A large fraction of the anticipated source detections by the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST-LAT) will initially be unidentified. We argue that traditional approaches to identify individuals and/or populations of gamma ray sources will encounter procedural limitations. Those limitations are discussed on the background of source identifications from EGRET observations. Generally, our ability to classify (faint) source populations in the anticipated GLAST dataset with the required degree of statistical confidence will be hampered by sheer source wealth. A new paradigm for achieving the classification of gamma ray source populations is discussed.

This book provides a theoretical and observational overview of the state of the art of gamma-ray astrophysics, and their impact and connection with the physics of cosmic rays and neutrinos. With the aim of shedding new and fresh light on the problem of the nature of the gamma-ray sources, particularly those yet unidentified, this book summarizes contributions to a workshop that continues today.

The research program in gamma-ray astronomy focuses on increasing our knowledge of the nature and origin of galactic and extragalactic gamma rays, and understanding high-energy processes in the Sun, celestial objects, interstellar medium, and extragalactic space. This book not only provides an overview of the latest research and future plans for space-borne and ground-based experiments dedicated to the observation of the gamma-ray sky, but also addresses the topic of variable gamma-ray sources from the perspective of their identification and counterparts at different wavelengths. It further gives an overview of the theory related to the most qualified emission processes that take place in these sources and of the nature of their variability. Sample Chapter(s). Integral: 4 Years in Orbit (767 KB). Contents: The Suzaku Mission (K Yamaoka); Gamma-Ray Astrophysics with AGILE (F Longo et al.); The GLAST Mission (J E McEnery); Recent Results from CANGAROO (M Mori); VERITAS: Status and Performance (J Holder); Gamma Ray Pulsars in the GLAST Era (M Razzano); Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Burst (M Della Valle); Solving GRBs and SGRs Puzzles by Precessing Jets (D Fargion et al.); Multiwavelength Observations and Theories of Blazars (G Tosti); Gamma Ray Bursts (L Amati); X-Rays and GeV Flares in GRB Light Curves (A Galli et al.); The Online Monitor for the GLAST Calibration Unit Beam Test (L Baldini et al.); Gamma-Ray Burst Physics with GLAST (N Omodei); The Global Fit Approach to Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of GRBs (A Chernenko); and other papers. Readership: Gamma-ray astronomers; astrophysicists; students and researchers involved in gamma-ray astronomy, both theoretical and experimental; researchers in the development of new gamma-ray detectors.

Gamma ray astronomy, the branch of high energy astrophysics that studies the sky in energetic γ-ray photons, is destined to play a crucial role in the exploration of nonthermal phenomena in the Universe in their most extreme and violent forms. The great potential of this discipline offers impressive coverage of many “hot topics” of modern astrophysics and cosmology, such as the origin of galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays, particle acceleration and radiation processes under extreme astrophysical conditions, and the search for dark matter. The recent observational results and exciting theoretical predictions provide a strong rationale for a deep study of cosmic radiation with forthcoming satellite-borne and ground-based detectors in the so-called very high energy domain of the electromagnetic spectrum above 1010 eV.This invaluable book presents the motivations and highlights the principal objectives of the field, as well as demonstrates its intrinsic links to other branches of high energy astrophysics. Preference is given to three topical areas: (i) origin of cosmic rays; (ii) physics and astrophysics of relativistic jets; (iii) observational gamma ray cosmology. Also, an essential part of the book is devoted to the discussion of the principal mechanisms of production and absorption of energetic γ-rays in different astrophysical environments, as well as to the description of the detection methods of high energy cosmic γ-radiation.

A large fraction of the expected number of source detections of the forthcoming observatory Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will be initially unidentified. We argue that traditional methodological approaches to identify individual detections and/or populations of gamma-ray sources present procedural limitations. These limitations will hamper our ability to classify the populations lying in the anticipated dataset with the required degree of confidence, in particular for those for which no member has yet been detected convincingly with the predecessor experiment EGRET. Here we suggest a new paradigm for achieving the classification of gamma-ray source populations that is based on implementing an a priori protocol to search for theoretically-motivated candidates. It is essential that such paradigm will be defined before the data is unblinded, in order to protect the discovery potential of the sample. Key to the new procedure is a quantitative assessment of the confidence level by which new populations can be claimed to have been discovered. When needed, small number statistics is applied for population studies in gamma-ray astronomy. Although we refer here explicitly only to the case of GLAST, the scheme we present can certainly be adapted to other experiments confronted with a similar combination of problems.

High energy gamma-ray photons are the prime probes of the relativistic or high-energy universe, populated by black holes, neutron stars, supernovae, quasars, and matter-antimatter annihilations. Through studying the gamma-ray sky, astrophysicists are able to better understand the formation and behavior of these exotic and energetic bodies. V

Nearly one half of the point-like gamma-ray sources detected by EGRET instrument of the late Compton satellite are still defeating our attempts at identifying them. To establish the origin and nature of these enigmatic sources has become a major problem of current high-energy astrophysics. The second workshop on Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources intends to shed new and fresh light on the problem of the nature of the unidentified gamma-ray sources. The proceedings contain 46 contributed papers in this subject, which cover theoretical models on gamma-ray sources as well as the best multiwavelength strategies for the identification of the promising candidates. The topics of this conference also include energetic phenomena occurring both in galactic and extragalactic scenarios, phenomena that might lead to the appearance of what we have called high-energy unidentified sources. The book will be of interest for all active researchers in the high-energy astrophysics and related research areas as well as for scientists and graduate students interested in understanding the recent progress in high-energy astrophysics.