Zoom link PWD: 726021
This course aims to provide the student with advanced knowledge of gamma-ray astrophysics. It will explore the main properties of high-energy gamma-ray emitting sources, in particular Galactic sources like Pulsars and Supernova Remnants, and Extragalactic sources, like Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). GRBs also represent transient events, which, like AGN flares or nearby Solar Flares emitted by our Sun, can happen at any time and require a strong monitoring strategy by all observatories. A brief overview of the currently operating space- and ground-based instruments and their operating principles will also be given. Finally, the course will focus on the multi-messenger aspect, including the association of short GRBs with gravitational wave events, and the observation of neutrino emission from the direction of known blazars during their flaring activity. It requires a background in basic high-energy astrophysics.
Galactic and Extragalactic sources visible at gamma-ray energies: temporal and spectral characteristics. Multi-frequency studies. Transient phenomena in the gamma-ray sky. Gamma-ray instruments, detection of gamma radiation: scintillation detectors, pair-production telescopes, Cherenkov telescopes. Solar flares were seen by Fermi at the dawn of the 25th Solar Cycle. The case of GRB 170817A / GW 170817 seen by Fermi, Swift and other observatories in the context of other LIGO/Virgo gravitational waves detections from 2015 to 2023, including the most recent results of the observing period O4 starting March 2023. The case of neutrino emission from the TXS 0506+056 as seen by IceCube, Fermi and MAGIC. Other recent examples.
Spurio – “Probes of Multimessenger Astrophysics”
Longair - “High-energy astrophysics”
De Angelis & Pimenta - “Introduction to Particle and Astroparticle Physics”
Recent Publications.
Lectures; participation in the class. Click for further details
