MRI-R2 Consortium: Development of Improved Instrumentation for the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). It will provide funds to improve the capabilities of the VERITAS Gamma-Ray Observatory. Located at the F.L Whipple Observatory near Amado, AZ, the VERITAS Observatory is one of only three ground-based gamma-ray observatories in the world with sensitivity at the level of 1% of the Crab Nebula flux, and the only such facility available to U.S. researchers. VERITAS consists of an array of four, 12-meter diameter Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, which record the faint flashes of Cherenkov light resulting from the interactions of Very High Energy gamma rays in the Earth's atmosphere.The three proposed upgrades will substantially enhance every VERITAS science goal. The primary outcomes will be to lower the energy threshold of VERITAS and improve its sensitivity:- Camera Upgrade: replacing the photo-detectors in the VERITAS cameras with more efficient, super-bialkali devices will increase the overall Cherenkov photon collection efficiency by 50%, equivalent to increasing the mirror diameters to more than 14 m, but at a substantially lower cost;- Trigger Upgrade: replacing the telescope-level trigger system with a more sophisticated, FPGA-based device will allow faster coincidence windows and provide a path toward a future topological array-level trigger;- Optical Monitoring/ Intensity Interferometry Upgrade: equipping the telescopes with a fast central photodetector with continuous high speed data acquisition will enable photometric, timing, and interferometric measurements of sources in the optical (U/V) bands. This brings a unique scientific capability that does not exist on any other ground-based gamma-ray observatory. The broader impacts of this proposal include strengthening the VERITAS Collaboration's Education and Outreach programs. Additional activities include the University of Utah's vigorous undergraduate research program and initiatives, led by the Adler Planetarium, to develop interactive visualization tools which explain and illustrate the very high energy Universe to a broad audience.