WoU-MMA: The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO): R&D for a Next-Generation Ground-Based Survey Instrument for Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy

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With the successful development of facilities for the detection of neutrinos and gravitational waves, as well as the deployment of next-generation gamma-ray detectors, the next decade will provide a wealth of opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory is an extremely successful survey instrument, and has inspired an ambitious Chinese effort, but that will also be sited in the northern hemisphere. This project will be carrying out the essential research and development needed for a next-generation ground-based survey instrument in the southern hemisphere: the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO). The work also contributes to maintaining US leadership in ground-based gamma-ray instruments. The team is committed to increasing the diversity and excellence of the STEM workforce, and will continue efforts to provide a path for predominantly African-American students to continue to graduate school in physics and astronomy. SWGO will be built in a Spanish speaking country, which will enhance outreach to Hispanic communities.A survey instrument provides daily unbiased monitoring for variable sources, as well as near-real-time alerts to other instruments, and the wide field makes it sensitive to particle accelerators in the local Galactic neighborhood. The detection of very extended TeV gamma-ray emission around nearby pulsars is interpreted as halos of gamma rays that are produced by electrons and positrons interacting with the ambient interstellar radiation field outside the classical pulsar wind nebulae. SWGO will be ideally suited to study the acceleration and propagation of particles within them in unprecedented detail. It will also enable studies of the galactic center region and uniquely contribute to the search for and study of sources of cosmic rays with energies in excess of 1 PeV. All gamma-ray data will be made publicly available. Supported by this initial SWGO award the team will focus on detector simulation, air shower data reconstruction algorithm development, and electronics design.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.