WoU-MMA: Research & Development for the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO)

地球天文台收集数据，研究当今物理学和天文学中一些最具挑战性和最基本的问题。他们识别宇宙粒子加速器，研究星际介质，寻找遥远星系中暗物质的迹象，并测试爱因斯坦狭义相对论的极限。最近，美国国家科学基金会资助的墨西哥高海拔切伦科夫高海拔水切伦科夫天文台和中国的大型高海拔空气簇射天文台等广视场、高负载循环仪器在测量天空中的伽马射线方面取得了巨大成功。伽马射线是可见光光谱以外的高能光线。他们的观察导致了刚才提到的所有领域的发现。这些突破突显了地面设施在物理学和天文学中发挥的关键作用。该项目汇集了来自美国八个机构的科学家，为用于天体物理研究的下一代地面测量仪器--南方广域伽马射线天文台(SWGO)--进行研究和开发。SWGO将位于南半球，在那里它将拥有前所未有的伽马射线银河系中心区域的广域视野。这些美国机构是14个国家的70多家机构参与的全球合作的一部分，这些机构正在努力使SWGO成为现实。该项目将确保美国在这一地面天体物理学领域的领先地位。项目团队致力于提高物理学和天文学方面的包容性，并将利用SWGO将建在南美洲一个讲西班牙语的国家这一事实，以加强与美国拉美裔社区的联系。SWGO将几乎连续地在空间和时间域调查伽马射线天空，并与冰立方中微子天文台、激光干涉仪引力波天文台(LIGO)、室女座干涉仪、费米空间望远镜和切伦科夫望远镜阵列(CTA)等观测站协同工作。该设施将为可变信号源提供日常无偏监测，并向其他仪器提供近乎实时的警报。它的档案数据集将使人们能够在报告其他实验的警报之前和之后研究天空区域。对银河系附近最强大的粒子加速器的出色敏感性是SWGO的最大优势之一，并将使对PeVatrons的史无前例的研究进入银河系中心区域。为了实现这一点，需要确定最佳的观测站位置和探测器设计。在SWGO研发奖的支持下，该团队将调查南半球的地点，并在现有的HAWC天文台和最终选定的SWGO地点进行水切伦科夫探测器的端到端原型测试，包括电子和DAQ系统。由现实基准测试提供信息的高级模拟输出的产生将允许优化未来SWGO的科学产出。该奖项与NSF关于宇宙上的窗口：多信使天体物理时代的大想法保持一致，因为它使用广域探测方法协调了对非常高能量伽马射线的多信使观测的使用。该奖项反映了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。

Earthbound observatories collect data to investigate some of the most challenging and fundamental questions in physics and astronomy today. They identify cosmic particle accelerators, study the interstellar medium, search for signs of dark matter in distant galaxies, and test the limits of Einstein's theory of special relativity. Wide field-of-view, high-duty-cycle instruments like the NSF-funded High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in Mexico and the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) in China have recently had tremendous successes in surveying the sky for gamma-rays - high energy rays of light beyond the visible spectrum. Their observations have led to discoveries in all the areas just mentioned. These breakthroughs underscore the crucial role that ground-based facilities play in physics and astronomy. This project gathers scientists from eight US institutions to perform research and development (R&D) for a next-generation ground-based survey instrument for astrophysics research: The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO). The SWGO will be located in the Southern Hemisphere, where it will have an unprecedented wide-field view of the center region of our Galaxy for gamma rays. The U.S. institutions are part of a global collaboration involving more than 70 institutions in 14 countries that are working to make the SWGO a reality. The project will ensure U.S. leadership in this field of ground-based astrophysics. The project team is committed to increasing inclusive excellence in physics and astronomy and will leverage the fact that the SWGO will be built in a Spanish speaking country in South America, to enhance outreach to Hispanic communities in the U.S.The SWGO will almost continuously survey the gamma-ray sky in the space and time domain and provide synergies with observatories like the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the Virgo interferometer, the Fermi Space Telescope and the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The facility will provide daily unbiased monitoring for variable sources and near-real-time alerts to other instruments. Its archival data set will enable regions of the sky to be studied both before and after alerts from other experiments are reported. Excellent sensitivity to the most powerful particle accelerators in the local Galactic neighborhood is one of the greatest strengths of SWGO and will enable an unprecedented study of PeVatrons toward the Galactic center region. To achieve this, the optimal observatory site and detector design need to be identified. Supported by this SWGO R&D award the team will investigate Southern Hemisphere sites and perform end-to-end prototype tests of water Cherenkov detectors including electronics and DAQ systems at the existing HAWC Observatory and the ultimately selected SWGO site. The production of high-level simulation outputs that are informed by realistic benchmark tests will allow optimization of the science output of the future SWGO.The award is aligned with the NSF Big Idea of Windows on the Universe: the Era of Multi-messenger Astrophysics as it coordinates the use of multi-messenger observations of very high energy gamma rays using a wide-field detection approach.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.