Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation

Abstract

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the new-generation ground-based observatory for $\gamma$-ray astronomy, provides unique capabilities to address significant open questions in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. We study some of the salient areas of $\gamma$-ray cosmology that can be explored as part of the Key Science Projects of CTA, through simulated observations of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and of their relativistic jets. Observations of AGN with CTA will enable a measurement of $\gamma$-ray absorption on the extragalactic background light with a statistical uncertainty below 15% up to a redshift $z=2$ and to constrain or detect $\gamma$-ray halos up to intergalactic-magnetic-field strengths of at least 0.3pG. Extragalactic observations with CTA also show promising potential to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. The best limits on Lorentz invariance violation from $\gamma$-ray astronomy will be improved by a factor of at least two to three. CTA will also probe the parameter space in which axion-like particles could constitute a significant fraction, if not all, of dark matter. We conclude on the synergies between CTA and other upcoming facilities that will foster the growth of $\gamma$-ray cosmology.

arXiv comment71 pages (including affiliations and references), 13 figures, 6 tables. Accepted in JCAP; matches published version. Corresponding authors: Jonathan Biteau, Julien Lefaucheur, Humberto Martinez-Huerta, Manuel Meyer, Santiago Pita, Ievgen Vovk

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• Ultra-low frequency gravitational waves from cosmological and astrophysical processes
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• White Paper and Roadmap for Quantum Gravity Phenomenology in the Multi-Messenger Era
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• Probing Quantum Gravity with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
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• On the origin and the detection of characteristic axion wiggles in photon spectra
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• Hunting extreme BL Lacertae blazars with Fermi-LAT
• Account of the baryonic feedback effect in gamma-ray measurements of intergalactic magnetic fields
• Photon-ALP oscillations inducing modifications to photon polarization
• Photon-ALP interaction as a measure of initial photon polarization
• Effect of axion-like particles on the spectrum of the extragalactic gamma-ray background
• On the hard $\gamma$-ray spectrum of the potential PeVatron supernova remnant G106.3+2.7
• Optical Spectroscopy of Blazars for the Cherenkov Telescope Array -- II
• Modelling the propagation of very-high-energy gamma rays with the CRbeam code: Comparison with CRPropa and ELMAG codes
• High-order corrections to inflationary perturbation spectra in quantum gravity
• Axion-Like Particle Searches with IACTs
• Intergalactic medium rotation measure of primordial magnetic fields
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• Axion-like Particle Effects on Photon Polarization in High-Energy Astrophysics
• Evidence for particle acceleration approaching PeV energies in the W51 complex
• A decaying neutralino as dark matter and its gamma ray spectrum
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• Galactic breeze origin for the Fermi bubbles emission
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• Dark Matter and Neutrino Masses in a Portalino-like Model
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• Revisiting the evidences for spectral anomalies in distant blazars: new data on the photon-ALP mixing
• Effective Viscosity in the Intracluster Medium During Magnetic Field Amplification via Turbulent Dynamo
• Simultaneously unveiling the EBL and intrinsic spectral parameters of gamma-ray sources with Hamiltonian Monte Carlo
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• Enhancing the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory high-level performance through an event-type-based analysis
• Evaluation of the potential of a gamma-ray observatory to detect astrophysical neutrinos through inclined showers
• Projected sensitivity of CTAO to axion-like particles from blazars with a machine learning approach
• Can local White Dwarfs constrain Dark Matter interactions?
• Finding strangelets in cosmic rays from HESS J1731-347, a possible strange quark star using the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory
• Impacts of Voids, Line of Sight Interactions, and Local Emission Environment on Detectability of Gamma-Ray AGN