WoU-MMA: Multi-Messenger and Multi-Wavelength Particle Astrophysics with HAWC

伽马射线是电磁辐射的最高能量形式。 对天体物理学伽马射线的观测可以作为整个宇宙中最极端环境中的物理条件和过程的探测器，并可用于测试基础物理学。 位于墨西哥Sierra Negra山坡上的高海拔水切伦科夫（HAWC）天文台是一个地面设施，具有观测极高能量伽马射线的独特能力。 该奖项支持密歇根州立大学的科学家使用HAWC进行研究。 除了支持HAWC操作的活动外，该小组还将使用HAWC数据探索极端物理环境中粒子的起源和加速。 他们还将使用HAWC观测来搜索IceCube中微子天文台探测到的高能中微子的伽马射线对应物。 该小组将从事教育和公众宣传活动，包括在密歇根州立大学艾布拉姆斯天文馆安装HAWC展览。HAWC是一个视野广阔，连续运行的天文台。 与传统的地面望远镜不同，HAWC能够在晴朗的夜晚指向天空的一小部分区域，能够研究非常广泛的伽马射线发射区域，并几乎连续地监测随时间变化的现象。 密歇根州立大学小组将利用这些能力，编制一份随时间变化的伽马射线源目录，并寻找与冰立方中微子天文台记录的高能中微子事件和费米伽马射线太空望远镜记录的低能伽马射线发射的相关性。 该小组还将对来自银河系中心周围扩展晕的暗物质信号进行搜索。 这项工作直接解决了NSF的“宇宙之窗：多信使天体物理学时代”的目标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为值得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来支持。

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. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory, located on the slopes of the Sierra Negra in Mexico, is a ground-based facility designed with unique capabilities to observe very high-energy gamma rays. This award supports scientists at Michigan State University doing research with HAWC. In addition to activities in support of HAWC operations, the group will use HAWC data to explore the origin and acceleration of particles in extreme physical environments. They will also use HAWC observations to search for gamma-ray counterparts of high-energy neutrinos detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The group will engage in education and public outreach activities, including installing a HAWC exhibit at the Michigan State University Abrams Planetarium.HAWC is a wide field of view, continuously operating observatory. Unlike more traditional ground-based telescopes that point at a small region of sky on clear nights, HAWC has the ability to study very extended regions of gamma-ray emission and to nearly-continuously monitor time-varying phenomena. The Michigan State University group will capitalize on these abilities by compiling a catalog of time-varying gamma-ray sources and looking for correlations with high-energy neutrino events recorded by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and lower energy gamma-ray emission recorded by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The group will also conduct a search for dark matter signals coming from the extended halo around the Galactic Center. This work directly addresses the goals of NSF's "Windows on the Universe: The Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics" Big Idea.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.