Related papers: Blazar halos as probe for extragalactic magnetic f…
Photons propagating in an external magnetic field may oscillate into axions or axion-like particles (ALPs). Such oscillations will lead to characteristic features in the energy spectrum of high-energy photons from astrophysical sources that…
TeV photons from blazars at relatively large distances, interacting with the optical-IR cosmic background, are efficiently converted into electron-positron pairs. The produced pairs are extremely relativistic (Lorentz factors of the order…
Blazars with redshifts z<0.1 are likely candidates for detection at energies in the range 300 GeV - 50 TeV with Cerenkov telescopes and scintillator arrays. We present gamma-ray flux predictions for a sample of 15 nearby flat-spectrum radio…
We extend existing work on the propagation of ultra-high energy cosmic rays in extragalactic magnetic fields to a possible component of heavy nuclei, taking into account photodisintegration, pion production, and creation of e+e- pairs. We…
A non-zero intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) would potentially produce detectable effects on cascade emission from blazars. Depending on the strength of the IGMF, the cascade emission may be time delayed or angularly broadened compared to…
We investigate the electrostatic acceleration of electrons and positrons in the vicinity of the event horizon, applying the pulsar outer-gap model to black hole magnetospheres. During a low accretion phase, the radiatively inefficient…
The standard blazar paradigm consists of a supermassive black hole that expels relativistic jets of magnetized plasma in our direction. This plasma entrains nonthermal synchrotron-emitting electrons that furthermore scatter…
The interaction of high energy electrons, positrons, and photons with intense laser pulses is studied in head-on collision geometry. It is shown that electrons and/or positrons undergo a cascade-type process involving multiple emissions of…
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…
Blazars are the most violent steady/recurrent sources of high-energy gamma-ray emission in the known Universe. They are prominent emitters of electromagnetic radiation throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The observable radiation…
Aims: We derive limits on the EBL density from the energy spectra of distant sources of very high energetic gamma-rays (VHE gamma-rays). Methods: VHE gamma-rays are attenuated by the photons of the EBL via pair production, which leaves an…
The vast majority of extragalactic sources detected in the very high energy (E> 100 GeV) domaine are active galactic nuclei (AGN) located at cosmological distances. During their travel towards Earth, the emitted gamma-rays suffer from…
We make a new estimate of the extragalactic radio background down to kHz frequencies based on the observed luminosity functions and radio spectra of normal galaxies and radio galaxies. We have constructed models for the spectra of these two…
Time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy is used to investigate formation and ultrafast long-distance propagation of electron-hole plasma in strongly photoexcited GaAs and InP. The observed phenomena involve fundamental interactions of…
Bright gamma-ray flares observed from sources far beyond our Galaxy are best explained if enormous amounts of energy are liberated by black holes. The highest-energy particles in nature--the ultra-high energy cosmic rays--cannot be confined…
Very-high energy observations of blazars can be used to constrain the strength of the intergalactic magnetic field. A simplifying assumption which is often made is that of a magnetic field of constant strength composed by randomly oriented…
The diffuse extragalactic background light consists of the sum of the starlight emitted by galaxies through the history of the Universe, and it could also have an important contribution from the first stars, which may have formed before…
Blazars are very broadband cosmic sources with spectra spanning over twenty orders of magnitude in frequency, down to the 100 MHz regime in the radio range, up to VHE at several tens of TeV. The modelling of their spectral energy…
Magnetar Giant Flares (MGFs) are the most energetic non-catastrophic transients known to originate from stellar objects. The first discovered events were nearby. In recent years, several extragalactic events have been identified, implying…
Hierarchical clustering of dark matter halos is thought to describe well the large scale structure of the universe. The baryonic component of the halos is shock heated to the virial temperature while a small fraction of the energy flux…