The extragalactic background light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the γ-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope on board Fermi detects a sample of γ-ray blazars with redshift up to z ~ 3, and GRBs with redshift up to z ~ 4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of γ-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the γ-ray opacity of the universe at various energies and redshifts and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. can be ruled out with high confidence.
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Autori: | Abdo AA; Ackermann M; Ajello M; Allafort A; Atwood WB; Baldini L; Ballet J; Barbiellini G; Baring MG; Bastieri D; Baughman BM; Bechtol K; Bellazzini R; Berenji B; Bhat PN; Blandford RD; Bloom ED; Bonamente E; Borgland AW; Bouvier A; Brandt TJ; Bregeon J; Brez A; Briggs MS; Brigida M; Bruel P; Buehler R; Burnett TH; Buson S; Caliandro GA; Cameron RA; Caraveo PA; Carrigan S; Casandjian JM; Cavazzuti E; Cecchi C; Celik O; Charles E; Chekhtman A; Chen AW; Cheung CC; Chiang J; Ciprini S; Claus R; Cohen-Tanugi J; Connaughton V; Conrad J; Costamante L; Dermer CD; de Angelis A; de Palma F; Digel SW; Dingus BL; Silva EDE; Drell PS; Dubois R; Favuzzi C; Fegan SJ; Finke J; Fortin P; Fukazawa Y; Funk S; Fusco P; Gargano F; Gasparrini D; Gehrels N; Germani S; Giglietto N; Gilmore RC; Giommi P; Giordano F; Giroletti M; Glanzman T; Godfrey G; Granot J; Greiner J; Grenier IA; Grove JE; Guiriec S; Gustafsson M; Hadasch D; Hayashida M; Hays E; Horan D; Hughes RE; Johannesson G; Johnson AS; Johnson RP; Johnson WN; Kamae T; Katagiri H; Kataoka J; Knodlseder J; Kocevski D; Kuss M; Lande J; Latronico L; Lee SH; Garde ML; Longo F; Loparco F; Lott B; Lovellette MN; Lubrano P; Makeev A; Mazziotta N; McConville W; McEnery JE; McGlynn S; Mehault J; Meszaros P; Michelson PF; Mizuno T; Moiseev AA; Monte C; Monzani ME; Moretti E; Morselli A; Moskalenko IV; Murgia S; Nakamori T; Naumann-Godo M; Nolan PL; Norris JP; Nuss E; Ohno M; Ohsugi T; Okumura A; Omodei N; Orlando E; Ormes JF; Ozaki M; Paneque D; Panetta JH; Parent D; Pelassa V; Pepe M; Pesce-Rollins M; Piron F; Porter TA; Primack JR; Raino S; Rando R; Razzano M; Razzaque S; Reimer A; Reimer O; Reyes LC; Ripken J; Ritz S; Romani RW; Roth M; Sadrozinski HFW; Sanchez D; Sander A; Scargle JD; Schalk TL; Sgro C; Shaw MS; Siskind EJ; Smith PD; Spandre G; Spinelli P; Stecker FW; Strickman MS; Suson DJ; Tajima H; Takahashi H; Takahashi T; Tanaka T; Thayer JB; Thayer JG; Thompson DJ; Tibaldo L; Torres DF; Tosti G; Tramacere A; Uchiyama Y; Usher TL; Vandenbroucke J; Vasileiou V; Vilchez N; Vitale V; von Kienlin A; Waite AP; Wang P; Wilson-Hodge C; Winer BL; Wood KS; Yamazaki R; Yang Z; Ylinen T; Ziegler M |
Titolo: | FERMI LARGE AREA TELESCOPE CONSTRAINTS ON THE GAMMA-RAY OPACITY OF THE UNIVERSE |
Anno del prodotto: | 2010 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | 10.1088/0004-637X/723/2/1082 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 1.1 Articolo in rivista |