H.E.S.S. upper limits for Kepler's supernova remnant

TL;DR

This study used H.E.S.S. observations to set upper limits on very high energy gamma-ray emission from Kepler's supernova remnant, constraining models of particle acceleration and remnant properties.

Contribution

First to provide VHE gamma-ray upper limits for Kepler's supernova remnant using H.E.S.S., informing models of cosmic-ray acceleration and remnant environment.

Findings

No VHE gamma-ray signal detected.

Upper limit on gamma-ray flux established.

Constraints on remnant distance and ambient density.

Abstract

Observations of Kepler's supernova remnant (G4.5+6.8) with the H.E.S.S. telescope array in 2004 and 2005 with a total live time of 13 h are presented. Stereoscopic imaging of Cherenkov radiation from extensive air showers is used to reconstruct the energy and direction of the incident gamma rays. No evidence for a very high energy (VHE: >100 GeV) gamma-ray signal from the direction of the remnant is found. An upper limit (99% confidence level) on the energy flux in the range 230 GeV - 12.8 TeV of 8.6 x 10^{-13} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} is obtained. In the context of an existing theoretical model for the remnant, the lack of a detectable gamma-ray flux implies a distance of at least 6.4 kpc. A corresponding upper limit for the density of the ambient matter of 0.7 cm^{-3} is derived. With this distance limit, and assuming a spectral index Gamma = 2, the total energy in accelerated protons is limited to E_p < 8.6 x 10^{49} erg. In the synchrotron/inverse Compton framework, extrapolating the power law measured by RXTE between 10 and 20 keV down in energy, the predicted gamma-ray flux from inverse Compton scattering is below the measured upper limit for magnetic field values greater than 52 muG.