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The Fermi Summer School emphasizes the analysis of data from the Fermi instruments through lectures and hands-on workshops. Students spend time working directly with experts in instrumentation, analysis, theory and modeling to develop and extend their own research projects. Topics cover much of the gamma-ray band ranging from keV-MeV transients seen with Fermi's GBM to the highest energies observed by the LAT and the very high energies observed by ground-based gamma-ray telescopes. This year's school will be held at the University of Delaware Conference Center in Lewes, Delaware, from May 28 to June 7, 2024. 

Material will be aimed at graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. Topics will include particle acceleration and gamma-ray production mechanisms; space-based and ground-based gamma-ray instrumentation; spectral, spatial, and time-based analysis of gamma-ray data; modeling and interpretation of gamma-ray data; and astrophysical source classes such as AGN, GRBs, Galactic pulsars and binary systems, supernova remnants, and pulsar wind nebulae as well as searches for dark matter and new physics. 

The software necessary for the tutorials (such as the Fermitools) are distributed in the FermiBottle Docker Container, a fully-functional, self-contained analysis environment.  Please go through the Summer School Checklist to make sure the container is functioning correctly.

On this page

Schedule

Go directly to Week 1 or Week 2. All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00).

See our Code of Conduct and COVID-19 guidelines.

Week 1  


Tues, May 28Wed, May 29Thurs, May 30Fri, May 31Sat, June 1
8:00BreakfastBreakfastBreakfastBreakfastBreakfast
9:00

Welcome and Introductions - Liz


Astroparticle Radiation and Acceleration I - Damiano CaprioliAstroparticle Radiation and Acceleration II - Damiano

Lecture Notes on DSA

DSA Detailed Notes

Astroparticle Radiation and Acceleration III - Damiano

Stats Lecture 5 - Cole

QPO Information

10:00

Intro to Fermi - Liz

Fermi Survey Strategy - Joe Eggen

Intro to Fermi LAT - Liz

Impostor Syndrome workshop - All

Neutron Stars Part 2 - Cecilia

Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries

11:00BreakBreakBreakBreak (Photo!)Break
11:30Stats Lecture 1 - Cole Miller

Neutron Stars - Cecilia Chirenti

Intro to Fermi GBM - Colleen Wilson-Hodge (remote)Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries

X-ray and Gamma-ray observations of pulsar wind nebulae - Jordan Eagle

12:30LunchLunchLunchLunchLunch
1:30

Getting started with Fermi: Tools and Resources - Joe Eggen, Joe Asercion, Alex Reustle, Sheimy, Paz, Nestor Mirabal (remote), Don Horner (remote)

Data Exploration notebook 

Data Quicklook notebook

Stats Lecture 2 - Cole

Getting Started with Likelihood Analysis - Liz, Joe

fermi-summer-school Github repository - See README file for instructions to download data and precomputed files for the 3C279  example analysis.

3C279 Example Analysis Likelihood Notebook

Look here for a few project Ideas


Stats Lecture 3 - Cole

Intro to the LAT Photon Data Catalog - Sheimy Paz

LAT Instrument Response and Next Steps with Likelihood - Liz


Stats Lecture 4 - Cole

Extended sources (3C 279 intro, W51C) - Liz, Jordan



Making LAT Spectra and lightcurves

4:45End of the Day Tag-upEnd of the Day Tag-upEnd of the Day Tag-upEnd of the Day Tag-upEnd of the Day Tag-up

Bike rental pick-up - leave by 4:30



Week 2


Mon, June 3Tues, June 4Wed, June 5Thurs, June 6Fri, June 7
8:00BreakfastBreakfastBreakfastBreakfastBreakfast
9:00

Lecture 1 - Qi Feng

Polarization - Haocheng Zhang

Lecture 2 - Qi

Magnetars - Oliver

9:00 -9:30 Pack up.

9:30 - 10:30 Closing Session

Feedback Form


10:00

The High-energy Universe with Fermi-GBM - Oliver Roberts

Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries

Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries  Gamma-ray Binaries - Jamie
11:00BreakBreakBreakBreakBreak
11:30

The Transient Gamma-ray Sky seen by Fermi-LAT - Niccolò Di Lalla

Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries

Rubin LSST - Federica Bianco

Student Talks / 1 Slide Summaries  Complete packing up and return bikes.
12:30LunchLunchLunchLunchLunch
1:30

Burst analysis workshop - Niccolò Di Lalla:

Analysis notebooks:

  • GRB 080916C with GBM
  • GRB 190114C with LAT
  • GRB 130427A with GBM, LLE and LAT

Free Afternoon 

Time-based analysis topics



4:45 End of the Day Tag-up

End of the Day Tag-up

End of the Day Tag-up






Student Talks and 1 Slide Summary Schedule

Friday, May 31

Owen Henry - "Gamma-rays in Globular Clusters" 

Abstract: We use 13 years of data collected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard Fermi to search for a cumulative signal from undetected Globular Clusters. We aim to associate the gamma-rays detected with LAT with our globular clusters using a stacked population of 36 high latitude targets not detected in the Fermi Point Source Catalog (4FGL). So far, Fermi has detected 32 Globular Clusters (GCs) which make them a feasible target for studies of gamma-rays. Control fields used in this analysis were selected from a library of fields randomly distributed across the sky by matching the Galactic distribution of the target clusters. We find that the stacked population of undetected globular clusters has a significant separation in cumulative likelihood from the stack of control fields. We also investigate correlations between the stack luminosity and detected cluster observables, such as distance, absolute magnitude (i.e., mass), and stellar encounter rate.


Ava Webber - "A Systematic Study of Galactic Star-Forming Regions" 

Abstract: Star-forming regions (SFRs) are known sites of particle acceleration and may potentially be important sources of gamma-rays in the Galaxy. While a few Galactic SFRs have been associated with gamma-ray sources, the majority lack detections. Using all available Fermi data in combination with improved optical measurements, we are performing a systematic study of Galactic SFRs. The goal of our systematic study is to characterize the morphology and spectral emission of Galactic SFRs, and understand their energetics and particle acceleration processes. In this talk I will discuss the preliminary results of this project focusing on the connection of SFRs’ emission and their physical properties.


Pranab Deka - "Exponential Methods for Anisotropic Diffusion" 

Abstract: Anisotropic diffusion is imperative in understanding cosmic ray diffusion across the Galaxy, the heliosphere, and the interplay of cosmic rays with the Galactic magnetic field. The diffusion term contributes to the highly-stiff nature of the cosmic ray transport equation. In order to conduct numerical simulations of time-dependent cosmic ray transport, the implicit Crank-Nicolson integrator has been traditionally favoured over the CFL-bound explicit integrators to be able to take large time-step sizes. We propose exponential methods that directly compute the exponential of the underlying matrix (or the exponential-like functions) to treat the linear anisotropic diffusion equation. We consider time-dependent sources to emulate cosmic rays being ejected into the Galaxy at different points in time. We compare and contrast the performance of two second-order and one fourth-order exponential quadrature methods with that of Crank-Nicolson. The exponential methods allow us to take substantially large time-step sizes, thereby reducing the computational cost by almost an order of magnitude. The accuracy of the second-order exponential methods is similar to that of Crank-Nicolson (as one would expect) whilst the fourth-order solver yields highly accurate solutions. The boost in the performance offered by the exponential methods without compromising the accuracy of the solutions makes them an excellent alternative to the traditional methods for treating the time-dependent cosmic ray transport equation.


Zachary Metzler - "Opportunities for Multimessenger Observations of Millisecond Pulsars" 

Abstract: The first gravitational wave was detected by LIGO in 2015, and since that time over 100 events have been detected. However, these detections have been transient signals from binary mergers of black holes and neutron stars. In addition to transient, LIGO is sensitive to continuous gravitational waves. Millisecond pulsars are strong candidates for continuous gravitational waves, since the accretion from a nearby star can sustain spins >500 Hz and the accreting matter provides an inherent ellipticity. I will discuss the relationship between ellipticity, accretion rate, and gamma ray emission as well as discuss prospects for directly measuring these in the near future.

Saturday, June 1

Giovanni Cozzolongo - "Clustering analysis of Fermi-LAT unidentified point sources" 

Abstract: In this work we study clustering of unassociated Fermi-LAT sources and search for counterpart extended sources in TeV energies. The goal is to determine whether an extended source model is preferred compared to a cluster of point-like sources. The work is motivated by prior observations of extended TeV gamma-ray sources, such as HESS J1813-178, and their GeV counterparts. In the case of HESS J1813-178, two unidentified Fermi-LAT point sources were detected in the region. Subsequent multiwavelength analysis combining TeV and GeV data showed that a single extended source is a better description of the emission in this region than two point-like sources.

Jakub Juryšek - "Observation of the galactic PeVatron candidate LHAASO J2108+5157 with the Large-Sized telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array" 

Abstract: The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) Observatory will be the next generation ground-based very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory, sensitive from 20 GeV up to 300 TeV. The Large-Sized Telescope prototype (LST-1), currently in the commissioning phase, was inaugurated in October 2018 on La Palma (Spain). It is the first of four LST telescopes for CTA, to be built on La Palma. In 2021, LST-1 performed observations of one of the Galactic PeVatron candidates, LHAASO J2108+5157, recently discovered by the LHAASO collaboration. In my contribution, I present results of our analysis of the LST-1 data, putting strong constraints on the emission of the source in the multi-TeV band. I also present results of multi-wavelength modeling, testing different scenarios for the parent particles producing the high energy emission and put constraints on their spectra.


Zachary Curtis-Ginsberg - "Calibrating a Camera: Electronics work for the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope" 

Abstract: The dual-mirrored Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope is a proposed medium-sized telescope candidate for the Cherenkov Telescope Array’s southern site (in Paranal, Chile). The Schwarzschild-Couder design has an energy range of 100 GeV to 10 TeV and a field of view of 8°. A prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) has been built next to VERITAS at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and was inaugurated in January 2019. The initial camera had 1,600 pixels instrumented (out of the full 11,328) spanning a 2.7° field of view. Based on observations in 2020, the partially instrumented camera detected gamma-ray emission from the Crab Nebula at a significance of 8.6σ. The pSCT camera is undergoing an upgrade, both to improve its performance and to instrument the full 11,328 pixel camera. I will present the process and status of the camera upgrade.


Agostina Filócomo - "In search of evidence of flares in T Tauri stars as gamma-ray emitters" 

Abstract: NGC 2071 is a star-forming region positionally correlated with three unidentified gamma-ray sources detected by the Fermi satellite telescope. According to a preliminary model, T Tauri stars could produce gamma-ray emission under specific conditions. We performed a spectral and temporal analysis of the Fermi data to determine whether the detected emission was caused by flares occurring in T Tauri stars. We found that the gamma-ray source can only be detected in the first two years of observations at energies above 100 GeV. In addition, a variability analysis reveals that the expected frequency of events is compatible with flare activity with a minimum X-ray energy of 5 × 1037 erg. These observational results impose, for the first time, a substantial constraint on the energetic of flares in T Tauri stars that could explain the origin of unknown gamma-ray sources in star-forming regions.

Tuesday, June 4 Part 1

Ariel Perera - "Searching for Undetected Gamma Ray Bursts in Fermi GBM Data"
Pádraig Mc Dermott - "Gamma ray detection with EIRSAT-1: Ireland’s first satellite!"
Marianna Dafčíková - "The First GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2 catalogue: gamma-ray transients and detector sensitivity"
Manuele Maistrello - "The dispersion of the 𝐸𝑝,𝑖− 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑜 correlation of long gamma-ray bursts is partially due to assembling different sources"

Tuesday, June 4 Part 2

Rafael Diaz - "Studying VHE variability and flare for blazar B2 1811+31"
Thunyapong Mahapol - "A Theoretical Fourier-Transformation Model for the Formation of X-ray Time Lags from Black Hole Accretion Disks" 

Abstract: The complex and rapidly varying X-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may provide insights to the thermal and dynamical structure of the central black hole accretion disk. To analyze the observed variability, X-ray time lags which are the temporal delays between Fourier transforms of light curves in hard and soft X-ray energy channels can be used. These time lags may be either hard lags or soft lags, depending on whether the variability in the hard energy channel follows that in the soft channel or vice versa. The source for the observed X-ray time lags from AGNs has been a subject of debate. In this study, we investigate the scenario where the X-ray time lags are generated by thermal and bulk Comptonization, as well as spatial reverberation of iron L-line and K-line seed photons, which are produced via fluorescence due to local instability. We model the inner region of the accretion flow as a hot, geometrically thick ADAF disc, with the outer radius equal to the shock formation radius located just outside the centrifugal barrier. Using a Fourier-transformed, vertically-averaged transport equation in cylindrical coordinates, we analyze the time-dependent radiative transfer in the inner ADAF region and simulate the X-ray time lag data. We then compare the simulated time lags to the observed time lags for model fitting. Our new model successfully reproduces the complex X-ray variability data for the Seyfert 1 galaxies 1H 0707-495 and Ark 564.


Aminabi Thekkoth - "Unprecedented Outburst in 4C 31.03: Exploring variability and multi-wavelength spectral properties."
Krishna Teja Vedula - "Study of Blazar Polarization in Gamma Rays with COSI"

Wednesday, June 5

Adithiya Dinesh - "A systematic search for extreme gamma-ray blazars using Fermi-LAT"
Laenita De Jonge - "Study of the hadronic synchrotron mirror model for orphan flares in blazars - Application to 3C279"
Paolo Cristarella Orestano - "Study of Periodicity in Blazar Light Curves"
Ao Zhang - "Search for anisotropic pair halos associated with blazar jets"

Thursday, June 6

Eliza Neights - "Studying GRBs Using COSI"
Cuán de Barra - "GIFTS (Gamma-Ray Investigation of the Full Transient Sky)"
Zoe Brisson-Tsavoussis - 1-slide
Ieva Jankute - 1-slide

Group Photos

Supporting Material

  • Primary announcements will be sent out via an e-mail list.
  • Secondary announcements, interaction between sessions. instructor-student, and student-student communication will be handled via Slack. Instructions on joining the Summer School Slack will be sent to attendees by e-mail.
  • This confluence page will be the home for the schedule as well as the presentation and supporting materials.
  • There are a number of video tutorials for Fermi data analysis already available. You can also find tutorials posted on the FSSC's Data Analysis section.
  • Presentation and material for Josh Wood's presentation on GRB analysis

Interesting repositories for Fermi analysis

Stay up-to-date with the gamma-ray sky

Additional Resources for gamma-ray astronomy and astrostatistics

Things to Do in Lewes





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