Different concepts of next generation IACT arrays

Bugaev, V.

doi:doi:10.5194/astra-7-53-2011

Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans., 7, 53-59, 2011
www.astrophys-space-sci-trans.net/7/53/2011/
doi:10.5194/astra-7-53-2011
© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Volume 7, issue 1

07 Feb 2011

Different concepts of next generation IACT arrays
V. Bugaev
Physics Department, Washington University, St Louis, USA

Received: 25 Nov 2010 – Accepted: 15 Dec 2010 – Published: 07 Feb 2011

Abstract. Having matured over a few decades, the IACT technique is now ready to widen its energy domain as well as to increase sensitivity in its core region (0.1–50 TeV) by as much as one order of magnitude as compared to existing facilities. This will allow to use γ astronomy to search for dark matter, probe intergalactic space and quantum gravity as well as to make efficient observations of extended sources.

The design of a new-generation IACT array is motivated by the key science questions to be addressed and constrained by the cost of the experiment. A number of performance characteristics impact the scientific capabilities, not just point-source sensitivity, but also field-of-view, angular resolution, energy threshold and others, and the optimization of the parameters at fixed cost defines the approach to simulation studies.

In this paper, I will highlight IACT array design studies carried through to optimize the array configuration, optical and mechanical designs as well as possible designs for telescope cameras.

Citation: Bugaev, V.: Different concepts of next generation IACT arrays, Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans., 7, 53-59, doi:10.5194/astra-7-53-2011, 2011.

Astrophysics and Space Sciences Transactions

An Open Access Journal of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Extraterrestrische Forschung e.V.