Particle Astrophysics with Milagro

这项提案要求提供资金，以支持马里兰大学小组参与米拉格罗实验。这种探测器是一种新型的水-切伦科夫，广泛的空气簇射探测器，旨在观察来自太空中高能物体的超高能伽马射线。该探测器位于新墨西哥州洛斯阿拉莫斯附近，海拔2630米。它由一个约5000平方米的中央池塘探测器组成，周围环绕着一组175个仪表水箱(支腿)，面积约为40,000平方米。它是对地面大气切伦科夫望远镜(ACTS)的补充，它通过观察ACTS不能在哪里和何时进行，并通过在高能下拥有更大的有效区域来补充卫星实验。这些特性使其成为搜索未知来源的辐射、研究和潜在地发现VHE伽马射线中的伽马射线暴(GRB)的理想仪器。实验现在正在进入一个新的操作阶段，有一个完整的探测器和一个新的触发系统。在教育/宣传领域，该小组一直积极让学生和普通公众接触到粒子天体物理学领域的兴奋。最近，米拉格罗成为首批加入QuarkNet计划并让课堂教师参与研究的粒子天体物理实验之一。

This proposal requests funds to support the University of Maryland group in their participation in the Milagro experiment. This detector is a new type of water-Cherenkov, extensive air shower detector designed to look at very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays coming from energetic objects in space. The detector is located near Los Alamos, NM at an altitude of 2630 m. It consists of a ~5000 m2 central pond detector surrounded by an array of 175 instrumented water tanks (outriggers) that span an area of roughly 40,000 m2. It is complementary to ground-based atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes (ACTs) by observing where and when ACTs cannot and to satellite experiments by having a much larger effective area at high energies. These features make it an ideal instrument to search for emission from unknown sources and to study and potentially discover Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) in VHE gamma rays. The experiment is now moving into a new phase of operation with a full detector and a new trigger system. In the education/outreach area, the group has been active in exposing students and the general public to the excitement of the particle astrophysics field. Recently, Milagro became one of the first particle astrophysics experiments to join the QuarkNet program and involve classroom teachers in their research.