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- ItemFirst limits on the very-high energy gamma-ray afterglow emission of a fast radio burst HESS observations of FRB 150418(EDP Sciences, 2017-01-01) Colafrancesco, S.; Jingo, M.; Shafi, N.; Abdalla, H.; Abramowski, A.; Aharonian, F.; Ait Benkhali, F.; Akhperjanian, A. G.; Andersson, T.; Angüner, E. O.; Arakawa, M.; Arrieta, M.; Aubert, P.; Backes, M.; Balzer, A.; Barnard, M.; Chen, A.; Jingo, M.; Komin, N.; Shafi, N.Aims. Following the detection of the fast radio burst FRB150418 by the SUPERB project at the Parkes radio telescope, we aim to search for very-high energy gamma-ray afterglow emission. Methods. Follow-up observations in the very-high energy gamma-ray domain were obtained with the H.E.S.S. imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope system within 14.5 h of the radio burst. Results. The obtained 1.4 h of gamma-ray observations are presented and discussed. At the 99% C.L. we obtained an integral upper limit on the gamma-ray flux of Φγ(E > 350 GeV) < 1.33 × 10-8 m-2 s-1. Differential flux upper limits as function of the photon energy were derived and used to constrain the intrinsic high-energy afterglow emission of FRB 150418. Conclusions. No hints for high-energy afterglow emission of FRB 150418 were found. Taking absorption on the extragalactic background light into account and assuming a distance of z = 0.492 based on radio and optical counterpart studies and consistent with the FRB dispersion, we constrain the gamma-ray luminosity at 1 TeV to L < 5.1 × 1047 erg/s at 99% C.L.
- ItemCharacterizing the gamma-ray long-term variability of PKS2155 304 with HESS and Fermi-LAT(EDP Sciences, 2017-02) Chen, A.; Colafrancesco, S.; Jingo, M.; Collaboration, H.E.S.S.; Abdalla, H.; Abramowski, A.; Aharonian, F.; Ait Benkhali, F.; Akhperjanian, A.G.; Andersson, T.; Angüner, E.O.; Arrieta, M.; Aubert, P.; Backes, M.; Balzer, A.; Barnard, M.; Becherini, Y.; Becker Tjus, J.; Berge, D.; Bernhard, S.; Komin, Nu.Studying the temporal variability of BL Lac objects at the highest energies provides unique insights into the extreme physical processes occurring in relativistic jets and in the vicinity of super-massive black holes. To this end, the long-term variability of the BL Lac object PKS 2155-304 is analyzed in the high (HE, 100 MeV < E < 300 GeV) and very high energy (VHE, E > 200 GeV) γ-ray domain. Over the course of ∼9 yr of H.E.S.S. observations the VHE light curve in the quiescent state is consistent with a log-normal behavior. The VHE variability in this state is well described by flicker noise (power-spectral-density index βVHE = 1.10-0.13 +0.10) on timescales larger than one day. An analysis of ∼5.5 yr of HE Fermi-LAT data gives consistent results (βHE = 1.20-0.23 +0.21), on timescales larger than 10 days) compatible with the VHE findings. The HE and VHE power spectral densities show a scale invariance across the probed time ranges. A direct linear correlation between the VHE and HE fluxes could neither be excluded nor firmly established. These long-term-variability properties are discussed and compared to the red noise behavior (β ∼ 2) seen on shorter timescales during VHE-flaring states. The difference in power spectral noise behavior at VHE energies during quiescent and flaring states provides evidence that these states are influenced by different physical processes, while the compatibility of the HE and VHE long-term results is suggestive of a common physical link as it might be introduced by an underlying jet-disk connection.
- ItemGamma-ray blazar spectra with H.E.S.S. II mono analysis: The case of PKS2155-304 and PG1553+113(EDP Sciences, 2017-04) Chen, A.; Colafrancesco, S.; Jingo, M.; Komin, Nu.; Shafi, N.; Abdalla, H.; Abramowski, A.; Aharonian, F.; Ait Benkhali, F.; Akhperjanian, A. G.; Andersson, T.; Angüner, E. O.; Arrieta, M.; Aubert, P.; Backes, M.; Balzer, A.; Barnard, M.; Becherini, Y.; Becker Tjus, J.; Berge, D.; Bernhard, S.Context. The addition of a 28 m Cherenkov telescope (CT5) to the H.E.S.S. array extended the experiment's sensitivity to lower energies. The lowest energy threshold is obtained using monoscopic analysis of data taken with CT5, providing access to gamma-ray energies below 100 GeV for small zenith angle observations. Such an extension of the instrument's energy range is particularly beneficial for studies of active galactic nuclei with soft spectra, as expected for those at a redshift ≥0.5. The high-frequency peaked BL Lac objects PKS 2155-304 (z = 0:116) and PG 1553+113 (0:43 < z < 0:58) are among the brightest objects in the gamma-ray sky, both showing clear signatures of gamma-ray absorption at E > 100 GeV interpreted as being due to interactions with the extragalactic background light (EBL). Aims. The aims of this work are twofold: to demonstrate the monoscopic analysis of CT5 data with a low energy threshold, and to obtain accurate measurements of the spectral energy distributions (SED) of PKS 2155-304 and PG 1553+113 near their SED peaks at energies 100 GeV. Methods. Multiple observational campaigns of PKS 2155-304 and PG 1553+113 were conducted during 2013 and 2014 using the full H.E.S.S. II instrument (CT1'5). A monoscopic analysis of the data taken with the new CT5 telescope was developed along with an investigation into the systematic uncertainties on the spectral parameters which are derived from this analysis. Results. Using the data from CT5, the energy spectra of PKS 2155-304 and PG 1553+113 were reconstructed down to conservative threshold energies of 80 GeV for PKS 2155-304, which transits near zenith, and 110 GeV for the more northern PG 1553+113. The measured spectra, well fitted in both cases by a log-parabola spectral model (with a 5.0φ statistical preference for non-zero curvature for PKS 2155-304 and 4.5φ for PG 1553+113), were found consistent with spectra derived from contemporaneous Fermi-LAT data, indicating a sharp break in the observed spectra of both sources at E 100 GeV. When corrected for EBL absorption, the intrinsic H.E.S.S. II mono and Fermi-LAT spectrum of PKS 2155-304 was found to show significant curvature. For PG 1553+113, however, no significant detection of curvature in the intrinsic spectrum could be found within statistical and systematic uncertainties.
- ItemGeneration of radical species in CVD grown pristine and N-doped solid carbon spheres using H2 and Ar as carrier gases(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017) Mutuma, B.K.; Matsoso, B.J.; Ranganathan, K.; Wamwangi, D.; Coville, N.J; Keartland, J.Solid carbon spheres (CSs, d ≈ 200 nm) were synthesized (yield, <40%) in a vertically oriented chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor using acetylene as a carbon source and Ar or H2 as the carrier gas. The CSs synthesized in the presence of H2 exhibited a broader thermal gravimetric derivative curve and a narrower paramagnetic signal than the CSs synthesized in Ar. Post synthesis doping of both types of CSs with nitrogen was achieved by passing acetonitrile at 800 °C for 1 h over the CSs in a CVD reactor. The N-doped CSs (NCSs) synthesized under both H2 and Ar displayed an increase in ID/IG ratios as obtained from Raman spectroscopy and showed an increase in the paramagnetic signal due to the presence of nitrogen induced defects compared to the undoped CSs. The NCSs synthesized in H2 had less graphitic-N (22%) than those produced in Ar (50%). The presence of a higher percentage of pyridinic-N and pyrrolic-N for the NCSs prepared with H2 as carrier gas suggested H2 etching effects on the CSs. Further, the N-doped carbon spheres obtained in the presence of H2 gave a higher N/C ratio (5.0) than in the presence of Ar (3.7). The introduction of edge defects and paramagnetic centers in CSs in the presence of H2 gas without the aid of a metal catalyst opens up a platform for regulating surface and catalytic reactions of CSs
- ItemInelastic magnon scattering(Elsevier, 2017-05) De Mello Koch, R.; Van Zyl, H.J.R.We study the worldsheet S-matrix of a string attached to a D-brane in AdS5×S5. The D-brane is either a giant graviton or a dual giant graviton. In the gauge theory, the operators we consider belong to the su(2|3)sector of the theory. Magnon excitations of open strings can exhibit both elastic (when magnons in the bulk of the string scatter) and inelastic (when magnons at the endpoint of an open string participate) scattering. Both of these S-matrices are determined (up to an overall phase) by the su(2|2)2global symmetry of the theory. In this note we study the S-matrix for inelastic scattering. We show that it exhibits poles correspondingto boundstates of bulk and boundary magnons. A crossing equation is derived for the overall phase. It reproduces the crossing equation for maximal giant gravitons, in the appropriate limit. Finally, scattering in the su(2)sector is computed to two loops. This two loop result, which determines the overall phase to two loops, will be useful when a unique solution to the crossing equation is to be selected.