Ref HAL: in2p3-00483105_v1
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/714/1/L73
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45 citations
Abstract:

We present the light curves and spectral data of two exceptionally luminous gamma-ray outbursts observed by the Large Area Telescope experiment on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope from 3C 273 in 2009 September. During these flares, having a duration of a few days, the source reached its highest γ -ray flux ever measured. This allowed us to study, in some details, their spectral and temporal structures. The rise and the decay are asymmetric on timescales of 6 hr, and the spectral index was significantly harder during the flares than during the preceding 11 months. We also found that short, very intense flares put out the same time-integrated energy as long, less intense flares like that observed in 2009 August.

Ref HAL: in2p3-00482639_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1002.4050
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/713/1/154
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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85 citations
Abstract:

We report on analysis of timing and spectroscopy of the Vela pulsar using eleven months of observations with the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The intrinsic brightness of Vela at GeV energies combined with the angular resolution and sensitivity of the LAT allow us to make the most detailed study to date of the energy-dependent light curves and phase-resolved spectra, using a LAT-derived timing model. The light curve consists of two peaks (P1 and P2) connected by bridge emission containing a third peak (P3). We have confirmed the strong decrease of the P1/P2 ratio with increasing energy seen with EGRET and previous Fermi LAT data, and observe that P1 disappears above 20 GeV. The increase with energy of the mean phase of the P3 component can be followed with much greater detail, showing that P3 and P2 are present up to the highest energies of pulsation. We find significant pulsed emission at phases outside the main profile, indicating that magnetospheric emission exists over 80% of the pulsar period. With increased high-energy counts the phase-averaged spectrum is seen to depart from a power- law with simple exponential cutoff, and is better fit with a more gradual cutoff. The spectra in fixed-count phase bins are well fit with power-laws with exponential cutoffs, revealing a strong and complex phase dependence of the cutoff energy, especially in the peaks. By combining these results with predictions of the outer magnetosphere models that map emission characteristics to phase, it will be possible to probe the particle acceleration and the structure of the pulsar magnetosphere with unprecedented detail.

Comments: 35 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal

Ref HAL: in2p3-00482553_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1002.4383
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/713/1/146
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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56 citations
Abstract:

We report on gamma-ray observations in the off-pulse window of the Vela pulsar PSR B0833-45, using 11 months of survey data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). This pulsar is located in the 8 degree diameter Vela supernova remnant, which contains several regions of non-thermal emission detected in the radio, X-ray and gamma-ray bands. The gamma-ray emission detected by the LAT lies within one of these regions, the 2*3 degrees area south of the pulsar known as Vela-X. The LAT flux is signicantly spatially extended with a best-fit radius of 0.88 +/- 0.12 degrees for an assumed radially symmetric uniform disk. The 200 MeV to 20 GeV LAT spectrum of this source is well described by a power-law with a spectral index of 2.41 +/- 0.09 +/- 0.15 and integral flux above 100 MeV of (4.73 +/- 0.63 +/- 1.32) * 10^{-7} cm^{-2} s^{-1}. The first errors represent the statistical error on the fit parameters, while the second ones are the systematic uncertainties. Detailed morphological and spectral analyses give strong constraints on the energetics and magnetic field of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) system and favor a scenario with two distinct electron populations.

Comments: 21 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal

Ref HAL: in2p3-00475596_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1002.2607
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/712/2/957
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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45 citations
Abstract:

Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) have been firmly established as a class of gamma-ray emitters via the detection of pulsations above 0.1 GeV from eight MSPs by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Using thirteen months of LAT data significant gamma-ray pulsations at the radio period have been detected from the MSP PSR J0034-0534, making it the ninth clear MSP detection by the LAT. The gamma-ray light curve shows two peaks separated by 0.274$\pm$0.015 in phase which are very nearly aligned with the radio peaks, a phenomenon seen only in the Crab pulsar until now. The $\geq$0.1 GeV spectrum of this pulsar is well fit by an exponentially cutoff power law with a cutoff energy of 1.8$\pm 0.6\pm$0.1 GeV and a photon index of 1.5$\pm 0.2\pm$0.1, first errors are statistical and second are systematic. The near-alignment of the radio and gamma-ray peaks strongly suggests that the radio and gamma-ray emission regions are co-located and both are the result of caustic formation.

Comments: 20 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Ref HAL: in2p3-00475654_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1002.2977
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/712/2/1209
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
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32 citations
Abstract:

The discovery of the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J1836+5925, powering the formerly unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1835+5918, was one of the early accomplishments of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Sitting 25 degrees off the Galactic plane, PSR J1836+5925 is a 173 ms pulsar with a characteristic age of 1.8 million years, a spindown luminosity of 1.1$\times10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$, and a large off-peak emission component, making it quite unusual among the known gamma-ray pulsar population. We present an analysis of one year of LAT data, including an updated timing solution, detailed spectral results and a long-term light curve showing no indication of variability. No evidence for a surrounding pulsar wind nebula is seen and the spectral characteristics of the off-peak emission indicate it is likely magnetospheric. Analysis of recent XMM observations of the X-ray counterpart yields a detailed characterization of its spectrum, which, like Geminga, is consistent with that of a neutron star showing evidence for both magnetospheric and thermal emission.

Comments: Accepted to Astrophysical Journal

Ref HAL: in2p3-00474343_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1002.3205
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/712/1/558
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Exporter : BibTex | endNote
56 citations
Abstract:

We report on the detailed analysis of the high-energy extended emission from the short Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 081024B, detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Historically, this represents the first clear detection of temporal extended emission from a short GRB. The light curve observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor lasts approximately 0.8 seconds whereas the emission in the Fermi Large Area Telescope lasts for about 3 seconds. Evidence of longer lasting high-energy emission associated with long bursts has been already reported by previous experiments. Our observations, together with the earlier reported study of the bright short GRB 090510, indicate similarities in the high-energy emission of short and long GRBs and open the path to new interpretations.

Comments: 19 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Ref HAL: in2p3-00473736_v1
Ref Arxiv: 1001.4531
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/712/1/147
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Exporter : BibTex | endNote
233 citations
Abstract:

We report on the observations of 14 dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope taken during the first 11 months of survey mode operations. The Fermi telescope provides a new opportunity to test particle dark matter models through the expected gamma-ray emission produced by pair annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the largest galactic substructures predicted by the cold dark matter scenario, are attractive targets for such indirect searches for dark matter because they are nearby and among the most extreme dark matter dominated environments. No significant gamma-ray emission was detected above 100 MeV from the candidate dwarf galaxies. We determine upper limits to the gamma-ray flux assuming both power-law spectra and representative spectra from WIMP annihilation. The resulting integral flux above 100 MeV is constrained to be at a level below around 10^-9 photons cm^-2 s^-1. Using recent stellar kinematic data, the gamma-ray flux limits are combined with improved determinations of the dark matter density profile in 8 of the 14 candidate dwarfs to place limits on the pair annihilation cross-section of WIMPs in several widely studied extensions of the standard model. With the present data, we are able to rule out large parts of the parameter space where the thermal relic density is below the observed cosmological dark matter density and WIMPs (neutralinos here) are dominantly produced non-thermally, e.g. in models where supersymmetry breaking occurs via anomaly mediation. The gamma-ray limits presented here also constrain some WIMP models proposed to explain the Fermi and PAMELA e^+e^- data, including low-mass wino-like neutralinos and models with TeV masses pair-annihilating into muon-antimuon pairs. (Abridged)

Comments: 25 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ, Corresponding authors: J. Cohen-Tanugi, C. Farnier, T.E. Jeltema, E. Nuss, and S. Profumo