RUI: Investigations of the Gamma Ray Detection Capabilitiesof Low Energy Threshold Air Cherenkov Telescopes

小行星9500231 伽马射线天文学涵盖非常广泛的能量范围，从几兆电子伏到超过一百兆电子伏。 目前，从20 GeV到200 GeV的临界能量区域无法观测。 在较低的能量下，伽马射线被卫星探测器观测到。 在较高能量下，地面探测器通过探测伽马射线穿过地球大气层产生的电磁级联发射的切伦科夫光，间接观测来自天体物理源的伽马射线。 卫星上的探测器观测到了高达约20 GeV的丰富的源。 能量阈值为200 GeV的地面探测器几乎看不到伽马射线源。 因此，中间区域是非常感兴趣的，下一代地基空气切伦科夫探测器的目标是降低进入该区域的能量阈值。 设计低能量阈值空气切伦科夫探测器的过程中，至关重要的是能够模拟探测器的灵敏度伽马射线诱导的空气簇射。 KASCADE模拟系统是一系列为模拟空气切伦科夫探测器系统而开发的计算机程序。 KASCADE系统模拟由于入射伽马射线和入射质子引起的空气簇射，生成相关切伦科夫光的模型，并测试特定望远镜设计对这些空气簇射的响应。 该系统可用于研究望远镜的能量阈值、通量灵敏度和伽玛射线与质子鉴别能力。 该研究计划的长期目标是开发一种低能量阈值空气切伦科夫探测器的设计。 该研究方案还将改进KASCADE系统，包括开发一种更“用户友好”的系统形式，分发给感兴趣的用户，对与伽马射线探测和鉴别有关的切伦科夫图像的性质进行几次小规模研究，并对目前现有和拟议的空气切伦科夫系统进行建模。 用于探测20 - 200 GeV区域伽马射线的低能量阈值地基切伦科夫空中望远镜将为宇宙打开一扇新的窗口。 如果有可能开发这种技术，一个低能量地面望远镜可以在不到十年的时间内设计，建造和运行。 相比之下，下一代星载探测器的开发时间更长，对伽马射线的探测不太可能达到50 GeV以上的能量。

9500231 Kertzman Gamma ray astronomy encompasses a very broad range of energies, from a few MeV to over one hundred TeV. Currently, the critical energy region from 20 GeV to 200 GeV is inaccessible to observation. At lower energies, gamma rays are observed with satellite borne detectors. At higher energies ground based detectors indirectly observe gamma rays, from astrophysical sources, by detecting the Cherenkov light emitted from the electromagnetic cascade which results from the passage of a gamma ray through the Earth's atmosphere. Satellite borne detectors observe an abundance of sources up to approximately 20 GeV. Groundbased detectors, with energy thresholds of 200 GeV see very few gamma ray sources. The intermediate region is therefore of extreme interest, and the goal of the next generation of ground based air Cherenkov detectors is to lower the energy threshold into this region. Essential to the process of designing a low energy threshold air Cherenkov detector is the ability to model the detectors sensitivity to gamma ray induced air showers. The KASCADE simulation system is a series of computer programs developed to model air Cherenkov detector systems. The KASCADE system simulates the air showers due to both incident gamma rays and incident protons, generates a model of the associated Cherenkov light, and tests the response of a specific telescope design to these air showers. The system can be used to study the energy threshold, flux sensitivity, and gamma ray versus proton discrimination power, of a telescope. The long term goal of the research program is to develop a design for a low energy threshold air Cherenkov detector. The research program will also make improvements to the KASCADE system, including developing a more "user friendly" form of the system to distribute to interested users, undertake several small scale studies of the properties of Cherenkov images related to the detection and discrimination of gamma rays, and model cur rently existing and proposed air Cherenkov systems. A low energy threshold ground based air Cherenkov telescope for detecting gamma rays in the region from 20 GeV to 200 GeV will open a new window to the universe. If it is possible to develop this technique, a low energy ground based telescope could be designed, built and operating in less than a decade. In contrast, the next generation of satellite borne detectors has a longer development timescale, and detection of gamma rays is unlikely to reach energies higher than 50 GeV.