@phdthesis{Lewandowska2015,
  author    = {Lewandowska, Natalia Ewelina},
  title     = {A Correlation Study of Radio Giant Pulses and Very High Energy Photons from the Crab Pulsar},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123533},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Pulsars (in short for Pulsating Stars) are magnetized, fast rotating neutron stars. The basic picture of a pulsar describes it as a neutron star which has a rotation axis that is not aligned with its magnetic field axis. The emission is assumed to be generated near the magnetic poles of the neutron star and emitted along the open magnetic field lines. Consequently, the corresponding beam of photons is emitted along the magnetic field line axis. The non-alignment of both, the rotation and the magnetic field axis, results in the effect that the emission of the pulsar is only seen if its beam points towards the observer. The emission from a pulsar is therefore perceived as being pulsed although its generation is not. This rather simple geometrical model is commonly referred to as Lighthouse Model and has been widely accepted. However, it does not deliver an explanation of the precise mechanisms behind the emission from pulsars (see below for more details). Nowadays more than 2000 pulsars are known. They are observed at various wavelengths. Multiwavelength studies have shown that some pulsars are visible only at certain wavelengths while the emission from others can be observed throughout large parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. An example of the latter case is the Crab pulsar which is also the main object of interest in this thesis. Originating from a supernova explosion observed in 1054 A.D. and discovered in 1968, the Crab pulsar has been the central subject of numerous studies. Its pulsed emission is visible throughout the whole electromagnetic spectrum which makes it a key figure in understanding the possible mechanisms of multiwavelength emission from pulsars. The Crab pulsar is also well known for its radio emission strongly varying on long as well as on short time scales. While long time scale behaviour from a pulsar is usually examined through the use of its average profile (a profile resulting from averaging of a large number of individual pulses resulting from single rotations), short time scale behaviour is examined via its single pulses. The short time scale anomalous behaviour of its radio emission is commonly referred to as Giant Pulses and represents the central topic of this thesis. While current theoretical approaches place the origin of the radio emission from a pulsar like the Crab near its magnetic poles (Polar Cap Model) as already indicated by the Lighthouse model, its emission at higher frequencies, especially its gamma-ray emission, is assumed to originate further away in the geometrical region surrounding a pulsar which is commonly referred to as a pulsar magnetosphere (Outer Gap Model). Consequently, the respective emission regions are usually assumed not to be connected. However, past observational results from the Crab pulsar represent a contradiction to this assumption. Radio giant pulses from the Crab pulsar have been observed to emit large amounts of energy on very short time scales implying small emission regions on the surface of the pulsar. Such energetic events might also leave a trace in the gamma-ray emission of the Crab pulsar. The aim of this thesis is to search for this connection in the form of a correlation study between radio giant pulses and gamma-photons from the Crab pulsar. To make such a study possible, a multiwavelength observational campaign was organized for which radio observations were independently applied for, coordinated and carried out with the Effelsberg radio telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and gamma-ray observations with the Major Atmospheric Imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The corresponding radio and gamma-ray data sets were reduced and the correlation analysis thereafter consisted of three different approaches: 1) The search for a clustering in the differences of the times of arrival of radio giant pulses and gamma-photons; 2) The search for a linear correlation between radio giant pulses and gamma-photons using the Pearson correlation approach; 3) A search for an increase of the gamma-ray flux around occurring radio giant pulses. In the last part of the correlation study an increase of the number of gamma-photons centered on a radio giant pulse by about 17\% (in contrast with the number of gamma-photons when no radio giant pulse occurs in the same time window) was discovered. This finding suggests that a new theoretical approach for the emission of young pulsars like the Crab pulsar, is necessary.},
  subject      = {Pulsar},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Kilian2015,
  author    = {Kilian, Patrick},
  title     = {Teilchenbeschleunigung an kollisionsfreien Schockfronten},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119023},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Das Magnetfeld der Sonne ist kein einfaches statisches Dipolfeld, sondern weist wesentlich kompliziertere Strukturen auf. Wenn Rekonnexion die Topologie eines Feldlinienb{\"u}ndels ver{\"a}ndert, wird viel Energie frei, die zuvor im Magnetfeld gespeichert war. Das abgetrennte B{\"u}ndel wird mit dem damit verbundenen Plasma mit großer Geschwindigkeit durch die Korona von der Sonne weg bewegen. Dieser Vorgang wird als koronaler Massenauswurf bezeichnet. Da diese Bewegung mit Geschwindigkeiten deutlich {\"u}ber der Alfv\'en-Geschwindigkeit, der kritischen Geschwindigkeit im Sonnenwind, erfolgen kann, bildet sich eine Schockfront, die durch den Sonnenwind propagiert. Satelliten, die die Bedingungen im Sonnenwind beobachten, detektieren beim Auftreten solcher Schockfronten einen erh{\"o}hten Fluss von hochenergetischen Teilchen. Mit Radioinstrumenten empf{\"a}ngt man zeitgleich elektromagnetische Ph{\"a}nomene, die als Radiobursts bezeichnet werden, und ebenfalls f{\"u}r die Anwesenheit energiereicher Teilchen sprechen. Daher, und aufgrund von theoretischen {\"U}berlegungen liegt es nahe, anzunehmen, daß Teilchen an der Schockfront beschleunigt werden k{\"o}nnen. Die Untersuchung der Teilchenbeschleunigung an kollisionsfreien Schockfronten ist aber noch aus einem zweiten Grund interessant. Die Erde wird kontinuierlich von hochenergetischen Teilchen, die aus historischen Gr{\"u}nden als kosmische Strahlung bezeichnet werden, erreicht. Die g{\"a}ngige Theorie f{\"u}r deren Herkunft besagt, daß zumindest der galaktische Anteil durch die Beschleunigung an Schockfronten, die durch Supernovae ausgel{\"o}st wurden, bis zu den beobachteten hohen Energien gelangt sind. Das Problem bei der Untersuchung der Herkunft der kosmischen Strahlung ist jedoch, daß die Schockfronten um Supernova{\"u}berreste aufgrund der großen Entfernung nicht direkt beobachtbar sind. Es liegt dementsprechend nahe, die Schockbeschleunigung an den wesentlich n{\"a}heren und besser zu beobachtenden Schocks im Sonnensystem zu studieren, um so Modelle und Simulationen entwickeln und testen zu k{\"o}nnen. Die vorliegende Arbeit besch{\"a}ftigt sich daher mit Simulationen von Schockfronten mit Parametern, die etwa denen von CME getriebenen Schocks entsprechen. Um die Entwicklung der Energieverteilung der Teilchen zu studieren, ist ein kinetischer Ansatz n{\"o}tig. Dementsprechend wurden die Simulationen mit einem Particle-in-Cell Code durchgef{\"u}hrt. Die Herausforderung ist dabei die große Spanne zwischen den mikrophysikalischen Zeit- und L{\"a}ngenskalen, die aus Gr{\"u}nden der Genauigkeit und numerischen Stabilit{\"a}t aufgel{\"o}st werden m{\"u}ssen und den wesentlich gr{\"o}ßeren Skalen, die die Schockfront umfasst und auf der Teilchenbeschleunigung stattfindet. Um die Stabilit{\"a}t und physikalische Aussagekraft der Simulationen sicherzustellen, werden die numerischen Bausteine mittels Testf{\"a}llen, deren Verhalten bekannt ist, gr{\"u}ndlich auf ihre Tauglichkeit und korrekte Implementierung gepr{\"u}ft. Bei den resultierenden Simulationen wird das Zutreffen von analytischen Vorhersagen (etwa die Einhaltung der Sprungbedingungen) {\"u}berpr{\"u}ft. Auch die Vorhersagen einfacherer Plasmamodelle, etwa f{\"u}r das elektrostatischen Potential an der Schockfront, das man auch aus einer Zwei-Fluid-Beschreibung erhalten kann, folgen automatisch aus der selbstkonsistenten, kinetischen Beschreibung. Zus{\"a}tzlich erh{\"a}lt man Aussagen {\"u}ber das Spektrum und die Bahnen der beschleunigten Teilchen.},
  subject      = {Stoßfreies Plasma},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Boyer2015,
  author    = {Boyer, Sonja},
  title     = {Morphologische und spektroskopische Untersuchungen von Supernova-{\"U}berresten},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119108},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Bis heute ist nicht bekannt, in welcher Umgebung die schwersten Elemente durch Neutroneneinfangprozesse entstehen. Es gibt zwei m{\"o}gliche Szenarien, die in der Literatur diskutiert werden: Supernova-Explosionen und Neutronensternverschmelzungen. Beide tragen zur Elementproduktion bei. Welches Szenario aber die dominierende Umgebung ist, bleibt umstritten. Mehrere Fakten sprechen f{\"u}r Supernova-Explosionen als Entstehungsorte: Wenn ein massereicher Stern kollabiert und anschließend explodiert, sind die Temperatur und die Dichte so hoch, dass Neutronen von den bereits bestehenden Elementen eingefangen und angelagert werden k{\"o}nnen. Obwohl in Simulationen mit kugelsymmetrischen Modellen nur protonen- reiche Ausw{\"u}rfe entstehen, kann es in asymmetrischen Explosionen aufgrund der Rotation und der Magnetfelder vermutlich zu einem neutronenreichen Auswurf kommen. Dieser ist hoch genug, dass der schnelle Neutroneneinfang auftreten kann. In dieser Arbeit habe ich daher die {\"U}berreste solcher Explosionen untersucht, um nach Asymmetrien und ihren m{\"o}glichen Auswirkungen auf die Element-Entstehung und Verteilung zu suchen. Daf{\"u}r wurden die beiden Supernova-{\"U}berreste CTB 109 und RCW 103 ausgew{\"a}hlt. CTB 109 besitzt im Zentrum einen anomale R{\"o}ntgenpulsar, also einen Neutronenstern mit hohem Magnetfeld und starker Rotation, die durch Asymmetrien hervorgerufen worden sein k{\"o}nnten. Auch RCW 103 hat vermutlich einen solchen Pulsar als zentrale Quelle. Beide {\"U}berreste sind noch recht jung und befinden sich in ihrer Sedov-Taylor Phase. Die Distanz zur Erde betr{\"a}gt f{\"u}r beide {\"U}berreste ungef{\"a}hr 3 kpc, womit sie in der n{\"a}heren Umgebung der Erde zu finden sind. Die Elemente bis zur Eisengruppe haben ihre bekanntesten Linien im Bereich der R{\"o}ntgenstrahlung. Deswegen wurden f{\"u}r diese Arbeit archivierte Daten des Satelliten XMM-Newton ausgew{\"a}hlt und die Spektren in definierten Regionen in den bei- den Supernova-{\"U}berresten mit den EPIC MOS-Kameras ausgewertet. Die heutigen R{\"o}ntgensatelliten haben jedoch keine ausreichende Sensitivit{\"a}t, um die schwersten Elemente zu detektieren. In den Spektren der beiden {\"U}berreste wurden deshalb vorwiegend die Elemente Silizium und Magnesium gefunden, in CTB 109 auch Neon. Elemente mit h{\"o}heren Massezahlen konnten leider nicht signifikant aus dem Hintergrund herausgefiltert werden. Deutlich sind die Peaks der drei Elementen sichtbar, aber auch Schwefel ist in den Regionen mit hohen Z{\"a}hlraten zu entdecken. F{\"u}r bei- de Supernova-{\"U}berreste wurde der beste Fit mit dem Modell vpshock gefunden. In diesem Modell wird ein Plasma angenommen, das bei konstanter Temperatur plan-parallel geschockt wird. Um diesen Fit zu erzielen wurden die Parameter f{\"u}r die Elemente Fe, S, Si, Mg, O und Ne variiert. Die restlichen Elemente wurden auf die solare H{\"a}ufigkeit festgelegt. Bei CTB 109 befinden sich die Temperaturen (kT) in den Regionen mit hohen Z{\"a}hlraten im Bereich zwischen 0.6 und 0.7 keV und liegen damit im selben Bereich, der bereits mit anderen Teleskopen f{\"u}r CTB 109 gefunden wurde. In den Regionen mit niedrigen Z{\"a}hlraten liegen die Temperaturen etwas tiefer mit 0.3-0.4 keV. Im Supernova-{\"U}berrest RCW 103 wurde nur eine Region mit hoher Z{\"a}hlrate analysiert und eine Temperatur von 0.57 keV gefunden, w{\"a}hrend in der Region mit niedriger Z{\"a}hlrate die Temperatur kT = 0.36 ± 0.08 keV betr{\"a}gt. Beide Werte passen zu den Werten in CTB 109. Die einzelnen Elementlinien wurden zus{\"a}tzlich mit einer Gauß-Verteilung angepasst und die Fl{\"u}sse ermittelt. Diese wurden in Intensit{\"a}tskarten aufgetragen, in denen die unterschiedlichen Verteilungen der Elemente {\"u}ber den Supernova-{\"U}berrest zu sehen sind. W{\"a}hrend Silizium in einigen wenigen Regionen geklumpt auftritt, ist Magnesium {\"u}ber die {\"U}berreste verteilt und hat in einigen Regionen h{\"o}here Werte als Silizium. Das l{\"a}sst den Schluss zu, dass die beiden Elemente auf unterschiedliche Weise aus der Explosion herausgeschleudert wurden. Die Verteilung ist hier durchaus asymmetrisch, es ist jedoch nicht m{\"o}glich dies auf eine asymmetrische Explosion der Supernova zur{\"u}ckzuf{\"u}hren. Daf{\"u}r m{\"u}ssen mehr als zwei Supernova-{\"U}berreste mit dieser Methode untersucht werden und mit einer noch nicht vorhandenen Theorie zur Verteilung der Elemente in {\"U}berresten verglichen werden. Im direkten Vergleich der beiden bisher untersuchten Supernova-{\"U}berreste CTB 109 und RCW 103 sieht man, dass die beiden {\"U}berreste sich sehr in der Temperatur und der Verteilung der Elemente {\"a}hneln. Das l{\"a}sst auf eine einheitliche Ausbreitung der Elemente innerhalb der Supernova-{\"U}berreste schließen. Silizium wird aufgrund der Explosion in fingerartigen Strukturen, die Rayleigh-Taylor-Instabilit{\"a}ten, nach außen transportiert. Dabei bildet es Klumpen, die mit den weiter außen liegenden Schalen reagieren. Magnesium und Neon hingegen werden haupts{\"a}chlich in den Brennphasen vor der Explosion und in den {\"a}ußeren Schichten des Sterns, der Zwiebelschalenstruktur, produziert. Dadurch ist eine ausgedehnte Verteilung zu er- warten. Diese Verteilungen der drei Elemente ist in dieser Arbeit best{\"a}tigt worden. W{\"a}hrend Magnesium und Neon {\"u}ber den gesamten {\"U}berrest hohe Fl{\"u}sse aufweisen, ist Silizium sehr lokal im Lobe von CTB 109 und im hellen S{\"u}den von RCW 103 zu finden. Mit zuk{\"u}nftigen R{\"o}ntgenteleskopen, die eine h{\"o}here r{\"a}umliche Aufl{\"o}sung erm{\"o}glichen, k{\"o}nnten die beobachteten Zusammenh{\"a}nge zwischen der asymmetrischen Elementverteilung im Supernova{\"u}berrest und den Mechanismen der Elemententstehung in der Supernova weiter untersucht werden.},
  subject      = {Supernova{\"u}berrest},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Bustamante2014,
  author    = {Bustamante, Mauricio},
  title     = {Ultra-high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays from gamma-ray bursts: exploring and updating the connection},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-112480},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {It is natural to consider the possibility that the most energetic particles detected (> 10^18 eV), ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), are originated at the most luminous transient events observed (> 10^52 erg s^-1), gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). As a result of the interaction of highly-accelerated, magnetically-confined protons and ions with the photon field inside the burst, both neutrons and UHE neutrinos are expected to be created: the former escape the source and beta-decay into protons which propagate to Earth, where they are detected as UHECRs, while the latter, if detected, would constitute the smoking gun of hadronic acceleration in the sources. Recently, km-scale neutrino telescopes such as IceCube have finally reached the sensitivities required to probe the neutrino predictions of some of the existing GRB models. On that account, we present here a revised, self-consistent model of joint UHE proton and neutrino production at GRBs that includes a state-of-the-art, improved numerical calculation of the neutrino flux (NeuCosmA); that uses a generalised UHECR emission model where some of the protons in the sources are able to "leak out" of their magnetic confinement before having interacted; and that takes into account the energy losses of the protons during their propagation to Earth. We use our predictions to take a close look at the cosmic ray-neutrino connection and find that the current UHECR observations by giant air shower detectors, together with the upper bounds on the flux of neutrinos from GRBs, are already sufficient to put tension on several possibilities of particle emission and propagation, and to point us towards some requirements that should be fulfilled by GRBs if they are to be the sources of the UHECRs. We further refine our analysis by studying a dynamical burst model, where we find that the different particle species originate at distinct stages of the expanding GRB, each under particular conditions. Finally, we consider a possibility of new physics: the effect of neutrino decay in the flux of UHE neutrinos from GRBs. On the whole, our results demonstrate that self-consistent models of particle production are now integral to the advancement of the field, given that the full picture of the UHE Universe will only emerge as a result of looking at the multi-messenger sky, i.e., at gamma-rays, cosmic rays, and neutrinos simultaneously.},
  subject      = {Gamma-Burst},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Glawion2014,
  author    = {Glawion, Dorit},
  title     = {Contemporaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of the Gamma-Ray Emitting Active Galaxy IC 310 - New Clues on Particle Acceleration in Extragalactic Jets},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-113866},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {In this thesis, the broad band emission, especially in the gamma-ray and radio band, of the active galaxy IC 310 located in the Perseus cluster of galaxies was investigated. The main experimental methods were Cherenkov astronomy using the MAGIC telescopes and high resolution very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) at radio frequencies (MOJAVE, EVN). Additionally, data of the object in different energy bands were studied and a multi-wavelength campaign has been organized and conducted. During the campaign, an exceptional bright gamma-ray flare at TeV energies was found with the MAGIC telescopes. The results were compared to theoretical acceleration and emission models for explaining the high energy radiation of active galactic nuclei. Many open questions regarding the particle acceleration to very high energies in the jets of active galactic nuclei, the particle content of the jets, or how the jets are launched, were addressed in this thesis by investigating the variability of IC 310 in the very high energy band. It is argued that IC310 was originally mis-classified as a head-tail radio galaxy. Instead, it shows a variability behavior in the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray band similar to the one found for blazars. These are active galactic nuclei that are characterized by flux variability in all observed energy bands and at all observed time scales. They are viewed at a small angle between the jet axis and the line-of-sight. Thus, strong relativistic beaming influences the variability properties of blazars. Observations of IC 310 with the European VLBI Network helped to find limits for the angle between the jet axis and the line-of-sight, namely 10 deg - 20 deg. This places IC 310 at the borderline between radio galaxies (larger angles) and blazars (smaller angles). During the gamma-ray outburst detected at the beginning of the multi-wavelength campaign, flux variability as short as minutes was measured. The spectrum during the flare can be described by a simple power-law function over two orders of magnitude in energy up to ~10 TeV. Compared to previous observations, no significant variability of the spectral shape was found. Together with the constraint on the viewing angle, this challenges the currently accepted models for particle acceleration at shock waves in the jets. Alternative models, such as stars moving through the jets, mini-jets in the jet caused, e.g., by reconnection events, or gap acceleration in a pulsar-like magnetosphere around the black hole were investigated. It was found that only the latter can explain all observational findings, which at least suggests that it could even be worthwhile to reconsider published investigations of AGN with this new knowledge in mind. The first multi-wavelength campaign was successfully been conducted in 2012/2013, including ground-based as well as space-based telescopes in the radio, optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy range. No pronounced variability was found after the TeV flare in any energy band. The X-ray data showed a slightly harder spectrum when the emission was brighter. The long-term radio light curve indicated a flickering flux variability, but no strong hint for a new jet component was found from VLBI images of the radio jet. In any case, further analysis of the existing multi-wavelength data as well as complimentary measurements could provide further exciting insights, e.g., about the broad band spectral energy distribution. Overall, it can be stated that IC 310 is a key object for research of active galactic nuclei in the high-energy band due to its proximity and its peculiar properties regarding flux variability and spectral behavior. Such objects are ideally suited for studying particle acceleration, jet formation, and other physical effects and models which are far from being fully understood.},
  subject      = {Aktiver galaktischer Kern},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Wendel2022,
  author    = {Wendel, Christoph},
  title     = {Spectral Imprints from Electromagnetic Cascades in Blazar Jets},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-29007},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-290076},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The extragalactic gamma-ray sky is dominated by blazars, active galactic nuclei (AGN) with a relativistic jet that is closely aligned with the line of sight. Galaxies develop an active nucleus if the central supermassive black hole (BH) accretes large amounts of ambient matter and magnetic flux. The inflowing mass accumulates around the plane perpendicular to the accretion flow's angular momentum. The flow is heated through viscous friction and part of the released energy is radiated as blackbody or non-thermal radiation, with luminosities that can dominate the accumulated stellar luminosity of the host galaxy. A fraction of the accretion flow luminosity is reprocessed in a surrounding field of ionised gas clouds. These clouds, revolving around the central BH, emit Doppler-broadened atomic emission lines. The region where these broad-line-emitting clouds are located is called broad-line region (BLR). About one in ten AGN forms an outflow of radiation and relativistic particles, called a relativistic jet. According to the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, this is facilitated through electromagnetic processes in the magnetosphere of a spinning BH. The latter induces a magnetospheric poloidal current circuit, generating a decelerating torque on the BH and inducing a toroidal magnetic field. Consequently, rotational energy of the BH is converted to Poynting flux streaming away mainly along the rotational axis and starting the jet. One possibility for particle acceleration near the jet base is realised by magnetospheric vacuum gaps, regions temporarily devoid of plasma, such that an intermittent electric field arises parallel to the magnetic field lines, enabling particle acceleration and contributing to the mass loading of the jets. Magnetised structures, containing bunches of relativistic electrons, propagate away from the galactic nucleus along the jets. Assuming that these electrons emit synchrotron radiation and that they inverse-Compton (IC) up-scatter abundant target photons, which can either be the synchrotron photons themselves or photons from external emitters, the emitted spectrum can be theoretically determined. Additionally taking into account that these emission regions move relativistically themselves and that the emission is Doppler-boosted and beamed in forward direction, the typical two-hump spectral energy distribution (SED) of blazars is recovered. There are however findings that challenge this well-established model. Short-time variability, reaching down to minute scales at very high energy gamma rays, is today known to be a widespread phenomenon of blazars, calling for very compact emission regions. In most models of such optically thick emission regions, the gamma-ray flux is usually pair-absorbed exponentially, without considering the cascade evolving from the pair-produced electrons. From the observed flux, it is often concluded that emission emanates from larger distances where the region is optically thin, especially from outside of the BLR. Only in few blazars gamma-ray attenuation associated with pair absorption in the BLR was clearly reported. With the advent of sophisticated high-energy or very high energy gamma-ray detectors, like the Fermi Large Area Telescope or the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov telescopes, besides the extraordinarily fast variability spectral features have been found that cannot be explained by conventional models reproducing the two-hump SED. Two such narrow spectral features are discussed in this work. For the nearby blazar Markarian 501, hints to a sharp peak around 3 TeV have been reported from a multi-wavelength campaign carried out in July 2014, while for 3C 279 a spectral dip was found in 2018 data, that can hardly be described with conventional fitting functions. In this work it is examined whether these spectral peculiarities of blazar jet emission can be explained, if the full radiation reprocessing through an IC pair cascade is accounted for. Such a cascade is the multiple concatenation of IC scattering events and pair production events. In the cascades generally considered in this work, relativistic electrons and high-energy photons are injected into a fixed soft target photon field. A mathematical description for linear IC pair cascades with escape terms is delivered on the basis of preliminary works. The steady-state kinetic equations for the electrons and for the photons are determined, whereby it is paid attention to an explicit formulation and to motivating the correct integration borders of all integrals from kinematic constraints. In determining the potentially observable gamma-ray flux, both the attenuated injected flux and the flux evolving as an effect of IC up-scattering, pair absorption and escape are incorporated, giving the emerging spectra very distinct imprints. Much effort is dedicated to the numerical solution of the electrons' kinetic equation via iterative schemes. It is explained why pointwise iteration from higher to lower Lorentz factors is more efficient than iterating the whole set of sampling points. The algorithm is parallelised at two positions. First, several workers can perform pointwise iterations simultaneously. Second, the most demanding integral is cut into a number of part integrals which can be determined by multiple workers. Through these measures, the Python code can be readily applied to simulate steady-state IC pair cascades with escape. In the case of Markarian 501 the developed framework is as follows. The AGN hosts an advection-dominated accretion flow with a normalised accretion rate of several \(10^{-4}\) and an electron temperature near \(10^{10}\) K. On the one hand, the accretion flow illuminates the few ambient gas clouds with approximate radius \(10^{11}\) m, which reprocess a fraction 0.01 of the luminosity into hydrogen and helium emission lines. On the other hand, the gamma rays from the accretion flow create electrons and positrons in a sporadically active vacuum gap in the BH magnetosphere. In the active gap, a power of roughly 0.001 of the Blandford-Znajek power is extracted from the rotating BH through a gap potential drop of several \(10^{18}\) V, generating ultra-relativistic electrons, which subsequently are multiplied by a factor of about \(10^6\) through interaction with the accretion flow photons. This electron beam propagates away from the central engine and encounters the photon field of one passing ionised cloud. The resulting IC pair cascade is simulated and the evolving gamma-ray spectrum is determined. Just above the absorption troughs due to the hydrogen lines, the spectrum exhibits a narrow bump around 3 TeV. When the cascaded emission is added to the emission generated at larger distances, the observed multi-wavelength SED including the sharp peak at 3 TeV is reproduced, underlining that radiation processes beyond conventional models are motivated by distinct spectral features. The dip in the spectrum of 3C 279 is addressed by a similar cascade model. Three types of injection are considered, varying in the ratio of the photon density to the electron density and varying in the spectral shape. The IC pair cascade is assumed to happen either in the dense BLR photon field with a luminosity of several \(10^{37}\) W and a radial size of few \(10^{14}\) m or in the diluted photon field outside of the BLR. The latter scenario is however rejected as the spectral slope around several 100 MeV and the dip at few 10 GeV cannot be reconciled within this model. The radiation cascaded in the BLR can explain the observational data, irrespective of the assumed injected rate. It is therefore concluded that for this period of gamma-ray emission, the radiation production happens at the edge of the BLR of 3C 279. Both investigations show that IC pair cascades can account for fine structure seen in blazar SEDs. It is insufficient to restrict the radiation transport to pure exponential absorption of an injection term. Pair production and IC up-scattering by all generations of photons and electrons in the optically thick regime critically shape the emerging spectra. As the advent of future improved detectors will provide more high-precision spectra, further observations of narrow spectral features can be expected. It seems therefore recommendable to incorporate cascading into conventional radiation production models or to extend the model developed in this work by synchrotron radiation.},
  subject      = {Active galactic nucleus},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{Wendel2022,
  type      = {Master Thesis},
  author    = {Wendel, Christoph},
  title     = {Bestimmung des hochenergetischen Spektrums des Crab-Pulsars anhand eines Outer Gap-Modells},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-25719},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257191},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Im Rahmen eines selbst-konsistenten Outer-Gap-Modells der Pulsar-Magnetosph{\"a}re wurde die elektromagnetische sehr hochenergetische Strahlung des Crab-Pulsars simuliert. Dies wurde parallel anhand zweier verschiedener F{\"a}lle getan, die sich in den angenommenen Gleichungen f{\"u}r die elektrische Feldst{\"a}rke und f{\"u}r den Kr{\"u}mmungsradius der magnetischen Feldlinien unterscheiden. Die Kinetik der geladenen Teilchen bei ihrer Propagation durch die Outer Gap wurde unter Einbeziehung von Kr{\"u}mmungsstrahlung, inverser Compton-Streuung und Triple Paarbildung betrachtet. Das theoretisch simulierte Spektrum wird mit von Fermi-LAT und von den MAGIC Teleskopen gemessenen Daten verglichen.},
  subject      = {Neutronenstern},
  language  = {de}
}
@phdthesis{Saxena2020,
  author    = {Saxena, Sheetal},
  title     = {Multiwavelength Studies Of Gamma-Ray Emitting Radio Galaxies},
  doi       = {10.25972/OPUS-21538},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-215386},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Although the contribution to the Isotropic Gamma-Ray Background (IGRB) from unresolved extragalactic objects has been studied for many years, its exact composition and origin are as of yet unknown. It is suspected that diffuse processes such as dark matter annihilation contribute to the total IGRB, as well as unresolved gamma-ray emission from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), including radio galaxies. Radio galaxies are a source class that emit strongly at radio wavelengths, some of which have also been detected at gamma-ray wavelengths by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), and by very high energy gamma-ray Cherenkov telescopes. It is thought that due to the orientation of their jets, radio galaxies are detected less numerously at gamma-ray energies than blazars. Furthermore, only a small number of radio galaxies have been detected at gamma-ray energies though it is considered that others do as well. It is for these reasons that gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies, an interesting and elusive class of objects, are selected for investigation in this work. In order to reach the goal of better understanding diffuse processes, it is necessary to model the radio galaxy spectral energy distributions (SEDs). As AGN emission is variable with respect to time, it is critical to use simultaneously collected observations. Calculation of the SED based on simultaneous, multiwavelength data across the electromagnetic spectrum produces a reasonably accurate representation of the state of an object in a given time range. The gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies M 87, NGC 1275, Pictor A, and Centaurus A are selected here based on having been detected in very high energy gamma-rays by Cherenkov telescopes, as well as in other wavelengths. A uniquely consistent analysis approach is applied, in which each radio galaxy is analyzed the same way using simultaneously collected data. This approach sets it apart from other studies. Fermi-LAT raw data for each source in the sample is analyzed in time ranges which directly overlap the very high energy gamma-ray Cherenkov observations, as well as several other wavelength ranges. A synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model is applied, which provides accurate treatment of synchrotron and inverse-Compton processes occurring in the jets of AGN, while estimating physical characteristics of the source. It is found that the spectra of M 87, NGC 1275, Pictor A, and Centaurus A can be well described by the same SSC model, producing values for the physical characteristics such as the doppler factor and magnetic field, which are relatively consistent with each other. In order to characterize the diffuse emission from dark matter self-annihilation, the radio galaxy SEDs are also fit with a dark matter model, resulting in an estimated dark matter particle mass of around 4.7 TeV which lies within predicted ranges. The highly dense regions near the black holes of AGN provide the optimal conditions for detecting these signatures. It is also found here that discrepancies between the expected emission and the observed emission in the spectra of some radio galaxies can be explained using the combined SSC and dark matter model. As emission from dark matter annihilation is expected to remain steady with respect to time, a key feature of this work is the novelty of the combined SSC and dark matter model, and the finding that dark matter characteristics may be revealed through similar multiwavelength analyses during future low emission states of the AGN. The radio galaxy sample is then extended to include all gamma-ray emitting radio galaxies detected by the Fermi-LAT, and a calculation of the core radio, total radio, and gamma-ray luminosities is followed through. A future step in extending this work would be to estimate the gamma-ray luminosity function of radio galaxies and their percent contribution to the total IGRB, based on the widely agreed upon assumption that a reasonable estimate of the gamma-ray luminosity function of a population can be attained by appropriately scaling its radio luminosity function, as gamma-ray luminosities and radio luminosities are strongly linearly correlated. This work has also provided the basis for such a calculation by outlining the theory and initial steps. It is the hope that the vast scope of the gathered data, its simultaneity, and the use of consistent analysis methods across the sample, will provide an improved foundation for a future calculation of the contribution of this population to the IGRB, as well as encourage stricter requirements for multiwavelength studies.},
  subject      = {Active Galactic Nuclei},
  language  = {en}
}