We present the results of our 8 year X-ray monitoring campaign on CXOU J171405.7-381031, the magnetar associated with the faint supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 37B. It is among the youngest by inferred spin-down age, and most energetic in spin-down power of magnetars, and may contribute, at least partially, to the GeV and TeV emission coincident with the SNR. We use a series of Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations to characterize the timing and spectral properties of the magnetar. The spin-down rate of the pulsar almost doubled in <1 year and then decreased slowly to a more stable value. Its X-ray flux varied by approx, 50%, possibly correlated with the spin down rate. The 1-79 keV spectrum is well-characterized by an absorbed blackbody plus power-law model with an average temperature of kT=0.62+/-0.04 keV and photon index Gamma=0.92+/-0.16, or by a Comptonized blackbody with kT=0.55+/-0.04 keV and an additional hard power law with Gamma=0.70+/-0.20, In contrast with most magnetars, the pulsed signal is found to decrease with energy up to 6 keV, which is apparently caused by mixing with the hard spectral component that is pulse-phase shifted by approx. 0.43 cycles from the soft X-rays. We also analyze the spectrum of the nearby, diffuse nonthermal source XMMU J171410.8-381442, whose relation to the SNR is uncertain.

The General Anti-Particle Spectrometer (GAPS) project is being carried out to search for primary cosmic-ray antiparticles especially for antideuterons produced by cold dark matter. GAPS plans to realize the science observation by Antarctic long duration balloon flights in the late 2010s. In preparation for the Antarctic science flights, an engineering balloon flight using a prototype of the GAPS instrument, “pGAPS”, was successfully carried out in June 2012 in Japan to verify the basic performance of each GAPS subsystem. The outline of the pGAPS flight campaign is briefly reported.

The GAPS experiment is foreseen to carry out a dark matter search using a novel detection approach to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antideuterons.The theoretically predicted antideuteron flux resulting from secondary interactions of primary cosmic rays with the interstellar medium is very low.So far not a single cosmic antideuteron has been detected by any experiment, but well-motivated theories beyond the standard model of particle physics, e.g., supersymmetry or universal extra dimensions, contain viable dark matter candidates, which could led to a significant enhancement of the antideuteron flux due to self-annihilation of the dark matter particles.This flux contribution is believed to be especially large at small energies, which leads to a high discovery potential for GAPS.GAPS is designed to achieve its goals via a series of ultra-long duration balloon flights at high altitude in Antarctica, starting in 2014.The detector itself will consist of 13 planes of Si(Li) solid state detectors and a time of flight system.The low-energy antideuterons (< 0.3 GeV/n) will be slowed down in the Si(Li) material, replace a shell electron, and form an excited exotic atom.The atom will be deexcited by characteristic x-ray transitions and will end its life by forming an annihilation pion star.This unique event structure will allow for nearly background free detection.To prove the performance of the different detector components at stratospheric altitudes, a prototype flight will be conducted in 2011 from Taiki, Japan.

The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches that exploits cosmic antideuterons. GAPS complements existing and planned direct dark matter searches as well as other indirect techniques, probing a different and unique region of parameter space in a variety of proposed dark matter models. The GAPS method involves capturing antiparticles into a target material with the subsequent formation of an excited exotic atom. The exotic atom decays with the emission of atomic X-rays and pions from the nuclear annihilation, which uniquely identifies the captured antiparticle. This technique has been verified through the accelerator testing at KEK in 2004 and 2005. The prototype flight is scheduled from Hokkaido, Japan in 2011, preparatory for a long duration balloon flight from the Antarctic in 2014.

We discuss current progress and future plans for the general antiparticle spectrometer experiment (GAPS). GAPS detects antideuterons through the X-rays and pions emitted during the deexcitation of exotic atoms formed when the antideuterons are slowed down and stopped in targets. GAPS provides an exceptionally sensitive means to detect cosmic-ray antideuterons. Cosmic-ray antideuterons can provide indirect evidence for the existence of dark matter in such form as neutralinos or Kaluza–Klein particles. We describe results of accelerator testing of GAPS prototypes, tentative design concepts for a flight GAPS detector, and near-term plans for flying a GAPS prototype on a balloon.

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) exploits low energy antideuterons produced in neutralino-neutralino annihilations as an indirect dark matter (DM) signature that is effectively free from background. When an antiparticle is captured by a target material, it forms an exotic atom in an excited state which quickly decays by emitting X-rays of precisely defined energy and a correlated pion signature from nuclear annihilation. We have successfully demonstrated the GAPS method in an accelerator environment and are currently planning a prototype flight from Japan for 2009. This will lead to a long duration balloon (LDB) mission that will complement existing and planned direct DM searches as well as other indirect techniques, probing a different, and often unique, region of parameter space in a variety of proposed DM models. Planes of coarsely pixellated Si(Li) detectors form the heart of the GAPS flight detector, providing both high X-ray energy resolution and good particle tracking. We will describe the proto-flight mission that will verify the performance of our Si(Li) detectors and cooling system in a flight-like configuration. We also will outline the LDB science payload design.

We report on recent accelerator testing of a prototype general antiparticle spectrometer (GAPS). GAPS uses a novel approach for indirect dark matter searches that exploits the antideuterons produced in neutralino–neutralino annihilations. GAPS captures these antideuterons into a target with the subsequent formation of exotic atoms. These exotic atoms decay with the emission of x-rays of precisely defined energy and a correlated pion signature from nuclear annihilation. This signature uniquely characterizes the antideuterons. Preliminary analysis of data from a prototype GAPS in an antiproton beam at the KEK accelerator in Japan has confirmed the multiple x-ray/pion star topology and indicated x-ray yields consistent with prior expectations. Moreover, our success in utilizing solid rather than gas targets represents a significant simplification over our original approach and offers potential gains in sensitivity through reduced dead mass in the target area.

We report progress in developing a novel antimatter detection scheme. The gaseous antiparticle spectrometer (GAPS) identifies antimatter through the characteristic X-rays emitted by antimatter when it forms exotic atoms in gases. The approach provides large area and field of view, and excellent background rejection capability. If the GAPS concept is successfully demonstrated, then it would be an ideal candidate for space-based, indirect dark matter searches. GAPS can detect antideuterons produced in neutralino annihilations. A modest GAPS experiment can detect the neutralino for all minimal SUSY models in which the neutralino mass is in the 50-350 GeV mass range. Underground searches, by contrast, are only sensitive to about 1/2 the SUSY parameter space in this mass range.

Numerous reports have been made of features, in either emission or absorption, in the 10-1000 keV spectre of some gamma-ray bursts. Originally interpreted in the context of Galactic neutron star models as cyclotron line emission and e(+)-e(-) annihilation features, the recent demonstration that the majority of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) lie at cosmological distances makes these explanations unlikely. In this Letter, we adopt a relativistic fireball model for cosmological GRBs in which dense, metal-rich blobs or filaments of plasma are entrained in the relativistic outflow. In the context of this model, we investigate the conditions under which broadband features, similar to those detected, can be observed. We find a limited region of parameter space capable of reproducing the observed GRB spectra. Finally, we discuss possible constraints additional high-energy spectral observations could place on fireball model parameters.