A gamma-ray determination of the Universe's star formation historyShow others and affiliations
Number of Authors: 1302018 (English)In: Science, ISSN 0036-8075, E-ISSN 1095-9203, Vol. 362, no 6418, p. 1031-+Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The light emitted by all galaxies over the history of the Universe produces the extragalactic background light (EBL) at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths. The EBL is a source of opacity for gamma rays via photon-photon interactions, leaving an imprint in the spectra of distant gamma-ray sources. We measured this attenuation using 739 active galaxies and one gamma-ray burst detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This allowed us to reconstruct the evolution of the EBL and determine the star formation history of the Universe over 90% of cosmic time. Our star formation history is consistent with independent measurements from galaxy surveys, peaking at redshift z similar to 2. Upper limits of the EBL at the epoch of reionization suggest a turnover in the abundance of faint galaxies at z similar to 6.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE , 2018. Vol. 362, no 6418, p. 1031-+
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-239988DOI: 10.1126/science.aat8123ISI: 000451609000039PubMedID: 30498122Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85057548351OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-239988DiVA, id: diva2:1269655
Note
QC 20181211
2018-12-112018-12-112023-01-04Bibliographically approved