WoU-MMA: Astrophysics with Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays

WoU-MMA：极高能伽马射线的天体物理学

• 批准号: 2011420
• 负责人: David Williams
• 金额: $ 65.55万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2011420&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: WoU; MMA; Astrophysics; Very; Energy

High-energy gamma-rays are used to study the most extreme objects in the Universe, such as pulsars, black holes at the center of active galaxies, and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Cosmic gamma-rays can also reveal new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. This award supports continued research by this group, using the VERITAS telescope array in southern Arizona to study very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays. The work will also use the novel prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (pSCT), which images atmospheric showers much more precisely, and serves as a pathfinder towards the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The growing data sets and new machine-learning tools developed by this research will allow for better sensitivity than ever before. Graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, many from underrepresented groups, will continue to participate in this research. Curiosity about the Universe creates many opportunities to engage public interest and, often, participation, and this study includes setting up a new citizen science project for the classification of shower images from the pSCT.The most powerful VHE sources are believed to emit narrow jets of high-energy particles, but how the jets form and what processes occur in them are still uncertain and a major focus of this project. Active galactic nuclei (AGN) of the BL Lac variety are the largest such class of VHE source, and this work will study these and other AGN types to isolate key features related to VHE emission. The research will also tackle the continuing puzzle of GRBs, the most powerful objects in the Universe but of only fleeting existence. These measurements probe properties of the jets, such as the size of the emission region and strength of the magnetic field, helping to reveal how the acceleration works. The data will also be used to study gamma-ray absorption by collisions with the extragalactic background light, testing not just cosmological models but also Lorentz invariance.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.

高能伽马射线被用来研究宇宙中最极端的物体，如恒星、活跃星系中心的黑洞和伽马射线暴（GRB）。 宇宙伽马射线还可以揭示粒子物理学和宇宙学标准模型之外的新物理学。 该奖项支持该小组继续进行研究，使用亚利桑那州南部的VERITAS望远镜阵列研究甚高能（VHE）伽马射线。 这项工作还将使用新型原型Schwarzschild-Couder望远镜（pSCT），它可以更精确地成像大气簇射，并作为未来切伦科夫望远镜阵列（CTA）的探路者。 这项研究开发的不断增长的数据集和新的机器学习工具将允许比以往任何时候都更好的灵敏度。 研究生，本科生和高中生，许多来自代表性不足的群体，将继续参与这项研究。 关于宇宙的好奇心创造了许多机会，吸引公众的兴趣，往往，参与，这项研究包括建立一个新的公民科学项目的分类淋浴图像从pSCT。最强大的VHE源被认为是发射窄喷流的高能粒子，但如何形成喷流和发生什么过程中，他们仍然是不确定的，这个项目的一个主要焦点。 BL Lac型活动星系核（AGN）是此类VHE源中最大的，这项工作将研究这些和其他类型的AGN，以分离与VHE发射相关的关键特征。 该研究还将解决伽玛射线暴的持续难题，伽玛射线暴是宇宙中最强大的物体，但存在时间短暂。 这些测量探测了喷流的特性，例如发射区域的大小和磁场的强度，有助于揭示加速是如何工作的。 这些数据还将用于研究与河外背景光碰撞产生的伽马射线吸收，不仅检验宇宙学模型，还检验洛伦兹不变性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

项目成果

An Archival Search for Neutron-star Mergers in Gravitational Waves and Very-high-energy Gamma Rays

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac0623
• 发表时间: 2021-06
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: C. Adams;W. Benbow;A. Brill;J. Buckley;M. Capasso;J. Christiansen;A. Chromey;M. Daniel;M. Errando;A. Falcone;K. A. Farrell;Q. Feng;J. Finley;L. Fortson;A. Furniss;A. Gent;C. Giuri;D. Hanna;T. Hassan;O. Hervet;J. Holder;G. Hughes;T. Humensky;W. Jin;P. Kaaret;M. Kertzman;D. Kieda;S. Kumar;M. Lang;M. Lundy;G. Maier;C. McGrath;P. Moriarty;R. Mukherjee;D. Nieto;M. Nievas-Rosillo;S. O’Brien;R. Ong;A. Otte;N. Park;S. Patel;K. Pfrang;M. Pohl;R. Prado;E. Pueschel;J. Quinn;K. Ragan;P. Reynolds;D. Ribeiro;E. Roache;J. Ryan;M. Santander;G. Sembroski;R. Shang;A. Weinstein;D. Williams;T. Williamson;I. Bartos;K. Corley;S. M'arka;Z. Márka;D. Veske

Panoramic SETI: program update and high-energy astrophysics applications

• DOI: 10.1117/12.2630772
• 发表时间: 2022-08
• 作者: J. Maire;S. Wright;J. Holder;David P. Anderson;W. Benbow;Aaron M. Brown;Maren Cosens;Gregory Foote;W. Hanlon;O. Hervet;P. Horowitz;A. Howard;Ryan Lee;Wei Liu;R. Raffanti;Nicolas Rault-Wang;R. Stone;D. Werthimer;James Wiley;D. Williams

New jet feature in the parsec-scale jet of the blazar OJ 287 connected to the 2017 teraelectronvolt flaring activity

与 2017 年太电子伏特耀斑活动相关的 Blazar OJ 287 秒差距级喷流中的新喷流特征

• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142948
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• 影响因子: 6.5
• 作者: Lico, R.;Casadio, C.;Jorstad, S. G.;Gómez, J. L.;Marscher, A. P.;Traianou, E.;Kim, J.-Y.;Zhao, G.-Y.;Fuentes, A.;Cho, I.
• 通讯作者: Cho, I.

VERITAS Observations of the Galactic Center Region at Multi-TeV Gamma-Ray Energies

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abf926
• 发表时间: 2021-04
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: J. Ryan

VERITAS Discovery of Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from S3 1227+25 and Multiwavelength Observations

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acd2d0
• 发表时间: 2023-05
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: A. Acharyya;C. Adams;A. Archer;P. Bangale;W. Benbow;A. Brill;J. Christiansen;A. Chromey;M. Errando;A. Falcone;Q. Feng;J. Finley;G. Foote;L. Fortson;A. Furniss;G. Gallagher;W. Hanlon;D. Hanna;O. Hervet;C. Hinrichs;J. Hoang;J. Holder;Weidong Jin;Madalyn Johnson;P. Kaaret;M. Kertzman;D. Kieda;T. Kleiner;N. Korzoun;F. Krennrich;Mark Lang;Matt Lundy;G. Maier;Conor McGrath;M. Millard;J. Millis;Connor Mooney;P. Moriarty;R. Mukherjee;S. O’Brien;R. Ong;M. Pohl;E. Pueschel;J. Quinn;K. Ragan;Paul Reynolds;D. Ribeiro;E. Roache;I. Sadeh;A. Sadun;L. Saha;M. Santander;G. Sembroski;R. Shang;M. Splettstoesser;A. Talluri;J. Tucci;V. Vassiliev;David Williams;S. Wong;T. Hovatta;S. Jorstad;S. Kiehlmann;A. Lahteenmaki;I. Liodakis;A. Marscher;W. Max-Moerbeck;A. Readhead;R. Reeves;Paul S. Smith;M. Tornikoski