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The Energetic Particle Population in Centaurus A

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2017

Paula Chadwick
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Anthony M. Brown
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Celine Boehm
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Jamie Graham
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Thomas Lacroix
Affiliation:
LAPTh U. de Savoie, CNRS, BP 110, 74941 Annecy-le-Vieux
Joseph Silk
Affiliation:
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, CNRS, UPMC Université Paris 6, Sorbonne Université, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
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Abstract

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We report a significant hardening of the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray spectrum from the core of Cen A at E > 2.4 GeV, suggesting there is a source of high energy particles in the core of Cen A which is in addition to the jet component. We show that the observed gamma-ray spectrum is compatible with either a spike in the dark matter halo profile or a population of millisecond pulsars. This work gives a strong indication of new gamma-ray production mechanisms in active galactic nuclei and could even provide evidence for the clustering of heavy dark matter particles around black holes.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2017 

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