STACKING SEARCHES FOR GAMMA-RAY EMISSION ABOVE 100 MeV FROM RADIO AND SEYFERT GALAXIES

摘要

The EGRET telescope on board Compton Gamma Ray Observatory detected more than 60 sources of high-energy gamma radiation associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs). All but one of those belong to the blazar subclass; the only exception is the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A. Since there is no obvious reason other than proximity to expect Cen A to be the only nonblazar AGN emitting in high-energy gamma rays, we have utilized the "stacking" technique to search for emission above 100 MeV from two nonblazar AGN subclasses, radio galaxies and Seyfert galaxies. Maps of gamma-ray counts, exposure, and diffuse background have been created, then co-added in varying numbers based on sorts by redshift, 5 GHz flux density, and optical brightness, and finally tested for gamma-ray emission. No detection significance greater than 2σ has been found for any subclass, sorting parameter, or number of objects co-added. Monte Carlo simulations have also been performed to validate the technique and estimate the significance of the results.