Searching for Internal Absorption of High-Energy Gamma-rays in Extremely Luminous Blazars

Project Description:

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are cores of certain galaxies that exhibit energy outputs far exceeding those of normal galaxies, with the activity thought to be powered by a central supermassive black hole. Blazars are a special type of AGN, with jets that happen to point very close to the direction towards Earth. These sources produce very strong gamma-ray emission. This gamma-ray emission however can be strongly attenuated inside the source due to internal photon-photon absorption, when gamma-rays interact with the low-energy photon fields within the source, which then leads to characteristic features in gamma-ray spectra. Reliably detecting and thoroughly studying such features in blazars has been so far very limited; first of all, because of the scarcity of suitable candidate sources, but also due to limited statistics of available data. The study of the internal absorption is a crucial tool for unraveling the complex structure of these sources and gaining insights into physical mechanisms responsible for generation of extremely energetic gamma-rays. This project aims to search for absorption features in the gamma-ray spectra of selected objects, by employing detailed physical modeling of gamma-ray data of those sources using advanced models of gamma-gamma opacity. The findings of this project hold the potential to significantly advance our understanding of the physical processes governing blazars.

Research Area:

Astrophysics

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(NWU)

Special Requirements:

Proficiency with programming languages, such as Python. Basic understanding and experience with Bash scripting (needed for Fermi-LAT data analysis)