Related papers: Jets, Blazars and the EBL in the GLAST-EXIST Era
The present status and understanding of the "spectral sequence" of blazars is discussed in the perspective of the upcoming GLAST launch. The vast improvement in sensitivity will allow to i) determine more objectively the "average" gamma-ray…
We present the preliminary results from two new surveys of blazars that have direct implications on the GLAST detection of extragalactic sources from two different perspectives: microwave selection and a combined deep X-ray/radio selection.…
The extragalactic background light (EBL), from ultraviolet to infrared wavelengths, is predominantly due to emission from stars, accreting black holes and reprocessed light due to Galactic dust. The EBL can be studied through the imprint it…
Recent observations of the TeV gamma-ray spectra of the two closest active galactic nuclei (AGNs), Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) and Markarian 421 (Mrk 421), by the Whipple and HEGRA collaborations have stimulated efforts to estimate or limit the…
The extragalactic background light (EBL) from the far infrared through the visible and extending into the ultraviolet is thought to be dominated by starlight, either through direct emission or through absorption and reradiation by dust.…
Very high energy (~ TeV) $\gamma$-rays from blazars are attenuated by photons from the extragalactic background light (EBL). Observations of blazars can therefore provide an ideal opportunity for determining the EBL intensity if their…
We give an overview of the possibility of GLAST to explore theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Among the wide taxonomy we will focus in particular on low scale supersymmetry and theories with extra space-time dimensions.…
With their jet pointing towards us, blazars are ideal tools to study the physics and structure of extragalactic jets. Their powerful jets are cosmic particle accelerators and are alleged to be one of the production sites of the high-energy…
Blazars are the brightest and most abundant persistent sources in the extragalactic gamma-ray sky. Due to their significance, they are often observed across various energy bands to explore potential correlations between emissions at…
Blazar spectra are one of the most important windows into the physical processes occurring along jets. The spectrum, composed from the different emitting regions along the jet, allows us to constrain the physical conditions in the jet. I…
We explore the possibility that relativistic protons in the extremely powerful jets of blazars may boost via elastic collisions the dark matter particles in the surroundings of the source to high energies. We concentrate on two sample…
The primary instrument of the proposed EXIST mission is a coded mask high energy telescope (the HET), that must have a wide field of view and extremely good sensitivity. It will be crucial to minimize systematic errors so that even for very…
MAGIC is a stereoscopic system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes operating in the very high energy (VHE) range from about 50 GeV to over 50 TeV. The VHE gamma-ray spectra measured at Earth carry an imprint of the extragalactic…
In this work, we investigate the role of emission by dust at infrared wavelengths in the absorption of gamma radiation from distant extragalactic sources. We use an existing EBL model based on direct starlight emission at UV/visible and…
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can power relativistic jets, which are called blazars when pointed close to our line of sight. Depending on the presence or absence of emission lines in their optical spectra, blazars are categorized into flat…
The prompt gamma-ray emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is currently interpreted in terms of radiation from electrons accelerated in internal shocks in a relativistic fireball. On the other hand, the origin of the prompt (and early…
The SXI telescope is one of the three instruments on board EXIST, a multiwavelength observatory in charge of performing a global survey of the sky in hard X-rays searching for Supermassive Black Holes. One of the primary objectives of EXIST…
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations at 230 GHz are combined with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at 86 GHz and high resolution Hubble Space Telescope optical observations in order to constrain the broadband…
In this document, we describe the scientific potential of blazar observations with a X-ray polarimetry mission like GEMS (Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX). We describe five blazar science investigations that such a mission would enable:…
The extragalactic background light (EBL) is one of the fundamental observational quantities in cosmology. All energy releases from resolved and unresolved extragalactic sources, and the light from any truly diffuse background, excluding the…