WoU-MMA: High-Energy Astrophysics with VERITAS and Towards Realization of CTA

成像大气切伦科夫望远镜（IACTs），如美国亚利桑那州弗雷德劳伦斯惠普尔天文台的高能辐射成像望远镜阵列系统（VERITAS），在过去十年中彻底改变了我们对宇宙中高能现象的理解。在此期间，这些仪器发现和研究的高能伽马射线源的目录从少数几个增加到近250个，涵盖了各种各样的天体物理环境。除了阐明加速机制和星系源中产生宇宙射线的爆炸现象，活动星系核的工作原理，以及产生星系和恒星磁场的星系间磁场的强度，这些仪器对快速瞬变事件表现出卓越的瞬时灵敏度，能够研究时域高能天体物理学和由协调的多信使观测实现的新科学。该奖项支持加州大学洛杉矶分校的科学家利用VERTIAS进行研究。该奖励计划将提供对pev尺度宇宙射线的银河系源群的更好理解，对扩展源（超新星遗迹，脉冲星风星云和银河系中心区域）的研究，以及利用极端耀变体作为弱星系间磁场的探测器。该奖项将支持研究生和博士后研究人员的培训和指导，为当地高中生提供推广和教育，并包括增强μ子猎人公民科学计划。该团队还将继续为下一代IACTS提供公认的领导，包括原型史瓦西-库德望远镜和切伦科夫望远镜阵列。VERITAS是一个由4个直径12米的大气切伦科夫望远镜组成的阵列，每个望远镜的成像视野为3.5度。VERITAS采用的立体视觉技术实现了80 GeV的低能量阈值，具有较强的背景抑制能力，具有出色的角度分辨率和良好的能量分辨率。宽视场和高角度分辨率观测能力的发展，使得探测天体物理环境中可能产生强子相互作用（宇宙射线和高能中微子）的潜在pev尺度加速区域的复杂形态成为可能，在这些区域，多信使观测对源研究至关重要。此外，对银河系中心区域的专门观测将提供以下方面的改进知识：中心源的光谱，加强加速模型的发展；在银河系中心晕中寻找暗物质的自我湮灭，那里来自常规天体物理源的伽马射线污染较低。这个项目推进了NSF宇宙大构想窗口的目标。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。

Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), like the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona, USA, have revolutionized our understanding of high-energy phenomena in the Universe over the last decade. The catalog of sources of very high-energy gamma radiation discovered and studied by these instruments has grown from a handful to nearly 250 over that period and cover a wide variety of astrophysical environments. In addition to elucidating acceleration mechanisms and explosive phenomena in Galactic sources that give rise to cosmic rays, the workings of active galactic nuclei, and the strength of the intergalactic magnetic field that gave rise to the magnetic fields of galaxies and stars, the instruments have demonstrated excellent instantaneous sensitivity for rapid transient events enabling the study of time-domain very high-energy astrophysics and the new science enabled by coordinated multi-messenger observations. This award supports scientists at the University of California-Los Angeles performing research with VERTIAS. The award program will provide improved understanding of populations of the Galactic sources of PeV-scale cosmic rays, studies of extended sources (supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and the Galactic Center region), and utilizing extreme blazars as probes of the weak intergalactic magnetic field. The award will support the training and mentoring of graduate student and postdoctoral researchers, provide outreach and education to local high school students, and includes enhancements to the Muon Hunter Citizen Science program. The team will also provide continued recognized leadership for the next generation IACTS, including the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope and the Cherenkov Telescope Array. VERITAS is an array of four 12m diameter atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, each with an imaging field of view of 3.5 degrees. The stereoscopic viewing technique employed by VERITAS achieves a low-energy threshold of 80 GeV, strong background rejection, and excellent angular resolution and good energy resolution. The development of wide-field and high angular resolution observation capabilities has made it possible to probe complex morphology in potential PeV-scale accelerating regions of astrophysical environments likely to produce hadronic interactions (cosmic rays and high-energy neutrinos) and where multi-messenger observations are essential to source studies. In addition, dedicated observations of the Galactic Centre region will provide improved knowledge of: the spectrum of the central source that enhance the development of acceleration models, and; the search for dark matter self-annihilation in the Galactic Center halo where the gamma-ray contamination from conventional astrophysical sources is low. 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.