HAWC Search for High-mass Microquasars

Albert A, Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Angeles Camacho JR, Arteaga-Velazquez JC, Arunbabu KP, Avila Rojas D, Ayala Solares HA, Baghmanyan V, Belmont-Moreno E, Benzvi SY, Brisbois C, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistran T, Carraminana A, Casanova S, Cotti U, Cotzomi J, De La Fuente E, De Leon C, Diaz Hernandez R, Diaz-Velez JC, Dingus BL, Durocher M, Duvernois MA, Ellsworth RW, Espinoza C, Fan KL, Fang K, Fraija N, Galvan-Gamez A, Garcia-Gonzalez JA, Garfias F, Gonzalez MM, Goodman JA, Harding JP, Hernandez S, Hona B, Huang D, Hueyotl-Zahuantitla F, Huntemeyer P, Iriarte A, Jardin-Blicq A, Joshi V, Kieda D, Lara A, Lee J, Lee WH, Leon Vargas H, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis-Raya G, Lundeen J, Malone K, Martinez O, Martinez-Castro J, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Morales-Soto JA, Moreno E, Mostafa M, Nayerhoda A, Nellen L, Newbold M, Nisa MU, Noriega-Papaqui R, Olivera-Nieto L, Omodei N, Peisker A, Perez Araujo Y, Rho CD, Roh YJ, Rosa-Gonzalez D, Salesa Greus F, Sandoval A, Schneider M, Serna-Franco J, Smith AJ, Springer RW, Tollefson K, Torres I, Torres-Escobedo R, Turner R, Urena-Mena F, Villasenor L, Watson IJ, Weisgarber T, Willox E, Zhou H (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Book Volume: 912

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/abf35a

Abstract

Microquasars with high-mass companion stars are promising very high energy (VHE; 0.1-100 TeV) gamma-ray emitters, but their behaviors above 10 TeV are poorly known. Using the High Altitude Water Cerenkov (HAWC) observatory, we search for excess gamma-ray emission coincident with the positions of known high-mass microquasars (HMMQs). No significant emission is observed for LS 5039, Cyg X-1, Cyg X-3, and SS 433 with 1523 days of HAWC data. We set the most stringent limit above 10 TeV obtained to date on each individual source. Under the assumption that HMMQs produce gamma rays via a common mechanism, we have performed source-stacking searches, considering two different scenarios: (I) gamma-ray luminosity is a fraction epsilon ( gamma ) of the microquasar jet luminosity, and (II) VHE gamma rays are produced by relativistic electrons upscattering the radiation field of the companion star in a magnetic field B. We obtain epsilon ( gamma ) < 5.4 x 10(-6) for scenario I, which tightly constrains models that suggest observable high-energy neutrino emission by HMMQs. In the case of scenario II, the nondetection of VHE gamma rays yields a strong magnetic field, which challenges synchrotron radiation as the dominant mechanism of the microquasar emission between 10 keV and 10 MeV.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Mexico (MX) Los Alamos National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) Mexico (MX) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) Mexico (MX) University of Pennsylvania United States (USA) (US) Polska Akademia Nauk (PAN) / Polish Academy of Sciences Poland (PL) University of Rochester (UR) United States (USA) (US) University of Maryland United States (USA) (US) National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF) Italy (IT) Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) / Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla Mexico (MX) Universidad de Guadalajara (UDEG) Mexico (MX) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US) Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Mexico (MX) University of Utah United States (USA) (US) Michigan Technological University United States (USA) (US) Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) / Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics Germany (DE) University of Seoul (UOS) / 서울시립대학교 Korea, Republic of (KR) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (UPP) Mexico (MX) National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico / Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México Mexico (MX) University of New Mexico (UNM) / Universidad de Nuevo México United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo / Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Mexico (MX) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) Shanghai Jiao Tong University / 上海交通大学 China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Angeles Camacho, J.R., Arteaga-Velazquez, J.C., Arunbabu, K.P.,... Zhou, H. (2021). HAWC Search for High-mass Microquasars. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 912(1). https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abf35a

MLA:

Albert, A., et al. "HAWC Search for High-mass Microquasars." Astrophysical Journal Letters 912.1 (2021).

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