Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to TeV photon emission from the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

A deep survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud at ∼0.1–100 TeV photon energies with the Cherenkov Telescope Array is planned. We assess the detection prospects based on a model for the emission of the galaxy, comprising the four known TeV emitters, mock populations of sources, and interstellar emission on galactic scales. We also assess the detectability of 30 Doradus and SN 1987A, and the constraints that can be derived on the nature of dark matter. The survey will allow for fine spectral studies of N 157B, N 132D, LMC P3, and 30 Doradus C, and half a dozen other sources should be revealed, mainly pulsar-powered objects. The remnant from SN 1987A could be detected if it produces cosmic-ray nuclei with a flat power-law spectrum at high energies, or with a steeper index 2.3–2.4 pending a flux increase by a factor >3–4 over ∼2015–2035. Large-scale interstellar emission remains mostly out of reach of the survey if its >10 GeV spectrum has a soft photon index ∼2.7, but degree-scale 0.1–10 TeV pion-decay emission could be detected if the cosmic-ray spectrum hardens above >100 GeV. The 30 Doradus star-forming region is detectable if acceleration efficiency is on the order of 1 − 10 per cent of the mechanical luminosity and diffusion is suppressed by two orders of magnitude within <100 pc. Finally, the survey could probe the canonical velocity-averaged cross section for self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles for cuspy Navarro-Frenk-White profiles.

Inside the core of a young massive star cluster: 3D MHD simulations

“…Aharonian et al 2007Aharonian et al , 2022Ohm et al 2010;Yang et al 2018) which is a clear indication of efficient cosmic ray (CR) acceleration processes in these sources which can be studied in detail with the forthcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array observatory (see e.g. Acero et al 2023;Acharyya et al 2023). CRs accelerated in the clusters can penetrate deep into the cores of nearby molecular clouds providing the gas heating and ionization.…”

Constraining gamma-ray lines from dark matter annihilation using Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. data

“…We will use these findings to place a limit on the fermionic and scalar dark matter models that annihilate into gamma-ray lines using effective operators. A significant improvement is expected once the Cherenkov Telescope Array starts taking data [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. In this study, we focus on real data and not future projections, and for this reason, we rely on Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S.…”