Related papers: Evidence for a new light spin-zero boson from cosm…
Galactic cosmic rays are commonly believed to be accelerated at supernova remnants via diffusive shock acceleration. Despite the popularity of this idea, a conclusive proof for its validity is still missing. Gamma-ray astronomy provides us…
The observed spatial distribution of $\gamma-$ray bursts indicates that they probably originate at cosmological distances. At this distance scale their variability timescale and flux above MeV imply an initial optical-depth to pair…
The possible existence of a new gauge boson U, light and very weakly coupled, allows for Light Dark Matter particles, which could also be at the origin of the 511 keV line from the galactic bulge. Independently of dark matter, and taking…
According to a new tired-light cosmological model, where H(z) = H 0 (1 + z), the number density of galaxies has been nearly constant over the last 10 Gyr, at least, meaning that, as far as galaxy counts are concerned, the Universe has been…
Motivated by various kinds of new physics models, a new light neutral vector boson (the dark photon) connected to the Standard Model of particle physics only through the kinetic mixing with the U(1)_Y factor has been studied extensively.…
A static, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat spacetime may allow for circular, closed null-geodesics which are said to belong to a photon sphere. In the context of gravitational lensing in the strong deflection regime, the presence…
The Cherenkov Telescopic Array (CTA), the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory, will have unprecedented sensitivity, providing answers to open questions in gamma-ray cosmology and fundamental physics. Using simulations of…
Gamma-rays provide a powerful insight into the non-thermal universe and perhaps a unique probe for new physics beyond the standard model. Current experiments are already giving results in the physics of acceleration of cosmic rays in…
Galaxies are surrounded by large reservoirs of gas, mostly hydrogen, fed by inflows from the intergalactic medium and by outflows due to galactic winds. Absorption-line measurements along the sightlines to bright and rare background quasars…
Gamma rays from extragalactic sources are attenuated by pair-production interactions with diffuse photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL). Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are a source of high-redshift photons above 10 GeV, and could be…
A simple model is exhibited in which the remnant density of charged vortons is used to provide candidates for explaining the observed ultra high energy cosmic rays (above $10^{20}$ eV). These vortons would be accelerated in active galaxies…
Photons may convert into axion like particles and back in the magnetic field of various astrophysical objects, including active galaxies, clusters of galaxies, intergalactic space and the Milky Way. This is a potential explanation for the…
The speed of light in vacuum, $c$, is a fundamental constant of nature. Photons belonging to a structured beam of finite transverse size, generated by a spatial light modulator, have been observed to travel with a group velocity, $v_g$,…
Pulsars are factories of relativistic electrons and positrons that propagate away from the pulsar, permeating later our Galaxy. The acceleration and propagation of these particles are a matter of intense debate. In the last few years, we…
Dark matter (DM) is a new type of invisible matter introduced to explain various features of recent astrophysical observations, including galaxy rotation curves and other fundamental characteristics of our universe. DM may couple to…
The recently discovered 3.5 keV X-ray line from extragalactic sources may be evidence of dark matter scatterings or decays. We show that dark atoms can be the source of the emission, through their hyperfine transitions, which would be the…
Hadronic cosmic particles (cosmic rays) and gamma rays are constantly absorbed in the Earth's atmosphere and result in air showers of secondary particles. Cherenkov radiation from these atmospheric events is used to measure cosmic gamma…
Measurements of high-energy photons from cosmic sources of nuclear radiation through ESA's INTEGRAL mission have advanced our knowledge: New data with high spectral resolution showed that characteristic gamma-ray lines from radioactive…
Very high-energy astrophysical gamma rays suffer a suppression of their flux along their propagation due to their interaction, through the $\gamma\gamma\to e^+e^-$ pair-production process, with the soft photon backgrounds present in the…
The diffuse extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB) above 100 MeV encodes unique information about high-energy processes in the universe. Numerous sources for the EGRB have been proposed, but the two systems which are certain to make some…