We analyze the high-energy neutrino events observed by IceCube, aiming to probe the initial flavor of cosmic neutrinos. We study the track-to-shower ratio of the subset with energy above 60 TeV, ...where the signal is expected to dominate, and show that different production mechanisms give rise to different predictions even accounting for the uncertainties due to neutrino oscillations. We include for the first time the passing muons observed by IceCube in the analysis. They corroborate the hypotheses that cosmic neutrinos have been seen and their flavor matches expectations derived from the neutrino oscillations.
Abstract
The Tibet AS
γ
experiment provided the first measurement of the total diffuse gamma-ray emission from the Galactic disk in the sub-PeV energy range. Based on the analysis of TeV sources ...included in the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey catalog, we predict the expected contribution of unresolved pulsar-powered sources in the two angular windows of the Galactic plane observed by Tibet AS
γ
. We show that the sum of this additional diffuse component due to unresolved sources and the truly diffuse emission, due to cosmic-ray interaction with the interstellar medium, well saturates the Tibet data, without the need to introduce a progressive hardening of the cosmic-ray spectrum toward the Galactic center.
Motivated by the solar composition problem and by using the recently developed linear solar model approach, we analyze the role of opacity and metals in the Sun. After a brief discussion of the ...relation between the effects produced by a variation of composition and those produced by a modification of the radiative opacity, we calculate numerically the opacity kernels that, in a linear approximation, relate an arbitrary opacity variation to the corresponding modification of the solar observable properties. We use these opacity kernels to discuss the present constraints on opacity (and composition) provided by helioseismic and solar neutrino data.
H.E.S.S. has recently completed the first systematic survey of the Galactic plane in the TeV energy domain. We analyze the flux, latitude, and longitude distributions of γ-ray sources observed by ...H.E.S.S. in order to infer the properties of the Galactic TeV source population. We show that the total Milky Way luminosity in the 1-100 TeV energy range is . Evaluating the cumulative flux expected at Earth by the considered population, we show that H.E.S.S. unresolved sources provide a relevant contribution to the diffuse Galactic emission. Finally, in the hypothesis that the majority of bright sources detected by H.E.S.S. are powered by pulsar activity, like, e.g., pulsar wind nebulae or TeV halos, we estimate the main properties of the pulsar population.
Abstract
IceCube collaboration reported the first high-significance observation of the neutrino emission from the Galactic disk. The observed signal can be due to diffuse emission produced by cosmic ...rays interacting with interstellar gas but can also arise from a population of sources. In this paper, we evaluate both the diffuse and source contribution by taking advantage of gamma-ray observations and/or theoretical considerations. By comparing our expectations with IceCube measurements, we constrain the fraction of Galactic TeV gamma-ray sources (resolved and unresolved) with hadronic nature. In order to be compatible with the IceCube results, this fraction should be small, or the source proton energy cutoff should be well below the cosmic-ray proton knee. In particular, for a cutoff energy equal to 500 TeV, the fraction of hadronic sources should be less than ∼40% corresponding to a cumulative source flux Φ
ν
,s
≤ 2.6 × 10
−10
cm
−2
s
−1
integrated in the 1–100 TeV energy range. This fraction reduces to ∼20% for energy cutoff reaching the cosmic-ray proton knee around 5 PeV.
We present an improved measurement of the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) solar neutrino interaction rate at Earth obtained with the complete Borexino Phase-III dataset. The measured rate, ...R_{CNO}=6.7_{-0.8}^{+2.0} counts/(day×100 tonnes), allows us to exclude the absence of the CNO signal with about 7σ C.L. The correspondent CNO neutrino flux is 6.6_{-0.9}^{+2.0}×10^{8} cm^{-2} s^{-1}, taking into account the neutrino flavor conversion. We use the new CNO measurement to evaluate the C and N abundances in the Sun with respect to the H abundance for the first time with solar neutrinos. Our result of N_{CN}=(5.78_{-1.00}^{+1.86})×10^{-4} displays a ∼2σ tension with the "low-metallicity" spectroscopic photospheric measurements. Furthermore, our result used together with the ^{7}Be and ^{8}B solar neutrino fluxes, also measured by Borexino, permits us to disfavor at 3.1σ C.L. the "low-metallicity" standard solar model B16-AGSS09met as an alternative to the "high-metallicity" standard solar model B16-GS98.
The distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy is still uncertain and this affects the expectations for the diffuse gamma-ray emission produced by hadronic interactions of cosmic rays with the ...interstellar gas. We evaluate the diffuse gamma-ray flux at TeV energies by considering different assumptions for the cosmic ray distribution, including the recently emerged possibility of a decreasing cosmic ray spectral index in the inner Galaxy. The diffuse emission from the galactic central region (i.e. in the longitude range |l|≤60ˆ) changes in the different scenarios by a relatively large factor and can be probed by TeV scale gamma-ray observations. By comparing the total flux produced by diffuse emission and point-like and extended sources resolved by HESS with the gamma-ray flux observed by Argo-YBJ, HESS, HAWC and Milagro, we show that experimental data can already discriminate among different hyphoteses for cosmic ray distribution. The constraints can be strengthened if the contribution of sources not resolved by HESS is taken into account.
Linear Solar Models Villante, F. L; Ricci, B
The Astrophysical journal,
05/2010, Letnik:
714, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present a new approach to studying the properties of the Sun. We consider small variations of the physical and chemical properties of the Sun with respect to standard solar model predictions and ...we linearize the structure equations to relate them to the properties of the solar plasma. By assuming that the (variation of) present solar composition can be estimated from the (variation of) nuclear reaction rates and elemental diffusion efficiency in the present Sun, we obtain a linear system of ordinary differential equations which can be used to calculate the response of the Sun to an arbitrary modification of the input parameters (opacity, cross sections, etc.). This new approach is intended to be a complement to the traditional methods for solar model (SM) calculation and allows us to investigate in a more efficient and transparent way the role of parameters and assumptions in SM construction. We verify that these linear solar models recover the predictions of the traditional SMs with a high level of accuracy.
We evaluate the diffuse gamma-ray flux at TeV energies produced by hadronic interactions of cosmic rays with the gas contained in the galactic disk. We consider different assumptions for the cosmic ...ray distribution, including the recently emerged possibility of a harder cosmic ray spectrum in the inner Galaxy. We show that observational data provided by Argo-YBJ, HESS, HAWC and Milagro, can already discriminate among different hyphoteses. The constraints can be strengthened if the contribution of sources not resolved by HESS is taken into account.
Measurements of the Faraday rotation of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) polarization could provide evidence for the existence of primordial magnetic fields. The Faraday rotation ...could also allow the study of some properties of these fields. In this paper, we calculate the angular dependence of the Faraday rotation correlator for different assumptions about the spectral index and correlation length of the magnetic field. We show that the helical part of the magnetic field does not make any contribution to the correlator. We stress the importance of the angular resolution of the detector in the Faraday rotation measure, showing that it could severely reduce the effect, even for a relatively large magnetic field correlation length.
PDF
