WoU-MMA: Particle Astrophysics with HAWC

伽马射线是电磁辐射的最高能量形式，其天体物理观测为研究宇宙中极端天体物理环境的过程提供了手段。位于墨西哥内格拉山脉的高海拔水切伦科夫(HAWC)天文台是一台高灵敏度、大视场、连续工作的太电子伏伽马射线望远镜。HAWC旨在探索宇宙射线的起源，研究极端物理环境中粒子的加速，并在TeV尺度及更高的尺度上寻找新的物理。该奖项支持马里兰大学(UMD)学院园区的科学家与HAWC天文台一起操作和执行数据分析。HAWC数据将被用来提供对TeV天空的新看法，发现新的源和源类，设置暗物质的新限制，并在多信使/多波长观测中发挥关键作用。该团队将参与指导活动，包括UMD毕业生地图计划，为当地HBCU和社区学院的学生创造研究机会，并与教育机构广泛接触，从小学生到本科生，再到美国和墨西哥的老年人。HAWC天文台由300个大型水切伦科夫探测器(WCD)组成，周围环绕着位于墨西哥海拔4100米的350个较小WCD的外伸支腿阵列。HAWC的宽视场和超过95%的正常运行时间同时监测费米、LIGO/处女座和冰立方观测到的同一天空，以寻找伽马射线爆发和耀斑活动星系核等瞬时现象。HAWC向其他观测者发送警报，触发多波长和多信使观测，并向其他天文台提供TeV天空地图。HAWC对极高能量源的发现，如银河系PeVatrons、TeV Halow、微类星体和天鹅座蚕茧，导致了其他小组的后续观测。HAWC数据分析的改进将提供详细的源形态和光谱，从而发现新的源并加强搜索，提高对更高能量下的瞬变现象的敏感性。这个项目推进了NSF宇宙大理想之窗的目标。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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, and their astrophysical observation provides the means to study the processes of extreme astrophysical environments in the Universe. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, located in the Sierra Negra in Mexico, is a high-sensitivity, wide field-of-view, continuously operating teraelectronvolt (TeV) gamma-ray telescope. HAWC is designed to explore the origin of cosmic rays, study the acceleration of particles in extreme physical environments, and search for new physics at the TeV-scale and beyond. This award supports scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park, in operating and performing data analyses with the HAWC observatory. HAWC data will be used to provide a new look at the TeV sky, discovering new sources and source classes, setting new limits on dark matter, and playing a key role in multi-messenger/multi-wavelength observations. The team will participate in mentoring activities, including the UMD GRAD-MAP program, creating research opportunities for students from local HBCUs and community colleges, and broad outreach with educational institutions from elementary school students, to undergraduate students, to senior citizens in the US and Mexico. The HAWC observatory consists of 300 large water Cherenkov detectors (WCDs) surrounded by an outrigger array of 350 smaller WCDS located at an altitude of 4100 m in Mexico. HAWC’s wide field-of-view and greater than 95% up-time simultaneously monitors the same sky observed by Fermi, LIGO/Virgo, and IceCube to search for transient phenomena like gamma-ray bursts and flaring active galactic nuclei. HAWC sends alerts to other observers, triggering multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations, as well as provides maps of the TeV sky to other observatories. HAWC’s discoveries of extremely high-energy sources, such as galactic PeVatrons, TeV Halows, microquasars, and the Cygnus Cocoon, have led to follow-up observations by other groups. Improvements in the HAWC data analyses will provide detailed source morphology and spectra, leading to the discovery of new sources and enhanced searches with improved sensitivity to transient phenomena at higher energies. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe 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.