Star-Forming Galaxy Search with Fermi-LAT

Galaxies having a high star-formation rate are predicted to generate high-energy cosmic rays, which produce gamma-rays when they interact with the interstellar medium and radiation fields. In this paper, we search for gamma-ray emission from a group of galaxies within and beyond the Local Group with the Large Area Telescope, the main scientific instrument on the Fermi satellite. We exclude from the search recently detected galaxies (NGC 253, M82, NGC 4945, NGC 1068, NGC 2146, Arp 220). We use seven years of "Pass 8" LAT data from 100 MeV to 100 GeV to constrain the population properties, and eight years of "Pass 8" LAT data for the three galaxies with highest probability of detection (M33, M83, NGC 3690). No new detections are found, and upper limits for the gamma-ray luminosities are calculated.