Lower Bounds on Magnetic Fields in Intergalactic Voids from Long-Term GeV-TeV Light Curves of the Blazar Mrk 421

TL;DR

This study establishes stringent lower bounds on intergalactic magnetic fields in voids using long-term GeV-TeV light curves of Mrk 421, improving previous constraints and avoiding assumptions about primary TeV emission.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, more robust method to constrain intergalactic magnetic fields by analyzing long-term observational data without relying on unproven assumptions.

Findings

Excluded magnetic field strengths below 10^{-20.5} G at 4-sigma level

Utilized extensive 850-day GeV-TeV observational data

Provided more robust bounds than previous studies

Abstract

Lower bounds are derived on the amplitude B of intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs) in the region between Galaxy and the blazar Mrk 421, from constraints on the delayed GeV pair-echo flux that are emitted by secondary e^-e^+ produced in \gamma\gamma interactions between primary TeV gamma-rays and the cosmic infrared background. The distribution of galaxies mapped by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey shows that this region is dominated by a large intergalactic void. We utilize data from long-term, simultaneous GeV-TeV observations by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and the ARGO-YBJ experiment extending over 850 days. For an assumed value of B, we evaluate the daily GeV pair-echo flux expected from the TeV data, select the dates where this exceeds the Fermi 2-\sigma sensitivity, compute the probability that this flux is excluded by the Fermi data for each date, and then combine the probabilities using the inverse normal method. Consequently, we exclude B < 10^{-20.5} G for a field coherence length of 1 kpc at 4- \sigma level, as long as plasma instabilities are unimportant for cooling of the pair beam. This is much more significant than the 2-\sigma bounds we obtained previously from observations of Mrk 501, by virtue of more extensive data from the ARGO-YBJ, as well as improved statistical analysis. Compared with most other studies of IGMF bounds, the evidence we present here for a non-zero IGMF is more robust as it does not rely on unproven assumptions on the primary TeV emission during unobserved periods.