• Energy Research

We report the BeppoSAX observations of 6 Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars. Three of them have a clear detection up to 100 keV with the PDS instrument. For 4 objects the X-ray spectrum is satisfactorily fitted by a power-law continuum with Galactic absorption. 2251+158 show the presence of absorption higher than the galactic value, while the spectrum of the source 0208-512 shows a complex structure, with evidence of absorption at low energy. We construct the Spectral Energy Distributions adding historical data to the broad band X-ray spectra obtained with $Beppo$SAX and reproduce them with a one-zone Synchrotron-Inverse Compton model (including both SSC and External Compton). The implications are briefly discussed. 5 figures; ApJ, in press

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 472 (3) ISSN:0035-8711 ISSN:1365-2966

AbstractA very high energy (VHE) γ-radiation was detected from a flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) 4C 21.35 (PKS1222+21) by MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes on June 17th 2010. 4C 21.35 is only the 3rd FSRQ detected in VHE γ-rays. With its hard spectrum (Γ = 2.72±0.34) with no apparent cut-off at energies below 130 GeV and an extremely fast variation of flux (doubling in 8.6+1.1−0.9 minutes), this detection poses a challenge to existing models of VHE γ-radiation from FSRQs. The most important results of observations performed by MAGIC telescopes are presented here, as well as some possible explanations of those results.

On January 14, 2019, the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescopes detected GRB 190114C above 0.2 TeV, recording the most energetic photons ever observed from a gamma-ray burst. We use this unique observation to probe an energy dependence of the speed of light in vacuo for photons as predicted by several quantum gravity models. Based on a set of assumptions on the possible intrinsic spectral and temporal evolution, we obtain competitive lower limits on the quadratic leading order of speed of light modification. 8 pages, 5 figures, Published in Physical Review Letters, Corresponding authors: Tomislav Terzi\'c (tterzic@phy.uniri.hr), Giacomo D'Amico (damico@mppmu.mpg.de), Daniel Kerszberg (dkerszberg@ifae.es), Cedric Perennes (perennes.cedric@gmail.com)