Very high energy cosmic gamma radiation : a crucial window on the extreme universe / F.A. Aharonian.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

1. Introduction. 1.1. "The last electromagnetic window". 1.2. Energy domains of gamma ray astronomy. 1.3. Gamma ray astronomy: a discipline in its own right -- 2. Status of the field. 2.1. Low energy gamma ray sources. 2.2. High energy gamma ray sources. 2.3. The status of ground-based gamma ray astronomy -- 3. Gamma ray production and absorption mechanisms. 3.1. Interactions with matter. 3.2. Interactions with photon fields. 3.3. Interactions with magnetic fields. 3.4. Relativistic electron-photon cascades -- 4. Gamma rays and origin of galactic cosmic rays. 4.1. Origin of galactic cosmic rays: general remarks. 4.2. Giant molecular clouds as tracers of cosmic ray. 4.3. Probing the sources of VHE CR electrons. 4.4. Diffuse radiation from the galactic disk -- 5. Gamma ray visibility of supernova remnants. 5.1. Gamma rays as a diagnostic tool. 5.2. Inverse compton versus [symbol]-decay gamma rays. 5.3. Synchrotron x-ray emission of SNRs. 5.4. TeV gamma radiation of SN 1006 and similar SNRs. 5.5. Molecular clouds overtaken by SNRs. 5.6. A special case: gamma rays from Cassiopeia A. 5.7. "PeV SNRs" -- 6. Pulsars, pulsar winds, plerions. 6.1 Magnetospheric gamma rays. 6.2. Gamma rays from unshocked pulsar winds. 6.3. Gamma rays from pulsar driven nebulae. 6.4. High energy gamma rays from other plerions -- 7. Gamma rays expected from microquasars. 7.1. Do we expect gamma rays from x-ray binaries? 7.2. Nonthermal phenomena in microquasars. 7.3. Modelling of radio flares of GRS 1915+105. 7.4. Expected gamma ray fluxes. 7.5. Searching for gamma ray signals from microquasars. 7.6. The case of microblazars. 7.7. Ultraluminous sources as microblazars? 7.8. Persistent gamma ray emission from extended lobes. -- 8. Large scale jets of radio galaxies and quasars. 8.1. Synchrotron and IC models of large scale AGN jets. 8.2. Ultra high energy protons in jets. 8.3. Large scale jets powered by gamma rays. 8.4. Concluding remarks -- 9. Nonthermal phenomena in clusters of galaxies. 9.1. Nonthermal particles and magnetic fields. 9.2. Inverse Compton and bremsstrahlung models. 9.3. Synchrotron X- and [symbol]-rays of "photonic" origin? 9.4. Nonthermal radiation components associated with very high and extremely high energy protons -- 10. TeV blazars and cosmic background radiation. 10.1. Cosmic infrared background radiation. 10.2 Intergalactic absorption of gamma rays. 10.3. TeV blazars. 10.4. Leptonic models of TeV blazars. 10.5. Hadronic models. 10.6. "IR background-TeV gamma ray crisis"? -- 11. High energy gamma rays -- carriers of unique cosmological information. 11.1. Probing DEBRA through [symbol]-ray absorption features. 11.2. The effect of cascading in the CIB. 11.3. Pair halos as unique cosmological candles. 11.4. Diffuse extragalactic background as calorimetric measure of the VHE emissivity of the universe.

Gamma ray astronomy, the branch of high energy astrophysics that studies the sky in energetic [symbol]-ray photons, is destined to play a crucial role in the exploration of nonthermal phenomena in the Universe in their most extreme and violent forms. The great potential of this discipline offers impressive coverage of many "hot topics" of modern astrophysics and cosmology, such as the origin of galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays, particle acceleration and radiation processes under extreme astrophysical conditions, and the search for dark matter. The recent observational results and exciting theoretical predictions provide a strong rationale for a deep study of cosmic radiation with forthcoming satellite-borne and ground-based detectors in the so-called very high energy domain of the electromagnetic spectrum above 1010 eV. This invaluable book presents the motivations and highlights the principal objectives of the field, as well as demonstrates its intrinsic links to other branches of high energy astrophysics. Preference is given to three topical areas: (i) origin of cosmic rays; (ii) physics and astrophysics of relativistic jets; (iii) observational gamma ray cosmology. Also, an essential part of the book is devoted to the discussion of the principal mechanisms of production and absorption of energetic [symbol]-rays in different astrophysical environments, as well as to the description of the detection methods of high energy cosmic [symbol]-radiation.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide