Optimising the design of water-Cherenkov detectors for gamma-ray astronomy

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When a high-energy gamma ray enters the atmosphere it initiates the production of a particle cascade commonly known as an extensive air shower. The particles in these air showers can be recorded with arrays of particle detectors. Currently, gamma-ray observatories are surveying successfully the northern hemisphere using this technique (most notably HAWC), but no such facility exists in the south. This type of observatory is characterised by its wide field-of-view and deep high-energy exposure, making it ideal to observe the galactic centre and the large emission regions like the Fermi-Bubbles (both in the southern sky). The objective of this proposal is to optimise the design of a water-Cherenkov detection unit, which is the fundamental building block of a future observatory to be built in South America at a high altitude site. This proposal is a cooperation between the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik in Heidelberg (MPIK) and the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) at the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. The outcome of this proposal will be a crucial contribution the final design of the Southern Wide field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory, but can also be generalised to other applications using water-Cherenkov detectors.