https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11246-y
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Multi-TeV photons from GRB 221009A: uncertainty of optical depth considered
1
Department of Applied Physics, College of Science, China Agricultural University, Qinghua East Road, 100083, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
2
CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
3
Theoretical Physics Division, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
4
School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Received:
7
November
2022
Accepted:
22
January
2023
Published online:
30
January
2023
It is reported that the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) observed thousands of very-high-energy photons up to 18 TeV from GRB 221009A. We study the survival rate of these photons via considering the fact that they are absorbed by the extragalactic background light. By performing a set of
Monte-Carlo simulations, we explore the parameter space allowed by current observations and estimate the probability of predicting that LHAASO detects at least one photon of 18 TeV from GRB 221009A. We find that the standard physics is compatible with the observations of 18 TeV photons within
confidence interval. Our research method can be straightforwardly generalized to study more data sets of LHAASO and other experiments in the future.
© The Author(s) 2023
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