STACEE: Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Between 50 and 1000 GeV

加州大学洛杉矶分校一个小组的这项提案要求提供资金，以支持最近完成的Stacee地面大气-切伦科夫望远镜阵列的运行。Stacee在桑迪亚国家实验室的国家太阳热试验设施太阳能发电站使用了一组大型定日镜；这些定日镜将空气簇射的切伦科夫光聚焦到部署在太阳能阵列中央塔的二次光学和摄像系统上。Stacee的目标是对能量在50到1000 GeV之间的天体物理伽马射线进行高分辨率观测，这是以前未曾探索过的光谱的一部分。高能伽马射线可以在中子星、超新星、活动星系和伽马射线爆发中产生。它们也可能是超越粒子物理和宇宙学标准模型的新物理学的标志。随着新的Flash ADC的增加，Stacee的构建现在基本上完成了，实验已经采集了几年的数据。这项合作已经观测到了两个来源，蟹状星云和活跃的马卡瑞安421星系，并对其他来源设定了限制。加州大学洛杉矶分校小组与桑迪亚实验室谈判和维护用户设施协议，并负责NSTTF站点的所有Stacee操作。在教育/推广领域，这个粒子天体物理实验可能会通过各种技术创新影响社会，并参与K-12学生和REU暑期学生的推广工作。

This proposal from a UCLA group requests funds to support the operation of the recently completed STACEE ground-based atmospheric air-Cherenkov telescope array. STACEE uses an array of 64 large heliostats in the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) solar power station at Sandia National Laboratory; these heliostats focus Cherenkov light from air-showers onto secondary optics and camera systems deployed in the central tower of the solar array. The goals of STACEE are to make high-resolution observations of astrophysical gamma-rays of energies between 50 and 1000 GeV region, a part of the spectrum previously unexplored. High-energy gamma-rays can be produced in neutron stars, supernovae, active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. They could also be signatures for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology. With the addition of new Flash ADC's, the construction of STACEE is now essentially complete and the experiment has been taking data for a couple of years. The collaboration has observed two sources, the Crab Nebula and the active galaxy Markarian 421, and has set limits on other sources. The UCLA group negotiates and maintains the user facility agreement with Sandia Labs and is responsible for all STACEE operations at the NSTTF site.In the education/outreach area, this particle astrophysics experiment may impact society through various technological innovations and is also involved in outreach efforts to K-12 students and summer REU students.