Probing quantum gravity using photons from a flare of the active galactic nucleus Markarian 501 observed by the MAGIC telescope

被引：191

作者：

Albert, J. ^{[2
]}

Aliu, E. ^{[3
]}

Anderhub, H. ^{[4
]}

Antonelli, L. A. ^{[5
,6
]}

Antoranz, P.

Backes, M. ^{[7
]}

Baixeras, C. ^{[8
]}

Barrio, J. A. ^{[6
]}

Bartko, H. ^{[1
]}

Bastieri, D. ^{[9
,10
]}

Becker, J. K. ^{[7
]}

Bednarek, W. ^{[11
]}

Berger, K. ^{[2
]}

Bernardini, E. ^{[12
]}

Bigongiari, C. ^{[9
,10
]}

Biland, A. ^{[4
]}

Bock, R. K. ^{[1
,9
,10
]}

Bonnoli, G. ^{[13
,14
]}

Bordas, P. ^{[15
]}

Bosch-Ramon, V. ^{[15
]}

Bretz, T. ^{[2
]}

Britvitch, I. ^{[4
]}

Camara, M. ^{[6
]}

Carmona, E. ^{[1
]}

Chilingarian, A. ^{[16
]}

Commichau, S. ^{[4
]}

Contreras, J. L. ^{[6
]}

Cortina, J. ^{[3
,5
]}

Costado, M. T. ^{[17
]}

Covino, S.

Curtef, V. ^{[7
]}

Dazzi, F. ^{[9
,10
]}

De Angelis, A. ^{[19
,20
]}

De Cea del Pozo, E. ^{[21
]}

Mendez, C. Delgado ^{[17
]}

de los Reyes, R. ^{[6
]}

De Lotto, B. ^{[19
,20
]}

De Maria, M. ^{[19
,20
]}

De Sabata, F. ^{[19
,20
]}

Dominguez, A. ^{[22
]}

Dorner, D. ^{[2
]}

Doro, M. ^{[9
,10
]}

Errando, M. ^{[3
]}

Fagiolini, M. ^{[13
,14
]}

Ferenc, D. ^{[23
]}

Fernandez, E. ^{[3
]}

Firpo, R. ^{[3
]}

Fonseca, M. V. ^{[6
]}

Font, L. ^{[8
]}

Galante, N. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Max Planck Inst Phys & Astrophys, D-80805 Munich, Germany

[2] Univ Wurzburg, D-97074 Wurzburg, Germany

[3] IFAE, E-08193 Barcelona, Spain

[4] ETH, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

[5] INAF Natl Inst Astrophys, I-00136 Rome, Italy

[6] Univ Complutense, E-28040 Madrid, Spain

[7] Tech Univ Dortmund, D-44221 Dortmund, Germany

[8] Univ Autonoma Barcelona, E-08193 Barcelona, Spain

[9] Univ Padua, I-35131 Padua, Italy

[10] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, I-35131 Padua, Italy

[11] Univ Lodz, PL-90236 Lodz, Poland

[12] DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen, Germany

[13] Univ Siena, I-53100 Siena, Italy

[14] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, I-53100 Siena, Italy

[15] Univ Barcelona, ICC IEEC, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain

[16] Yerevan Phys Inst, AM-375036 Yerevan, Armenia

[17] Inst Astrofis Canarias, E-38200 Tenerife, Spain

[18] Univ La Laguna, Dept Astrofis, E-38206 Tenerife, Spain

[19] Univ Udine, I-33100 Udine, Italy

[20] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, I-33100 Udine, Italy

[21] Inst Ciencies Espai IEEC CSIC, E-08193 Barcelona, Spain

[22] CSIC, Inst Astrofis Andalucia, E-18080 Granada, Spain

[23] Univ Calif Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA

[24] Turku Univ, Tuorla Observ, FI-21500 Piikkio, Finland

[25] Inst Nucl Energy Res, BG-1784 Sofia, Bulgaria

[26] Humboldt Univ, D-12489 Berlin, Germany

[27] INAF Osservatorio Astron, I-34143 Trieste, Italy

[28] Ist Nazl Fis Nucl, I-34143 Trieste, Italy

[29] ICREA, E-08010 Barcelona, Spain

[30] CERN, Dept Phys, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland

[31] Kings Coll London, Dept Phys, London WC2R 2LS, England

[32] Texas A&M Univ, College Stn, TX 77843 USA

[33] HARC, The Woodlands, TX 77381 USA

[34] Acad Athens, Div Nat Sci, GR-10679 Athens, Greece

[35] Univ Instelling Antwerp, Dept Phys, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium

来源：

PHYSICS LETTERS B | 2008年 / 668卷 / 04期

关键词：

Gamma-ray sources (Individual: Mkn 501); Active galactic nuclei; Quantum gravity; Supersymmetric models; Particle acceleration;

D O I：

10.1016/j.physletb.2008.08.053

中图分类号：

P1 [天文学];

学科分类号：

0704 ;

摘要：

We analyze the timing of photons observed by the MAGIC telescope during a flare of the active galactic nucleus Mkn 501 for a possible correlation with energy, as suggested by some models of quantum gravity (QG), which predict a vacuum refractive index similar or equal to 1 + (E/M-QGn)(n), n = 1, 2. Parametrizing the delay between gamma-rays of different energies as Delta t = +/-tau E-1 or Delta t = +/-tau E-q(2), we find tau(1) = (0.030 +/- 0.012) s/GeV at the 2.5-sigma level, and tau(q) = (3.71 +/- 2.57) x 10(-6) s/GeV2, respectively. We use these results to establish lower limits M-QG1 > 0.21 X 10(18) GeV and M-QG2 > 0.26 x 10(11) GeV at the 95% C.L. Monte Carlo studies confirm the MAGIC sensitivity to propagation effects at these levels. Thermal plasma effects in the source are negligible, but we cannot exclude the importance of some other source effect. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：253 / 257

页数：5

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