_{stat}$ $\pm$ 140$_{syst}$ GeV., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PRD
Published: 2018
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49. The extreme HBL behaviour of Markarian 501 during 2012

Author: Ahnen, M. L., Ansoldi, S., Antonelli, L. A., Arcaro, C., Babić, A., Banerjee, B., Bangale, P., de Almeida, U. Barres, Barrio, J. A., González, J. Becerra, Bednarek, W., Bernardini, E., Berti, A., Bhattacharyya, W., Blanch, O., Bonnoli, G., Carosi, R., Carosi, A., Chatterjee, A., Colak, S. M., Colin, P., Colombo, E., Contreras, J. L., Cortina, J., Covino, S., Cumani, P., Da Vela, P., Dazzi, F., De Angelis, A., De Lotto, B., Delfino, M., Delgado, J., Di Pierro, F., Doert, M., Domínguez, A., Prester, D. Dominis, Doro, M., Glawion, D. Eisenacher, Engelkemeier, M., Ramazani, V. Fallah, Fernández-Barral, A., Fidalgo, D., Fonseca, M. V., Font, L., Fruck, C., Galindo, D., López, R. J. García, Garczarczyk, M., Gaug, M., Giammaria, P., Godinović, N., Gora, D., Guberman, D., Hadasch, D., Hahn, A., Hassan, T., Hayashida, M., Herrera, J., Hose, J., Hrupec, D., Ishio, K., Konno, Y., Kubo, H., Kushida, J., Kuveždić, D., Lelas, D., Lindfors, E., Lombardi, S., Longo, F., López, M., Maggio, C., Majumdar, P., Makariev, M., Maneva, G., Manganaro, M., Maraschi, L., Mariotti, M., Martínez, M., Mazin, D., Menzel, U., Minev, M., Miranda, J. M., Mirzoyan, R., Moralejo, A., Moreno, V., Moretti, E., Nagayoshi, T., Neustroev, V., Niedzwiecki, A., Rosillo, M. Nievas, Nigro, C., Nilsson, K., Ninci, D., Nishijima, K., Noda, K., Nogués, L., Paiano, S., Palacio, J., Paneque, D., Paoletti, R., Paredes, J. M., Pedaletti, G., Peresano, M., Perri, L., Persic, M., Moroni, P. G. Prada, Prandini, E., Puljak, I., Garcia, J. R., Reichardt, I., Ribó, M., Rico, J., Righi, C., Rugliancich, A., Saito, T., Satalecka, K., Schroeder, S., Schweizer, T., Shore, S. N., Sitarek, J., Šnidarić, I., Sobczynska, D., Stamerra, A., Strzys, M., Surić, T., Takalo, L., Tavecchio, F., Temnikov, P., Terzić, T., Teshima, M., Torres-Albà, N., Treves, A., Tsujimoto, S., Vanzo, G., Acosta, M. Vazquez, Vovk, I., Ward, J. E., Will, M., Zarić, D., Arbet-Engels, A., Baack, D., Balbo, M., Biland, A., Blank, M., Bretz, T., Bruegge, K., Bulinski, M., Buss, J., Dmytriiev, A., Dorner, D., Einecke, S., Elsaesser, D., Herbst, T., Hildebrand, D., Kortmann, L., Linhoff, L., Mahlke, M., Mannheim, K., Mueller, S. A., Neise, D., Neronov, A., Noethe, M., Oberkirch, J., Paravac, A., Rhode, W., Schleicher, B., Schulz, F., Sedlaczek, K., Shukla, A., Sliusar, V., Walter, R., Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buckley, J. H., Bugaev, V., Christiansen, J. L., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Gillanders, G. H., Gueta, O., Hanna, D., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Hütten, M., Humensky, T. B., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kar, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kertzman, M., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Lin, T. T. Y., Maier, G., McArthur, S., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pichel, A., Pohl, M., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rovero, A. C., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Santander, M., Sembroski, G. H., Shahinyan, K., Sushch, I., Tyler, J., Wakely, S. P., Weinstein, A., Wells, R. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhel, A., Williams, D. A., Williamson, T. J, Zitzer, B., Perri, M., Verrecchia, F., Leto, C., Villata, M., Raiteri, C. M., Jorstad, S. G., Larionov, V. M., Blinov, D. A., Grishina, T. S., Kopatskaya, E. N., Larionova, E. G., Nikiforova, A. A., Morozova, D. A., Troitskaya, Yu. V., Troitsky, I. S., Kurtanidze, O. M., Nikolashvili, M. G., Kurtanidze, S. O., Kimeridze, G. N., Chigladze, R. A., Strigachev, A., Sadun, A. C., Moody, J. W., Chen, W. P., Lin, H. C., Acosta-Pulido, J. A., Arévalo, M. J., Carnerero, M. I., González-Morales, P. A., Manilla-Robles, A., Jermak, H., Steele, I., Mundel, C., Benítez, E., Hiriart, D., Smith, P. S., Max-Moerbeck, W., Readhead, A. C. S., Richards, J. L., Hovatta, T., Lähteenmäki, A., Tornikoski, M., Tammi, J., Georganopoulos, M., and Baring, M. G.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: A multiwavelength campaign was organized to take place between March and July of 2012. Excellent temporal coverage was obtained with more than 25 instruments, including the MAGIC, FACT and VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes, the instruments on board the Swift and Fermi spacecraft, and the telescopes operated by the GASP-WEBT collaboration. Mrk 501 showed a very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray flux above 0.2 TeV of $\sim$0.5 times the Crab Nebula flux (CU) for most of the campaign. The highest activity occurred on 2012 June 9, when the VHE flux was $\sim$3 CU, and the peak of the high-energy spectral component was found to be at $\sim$2 TeV. This study reports very hard X-ray spectra, and the hardest VHE spectra measured to date for Mrk 501. The fractional variability was found to increase with energy, with the highest variability occurring at VHE, and a significant correlation between the X-ray and VHE bands. The unprecedentedly hard X-ray and VHE spectra measured imply that their low- and high-energy components peaked above 5 keV and 0.5 TeV, respectively, during a large fraction of the observing campaign, and hence that Mrk 501 behaved like an extreme high-frequency- peaked blazar (EHBL) throughout the 2012 observing season. This suggests that being an EHBL may not be a permanent characteristic of a blazar, but rather a state which may change over time. The one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenario can successfully describe the segments of the SED where most energy is emitted, with a significant correlation between the electron energy density and the VHE gamma-ray activity, suggesting that most of the variability may be explained by the injection of high-energy electrons. The one-zone SSC scenario used reproduces the behaviour seen between the measured X-ray and VHE gamma-ray fluxes, and predicts that the correlation becomes stronger with increasing energy of the X-rays., Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Corresponding authors: Gareth Hughes (gareth.hughes@cfa.harvard.edu), David Paneque (dpaneque@mppmu.mpg.de), Amit Shukla (amit.shukla@astro.uni-wuerzburg.de)
Published: 2018
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50. Measurement of the Iron Spectrum in Cosmic Rays by VERITAS

Author: The VERITAS collaboration, Archer, A., Benbow, W., Bird, R., Brose, R., Buchovecky, M., Bugaev, V., Connolly, M. P., Cui, W., Daniel, M. K., Falcone, A., Feng, Q., Finley, J. P., Fleischhack, H., Fortson, L., Furniss, A., Hanna, D., Hervet, O., Holder, J., Hughes, G., Humensky, T. B., Hütten, M., Johnson, C. A., Kaaret, P., Kelley-Hoskins, N., Kieda, D., Krause, M., Krennrich, F., Kumar, S., Lang, M. J., Maier, G., McArthur, S., Moriarty, P., Mukherjee, R., Nieto, D., O'Brien, S., Ong, R. A., Otte, A. N., Park, N., Petrashyk, A., Pohl, M., Popkow, A., Pueschel, E., Quinn, J., Ragan, K., Reynolds, P. T., Richards, G. T., Roache, E., Rulten, C., Sadeh, I., Tyler, J., Wakely, S. P., Weiner, O. M., Wilcox, P., Wilhelm, A., Williams, D. A., Wissel, S. A., and Zitzer, B.
Subjects: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract: We present a new measurement of the energy spectrum of iron nuclei in cosmic rays from 20 to 500 TeV. The measurement makes use of a template-based analysis method, which, for the first time, is applied to the energy reconstruction of iron-induced air showers recorded by the VERITAS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The event selection makes use of the direct Cherenkov light which is emitted by charged particles before the first interaction, as well as other parameters related to the shape of the recorded air shower images. The measured spectrum is well described by a power law $\frac{\mathrm{d} F}{\mathrm{d} E}=f_0\cdot \left(\frac{E}{E_0}\right)^{-\gamma}$ over the full energy range, with $\gamma = 2.82 \pm 0.30 \mathrm{(stat.)} ^{+0.24}_{-0.27} \mathrm{(syst.)}$ and $f_0 = \left( 4.82 \pm 0.98 \mathrm{(stat.)}^{+2.12}_{-2.70} \mathrm{(syst.)} \right)\cdot 10^{-7}$m$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$sr$^{-1}$TeV$^{-1}$ at $E_0=50$TeV, with no indication of a cutoff or spectral break. The measured differential flux is compatible with previous results, with improved statistical uncertainty at the highest energies., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D
Published: 2018
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