Particle Astrophysics with VERITAS

使用 VERITAS 进行粒子天体物理学

• 批准号: 0354941
• 负责人: Rene Ong
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-04-01 至 2009-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0354941&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Particle; Astrophysics; VERITAS

This proposal is to support researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to participate in the VERITAS gamma-ray telescope project. VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) consists of four atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes presently under construction at a mountain site in southern Arizona. Mounted in the focal plane of each telescope is an array of fast light detecting sensors. VERITAS detects high-energy gamma rays from the products of their interactions in the atmosphere. A gamma-ray creates a shower of particles in the atmosphere, most of which are moving faster than the speed of light in air. These particles radiate Cherenkov light that propagates to the ground in a short flash. For very brief periods of time (few nanoseconds), this flash is brighter than the night sky background light, allowing VERITAS to detect them on clear, moonless nights.The field of very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy has been revolutionized in the last decade by discoveries made by NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory in space and by ground-based Cherenkov telescopes built with support from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. We have discovered many new sources that produce very high-energy radiation, including active galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, and pulsars. The energies in the detected gamma rays are comparable to or exceed the energies produced in man-made accelerators. Thus the astrophysics sources typically involve harnessing the enormous energies contained near black holes or energies produced in the explosions of massive stars. In spite of these exciting discoveries, however, there is still a great deal that we do not understand - for example, we do not fully understand how these extremely violent systems work, and to date only a few percent of the overhead sky has been surveyed with sensitivity.VERITAS represents a major step forward in our ability to detect and understand the sources of these very high-energy particles. The VERITAS array will be able to discover sources that are ten times fainter than previously detected. The fact that each Cherenkov shower will be viewed by multiple telescopes greatly improves the telescope's ability to determine the direction and energy of the incoming gamma ray. VERITAS' four telescopes will be constructed between 2003 and 2006. When completed, VERITAS will be the most sensitive instrument ever built for astronomy at these wavelengths. The UCLA group is playing a major role in the construction of VERITAS, participating in the development of the electronics to read out the telescope sensors and in the development of computer software to analyze the telescope data and to simulate the telescope performance. Our efforts will involve both graduate students and postdoctoral research associates. In addition, UCLA will have a major involvement in the VERITAS Outreach Program, which is currently under development.

该提案旨在支持加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）的研究人员参与VERITAS伽玛射线望远镜项目。VERITAS（高能辐射成像望远镜阵列系统）由四个大气切伦科夫望远镜组成，目前正在亚利桑那州南部的一个山区建造。每台望远镜的焦平面上都安装了一组快速光探测传感器。VERITAS从它们在大气中相互作用的产物中检测高能伽马射线。伽马射线会在大气中产生粒子雨，其中大多数粒子的运动速度比空气中的光速还快。这些粒子辐射出切伦科夫光，在短时间内传播到地面。在很短的时间内（几纳秒），这种闪光比夜空背景光更亮，使VERITAS能够在晴朗无月的夜晚探测到它们。在过去的十年里，由于美国宇航局康普顿太空伽马射线天文台和在国家科学基金会和能源部的支持下建造的地面切伦科夫望远镜的发现，高能伽马射线天文学领域发生了革命性的变化。我们已经发现了许多产生高能辐射的新来源，包括活动星系、伽马射线暴、超新星遗迹和脉冲星。探测到的伽马射线的能量与人造加速器产生的能量相当或超过。因此，天体物理源通常涉及利用黑洞附近的巨大能量或大质量恒星爆炸产生的能量。然而，尽管有了这些令人兴奋的发现，我们仍有很多不了解的地方——例如，我们并不完全了解这些极端剧烈的星系是如何工作的，而且迄今为止，我们只对头顶天空的百分之几进行了敏感的调查。VERITAS代表着我们探测和理解这些高能粒子来源的能力向前迈出了一大步。VERITAS阵列将能够发现比以前探测到的微弱十倍的光源。每个切伦科夫流星雨都将被多个望远镜观测，这一事实极大地提高了望远镜确定入射伽马射线方向和能量的能力。VERITAS的四台望远镜将在2003年到2006年间建成。一旦完成，VERITAS将成为有史以来为这些波长的天文学建造的最灵敏的仪器。加州大学洛杉矶分校小组在VERITAS的建设中发挥了重要作用，参与了读取望远镜传感器的电子设备的开发，以及用于分析望远镜数据和模拟望远镜性能的计算机软件的开发。我们的工作将涉及研究生和博士后研究人员。此外，加州大学洛杉矶分校将主要参与VERITAS外展计划，该计划目前正在开发中。