Particle and Gamma-Ray Astrophysics with HAWC/VERITAS (Utah Group Grant)

伽马射线是电磁辐射中能量最高的形式。对天体物理伽马射线的观测是对整个宇宙中最极端环境中的物理条件和过程的探测，可以用来测试基础物理学。该奖项支持犹他大学的科学家利用两个互补的地面天文台进行伽马射线天体物理学研究。位于亚利桑那州南部的高能辐射成像望远镜阵列系统（VERITAS）旨在通过非常灵敏的定点观测来研究高能伽马射线。位于墨西哥内格拉山脉山坡上的高空水切伦科夫（HAWC）天文台是一个连续运行的阵列，视野广阔，每天可以观测到三分之二的高能伽马射线天空。犹他大学小组将为VERITAS和HAWC的操作和维护做出贡献，并与FERMI卫星伽马射线天文台一起分析和解释来自这两个天文台的科学数据。通过他们在新成立的黑暗天空研究联盟中的领导作用，该小组将发展天文学和地球科学之间的跨学科联系，以及城市规划和经济发展。该小组将继续并扩大他们现有的教育和推广活动，通过为小型文理学院的物理学本科生提供研究机会的研究实习，通过组织年度SNOWPAC系列会议和美国物理学会四角分会会议，以及举办一次关于黑暗天空科学的会议。犹他大学的研究小组将使用最近开发的漫射分析技术和多波长分析来研究星系双星系统LS I +61 303和Swift J0243.6+6124的特性，并解决假定的星系微类星体SS433的探测问题。该小组将用这些分析技术重新处理新的和存档的VERITAS观测结果，以寻找最近HAWC观测结果中提出的一类新的高度扩展的高能伽玛射线源。研究人员将把多波长分析应用到FERMI-VERITAS-HAWC联合观测中，以大大改善点源和漫射源的源定位和能谱约束。该奖项支持在理解高能水平μ子起源方面的额外工作，这些μ子是由广泛的空气阵雨产生的，对高能宇宙射线的组成和起源很敏感。该奖项还支持使用VERITAS天文台的恒星强度干涉测量仪器对30颗附近恒星进行首次可见光波段光学成像。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Gamma-rays are the highest energy form of electromagnetic radiation. Observations of astrophysical gamma-rays serve as probes of physical conditions and processes in the most extreme environments throughout the Universe and can be used to test fundamental physics. This award supports scientists at the University of Utah to carry out gamma-ray astrophysics research using two complementary ground-based observatories. The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), located in southern Arizona, is designed to study high energy gamma-rays with very sensitive pointed observations. The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, located on the slopes of the Sierra Negra in Mexico, is a continuously-operating array with a wide field of view that can observe two-thirds of the high energy gamma-ray sky every day. The University of Utah group will contribute to the operation and maintenance of VERITAS and HAWC and work on analysis and interpretation of the scientific data from both observatories in conjunction with the FERMI satellite gamma-ray observatory. Through their leadership role in the newly formed Consortium for Dark Sky Studies the group will develop interdisciplinary connections between astronomy, and earth sciences, as well as urban planning and economic development. The group will continue and expand their existing education and outreach activities through research internships designed to bring research opportunities to physics undergraduate students in small liberal arts colleges, through the organization of the yearly SNOWPAC conference series and the meeting of the four-Corners Section of the American Physical Society, and by hosting a conference on dark skies science. The University of Utah group will use recently developed diffuse analysis techniques and multi-wavelength analyses to study the properties of galactic binary systems LS I +61 303 and Swift J0243.6+6124 and to resolve the putative detection of galactic microquasar SS433. The group will reprocess both new and archival VERITAS observations with these analysis techniques to search for a new class of highly-extended high energy gamma-ray sources that have been suggested by recent HAWC observations. The researchers will apply the multi-wavelength analyses to joint FERMI-VERITAS-HAWC observations to substantially improve source localization and energy spectrum constraints on point and diffuse sources. This award supports additional work on understanding the origin of high energy horizontal muons created by extensive air showers that are sensitive to high energy cosmic ray composition and origin. This award also supports first visible band optical imaging of 30 nearby stars using stellar intensity interferometry instrumentation at the VERITAS observatory.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.