Improving Fermi Resolution to Probe for the Intergalactic Magnetic Field

Brendan Wells (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Theories of large scale structure formation indicate that the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) plays an important role in the development of galaxies and clusters. However, the IGMF is extremely small and difficult to detect-both upper and lower limits have been set, but thus far no undisputed value has been measured. Surprisingly, gamma-rays offer an important probe through observations of "Pair Halos", faint and diffuse objects surrounding the brightest AGN. Pair halos are smaller than the current resolution of the Fermi LAT, but a novel error analysis technique will allow us to extract the maximum information from each detected photon. This will improve resolution for transient, diffuse, or faint sources where individual photons have significant impact, including pair halos.