Gamma-ray bursts at high and very high energies

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are extra-galactic and extremely energetic transient emissions of gamma rays, which are thought to be associated with the death of massive stars or the merger of compact objects in binary systems. Their huge luminosities involve the presence of a newborn stellar-mass black hole emitting a relativistic collimated outflow, which accelerates particles and produces non-thermal emissions from the radio domain to the highest energies. In this article, I review recent progresses in the understanding of GRB jet physics above 100 MeV, based on Fermi observations of bright GRBs. I discuss the physical implications of these observations and their impact on GRB modeling, and I present some prospects for GRB observation at very high energies in the near future.     

Very high resolution far infrared synchrotron radiation spectrum of methanol-D1 (CH2DOH) in the first three torsional-vibrational modes

In our effort to systematically study the far infrared (FIR) spectra of asymmetrically mono deuterated methanol (CH₂DOH) and thereby obtain the transition wavenumbers with better and better accuracy (Mukhopadhyay, 2016a,b), the complete Fourier transform (FT) spectra from FIR to infrared (IR) vibrational bands (in the range 50–1190 cm⁻¹) have been re-recorded using the Synchrotron Radiation Source at the Canadian Light Sources in Saskatchewan, Canada. The resolution of the spectrum is unprecedented, reaching beyond the Doppler limited resolution as low as about 0.0008 cm⁻¹ with a signal to noise (S/N) ratio is many fold better than that can be obtained by commercially available FT spectrometer using thermal sources (e.g., Globar). Spectra were also recorded beyond 1190 cm⁻¹ to about 5000 cm⁻¹ at a somewhat lower resolution of 0.002–0.004 cm⁻¹. In this report the analysis of the b-type and c-type torsional - rotational spectra in the ground vibrational state corresponding to gauche- (e₁/o₁) to gauche- (e₁/o₁) and gauche- (e₁/o₁) to trans- (e₀) states in the ground vibrational state are reported and an atlas of the wavenumber for about 2500 FIR assigned absorption lines has been prepared. The transitions within a given sub-band are analyzed using state dependent expansion parameters and the Q-branch origins. The data from previous results (Mukhopadhyay, 2016a,b) along with the present work allowed a global analysis yielding a complete set of molecular parameters. The state dependent molecular parameters reproduce the experimental wavenumbers within experimental uncertainty. In addition, the sensitivity of the spectrum allowed observation of forbidden transitions previously unobserved and helped reassignment of rotational angular momentum quantum numbers of some ΔK = ±1, Q-branch transitions in highly excited states recently reported in the literature. To our knowledge the wavenumbers reported in the present work are the most accurate so far reported in the literature and represent the highest resolution spectra for this molecular species.     

A prototype of trigger electronics for LAWCA experiment

The Large Area Water Cherenkov Array （LAWCA） experiment focuses on high energy gamma astronomy between 100 GeV and 30 TeV. Invoked by the idea of hardware triggerless structure, a prototype of LAWCA trigger electronics is implemented in one single VME-9U module which obtains all the data from the 100 Front End Electronic （FEE） endpoints. Since the trigger electronics accumulate all the information, the flexibility of trigger processing can be improved. Meanwhile, the dedicated hardware trigger signals which are fed back to front end are eliminated; this leads to a system with better simplicity and stability. To accommodate the 5.4 Gbps system average data rate, the fiber based high speed serial data transmission is adopted. Based on the logic design in one single FPGA device, real-time trigger processing is achieved; the reprogrammable feature of the FPGA device renders a reconfigurable structure of trigger electronics. Simulation and initial testing results indicate that the trigger electronics prototype functions well.     

明清之际汤若望的窥筒远镜

明末清初耶稣会土汤若望（Adam Schall von Bell,1591-1666)所制造和使用的窥筒远镜是什么样的光学仪器，巳有人做了一些分析与推测，文章根据有关历史文献的记述，又在物理实验室做相关模拟实验，从而得出，汤若望的“窥筒远镜”既非摄影箱、亦非开普勒式望远镜，就其结构而言，它本质上是属于伽利略式望远镜。     

国际天文年：同一个地球，同一片星空——2009国际天文年清华大学活动纪实

天文学是历史最悠久的学科之一,一直以来对人类的文化、生活有着深远的影响．400年前,伽利略首次将望远镜指向天空,开启了人类天文学发展史新的篇章．为纪念这一事件,国际天文学联合会和联合国教科文组织将2009年定为国际天文年．本文主要介绍2009国际天文年的文化背景以及这一全球盛典的主要活动．     

Photon propagation in torsion background

The existence of a torsion background in spacetime at cosmological scales can be tested from the timing of high-energy photons from AGN. The observations of anomalous photon dispersion from Markarian 501 by Magic gamma ray telescope can be explained by the presence of torsion background and it puts limits on the torsion background at κ S ₀ < 10⁻¹⁸ GeV⁻¹.     

A future project at tibet: the large high altitude air shower observatory (LHAASO)

Gamma ray source detection above 30 TeV is an encouraging approach for finding galactic cosmic ray sources. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various types of sources above 100 GeV. In order to target those goals, a large air shower particle detector array of 1 km~2 (the LHAASO project) at 4300 m a.s.l, is proposed. By adding two MagicII-type telescopes in the array as proposed, LHAASO will be enhanced in source morphologic investigation power. The proposed array will be utilized also for energy spectrum measurement for individual cosmic ray species above 30 TeV. By re-configuring the wide field of view telescopes into fluorescence light detector array, the aperture of the detector array can be enlarged to cover an energy region above 100 PeV where the second knee is located. Cosmic ray spectrum and composition will be measured in order to transfer an energy scale to ultra high energy cosmic ray experiments.     

Fourier transform spectroscopy and the exploration of the solar system

Fourier transform spectroscopy has been used extensively to probe the atmospheres of the planets and of smaller bodies of the solar system, either from the Earth, from an airplane or from space. It is a technique particularly well adapted to the detection of atmospheric constituents, to measurements of the abundances and vertical distributions of the gaseous species and to the determination of the vertical temperature structures of the atmospheres. It is equally well suited to the detection of rock-forming minerals or ices at the surface of satellites and asteroids. With the recent improvements in spectrometers and infrared detectors technology it has also become possible to make detailed studies of gaseous emissions from bright comets, such as Halley's comet, by Fourier transform spectroscopy.     

大气切伦科夫望远镜

两台自动跟踪大气切伦科夫望远镜已经在北京天文台兴隆观测站投入运行,它们用于寻找甚高能γ射线点源和研究点源的发射特性以及探测甚高能γ射线强度的空间分布. 本文介绍望远镜的结构和牲能以及在观测条件下的测试结果.     

Dark matter annihilation in the Galactic Center as seen by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope

We analyze the first two years of data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope from the direction of the inner 10° around the Galactic Center with the intention of constraining, or finding evidence of, annihilating dark matter. We find that the morphology and spectrum of the emission between 1.25° and 10° from the Galactic Center is well described by the processes of decaying pions produced in cosmic ray collisions with gas, and the inverse Compton scattering of cosmic ray electrons in both the disk and bulge of the Inner Galaxy, along with gamma rays from known points sources in the region. The observed spectrum and morphology of the emission within approximately 1.25° (∼175 parsecs) of the Galactic Center, in contrast, departs from the expectations for by these processes. Instead, we find an additional component of gamma ray emission that is highly concentrated around the Galactic Center. The observed morphology of this component is consistent with that predicted from annihilating dark matter with a cusped (and possibly adiabatically contracted) halo distribution (ρ∝r−γ$\rho \propto r^{-\gamma }$, with γ=1.18$\gamma =1.18$ to 1.33). The observed spectrum of this component, which peaks at energies between 1–4 GeV (in E²$E^2$ units), can be well fit by a 7–10 GeV dark matter particle annihilating primarily to tau leptons with a cross section in the range of 〈σv〉=4.6×¹⁰⁻²⁷$〈\sigma v〉=4.6\times {10}^{-27}$ to 5.3×¹⁰⁻²⁶ cm³/s$5.3\times {10}^{-26}{\text{cm}}^3/\text{s}$, depending on how the dark matter distribution is normalized. We also discuss other sources for this emission, including the possibility that much of it originates from the Milky Way?s supermassive black hole.