The spectrum of isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission between 100 MeV and 820 GeV

  • M. Ackermann
  • , M. Ajello
  • , A. Albert
  • , W. B. Atwood
  • , L. Baldini
  • , J. Ballet
  • , G. Barbiellini
  • , D. Bastieri
  • , K. Bechtol
  • , R. Bellazzini
  • , E. Bissaldi
  • , R. D. Blandford
  • , E. D. Bloom
  • , E. Bottacini
  • , T. J. Brandt
  • , J. Bregeon
  • , P. Bruel
  • , R. Buehler
  • , S. Buson
  • , G. A. Caliandro
  • R. A. Cameron, M. Caragiulo, P. A. Caraveo, E. Cavazzuti, C. Cecchi, E. Charles, A. Chekhtman, J. Chiang, G. Chiaro, S. Ciprini, R. Claus, J. Cohen-Tanugi, J. Conrad, A. Cuoco, S. Cutini, F. D'Ammando, A. De Angelis, F. De Palma, C. D. Dermer, S. W. Digel, E. Do Couto E Silva, P. S. Drell, C. Favuzzi, E. C. Ferrara, W. B. Focke, A. Franckowiak, Y. Fukazawa, S. Funk, P. Fusco, F. Gargano, D. Gasparrini, S. Germani, N. Giglietto, P. Giommi, F. Giordano, M. Giroletti, G. Godfrey, G. A. Gomez-Vargas, I. A. Grenier, S. Guiriec, M. Gustafsson, D. Hadasch, K. Hayashi, E. Hays, J. W. Hewitt, P. Ippoliti, T. Jogler, G. Jóhannesson, A. S. Johnson, W. N. Johnson, T. Kamae, J. Kataoka, J. Knödlseder, M. Kuss, S. Larsson, L. Latronico, J. Li, L. Li, F. Longo, F. Loparco, B. Lott, M. N. Lovellette, P. Lubrano, G. M. Madejski, A. Manfreda, F. Massaro, M. Mayer, M. N. Mazziotta, J. E. McEnery, P. F. Michelson, W. Mitthumsiri, T. Mizuno, A. A. Moiseev, M. E. Monzani, A. Morselli, I. V. Moskalenko, S. Murgia, R. Nemmen, E. Nuss, T. Ohsugi, N. Omodei, E. Orlando, J. F. Ormes, D. Paneque, J. H. Panetta, J. S. Perkins, M. Pesce-Rollins, F. Piron, G. Pivato, T. A. Porter, S. Rainò, R. Rando, M. Razzano, S. Razzaque, A. Reimer, O. Reimer, T. Reposeur, S. Ritz, R. W. Romani, M. Sánchez-Conde, M. Schaal, A. Schulz, C. Sgrò, E. J. Siskind, G. Spandre, P. Spinelli, A. W. Strong, D. J. Suson, H. Takahashi, J. G. Thayer, J. B. Thayer, L. Tibaldo, M. Tinivella, D. F. Torres, G. Tosti, E. Troja, Y. Uchiyama, G. Vianello, M. Werner, B. L. Winer, K. S. Wood, M. Wood, G. Zaharijas, S. Zimmer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

698 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The γ-ray sky can be decomposed into individually detected sources, diffuse emission attributed to the interactions of Galactic cosmic rays with gas and radiation fields, and a residual all-sky emission component commonly called the isotropic diffuse γ-ray background (IGRB). The IGRB comprises all extragalactic emissions too faint or too diffuse to be resolved in a given survey, as well as any residual Galactic foregrounds that are approximately isotropic. The first IGRB measurement with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi ) used 10 months of sky-survey data and considered an energy range between 200 MeV and 100 GeV. Improvements in event selection and characterization of cosmic-ray backgrounds, better understanding of the diffuse Galactic emission (DGE), and a longer data accumulation of 50 months allow for a refinement and extension of the IGRB measurement with the LAT, now covering the energy range from 100 MeV to 820 GeV. The IGRB spectrum shows a significant high-energy cutoff feature and can be well described over nearly four decades in energy by a power law with exponential cutoff having a spectral index of 2.32 ± 0.02 and a break energy of (279 ± 52) GeV using our baseline DGE model. The total intensity attributed to the IGRB is (7.2 ± 0.6) x 10-6 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 above 100 MeV, with an additional +15%/-30% systematic uncertainty due to the Galactic diffuse foregrounds.

Original languageEnglish
Article number86
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume799
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Diffuse radiation
  • Gamma rays: Diffuse background

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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