KASCADE-Grande Limits on the Isotropic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Flux between 100 TeV and 1 EeV

Abstract

KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande were multi-detector installations to measure individual air showers of cosmic rays at ultra-high energy. Based on data sets measured by KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande, 90% C.L. upper limits to the flux of gamma-rays in the primary cosmic ray flux are determined in an energy range of ${10}^{14}-{10}^{18}$ eV. The analysis is performed by selecting air showers with a low muon content as expected for gamma-ray-induced showers compared to air showers induced by energetic nuclei. The best upper limit of the fraction of gamma-rays to the total cosmic ray flux is obtained at $3.7\times {10}^{15}$ eV with $1.1\times {10}^{-5}$. Translated to an absolute gamma-ray flux this sets constraints on some fundamental astrophysical models, such as the distance of sources for at least one of the IceCube neutrino excess models.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 848, Number 1. Posted on: October 5, 2017

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• The spectrum of isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission between 100 MeV and 820 GeV
• The spectrum of high-energy cosmic rays measured with KASCADE-Grande
• Search for ultra-high energy photons using air showers
• IceCube astrophysical neutrinos without a spectral cutoff and (10^15-10^17) eV cosmic gamma radiation
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• Searches for Ultra-High-Energy Photons at the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Blazar jets as possible sources of ultra-high energy photons: a short review