Niebla: an open-source code for modeling the extragalactic background light

Abstract

The flux of extragalactic gamma rays is attenuated through interactions with optical and infrared photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL). The EBL is an isotropic, diffuse photon field that is difficult to measure directly at these wavelengths due to strong foreground emission. We present niebla, the first open-source code to compute the EBL from optical to far-infrared wavelengths using a phenomenological approach that accepts fully customizable inputs. This software enables a detailed modeling of the influence of EBL optical depth on gamma-ray observations and facilitates the distinction between different dust reemission models. The code models the optical background primarily from stellar emission, by evolving the spectrum of a single stellar population as a function of redshift, considering mean metallicity evolution and star formation rate density. Additional sources to the EBL can be provided by the user. The code already includes optional contributions from, e.g., stripped stars, intra-halo light, or the decay of axion dark matter. The optical emissivity is then absorbed by interstellar dust and reemitted in the infrared regime. We provide multiple prescriptions to model this process, using spectral dust templates or a combination of blackbodies. We provide three EBL models calculated with different dust reemission prescriptions, which have been fitted to various observational data sets. In addition, we showcase the versatility of our model through a simulated observation of the blazar Markarian 501 in a high-flux state with the LHAASO array. We find that the simulated VHE spectrum is highly sensitive to the photon density of the EBL at infrared wavelengths. Our model will therefore allow the community to distinguish between different dust reemission models and constrain EBL parameters with future observations.