WoU-MMA: Astrophysics with Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays

高能伽马射线被用来研究宇宙中最极端的物体，如恒星、活跃星系中心的黑洞和伽马射线暴（GRB）。 宇宙伽马射线还可以揭示粒子物理学和宇宙学标准模型之外的新物理学。 该奖项支持该小组继续进行研究，使用亚利桑那州南部的VERITAS望远镜阵列研究甚高能（VHE）伽马射线。 这项工作还将使用新型原型Schwarzschild-Couder望远镜（pSCT），它可以更精确地成像大气簇射，并作为未来切伦科夫望远镜阵列（CTA）的探路者。 这项研究开发的不断增长的数据集和新的机器学习工具将允许比以往任何时候都更好的灵敏度。 研究生，本科生和高中生，许多来自代表性不足的群体，将继续参与这项研究。 对宇宙的好奇心创造了许多吸引公众兴趣和参与的机会，这项研究包括建立一个新的公民科学项目，用于对pSCT的阵雨图像进行分类。据信，最强大的VHE源会发射狭窄的高能喷射流粒子，但喷射流如何形成以及其中发生了什么过程仍然不确定，这是该项目的主要焦点。 BL Lac型活动星系核（AGN）是此类VHE源中最大的，这项工作将研究这些和其他类型的AGN，以分离与VHE发射相关的关键特征。 这项研究还将解决伽马射线暴的持续难题，伽马射线暴是宇宙中最强大的物体，但只是短暂的存在。 这些测量探测了喷流的特性，例如发射区域的大小和磁场的强度，有助于揭示加速是如何工作的。 这些数据还将用于研究与河外背景光碰撞产生的伽马射线吸收，不仅检验宇宙学模型，还检验洛伦兹不变性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

High-energy gamma-rays are used to study the most extreme objects in the Universe, such as pulsars, black holes at the center of active galaxies, and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Cosmic gamma-rays can also reveal new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. This award supports continued research by this group, using the VERITAS telescope array in southern Arizona to study very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays. The work will also use the novel prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope (pSCT), which images atmospheric showers much more precisely, and serves as a pathfinder towards the future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The growing data sets and new machine-learning tools developed by this research will allow for better sensitivity than ever before. Graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, many from underrepresented groups, will continue to participate in this research. Curiosity about the Universe creates many opportunities to engage public interest and, often, participation, and this study includes setting up a new citizen science project for the classification of shower images from the pSCT.The most powerful VHE sources are believed to emit narrow jets of high-energy particles, but how the jets form and what processes occur in them are still uncertain and a major focus of this project. Active galactic nuclei (AGN) of the BL Lac variety are the largest such class of VHE source, and this work will study these and other AGN types to isolate key features related to VHE emission. The research will also tackle the continuing puzzle of GRBs, the most powerful objects in the Universe but of only fleeting existence. These measurements probe properties of the jets, such as the size of the emission region and strength of the magnetic field, helping to reveal how the acceleration works. The data will also be used to study gamma-ray absorption by collisions with the extragalactic background light, testing not just cosmological models but also Lorentz invariance.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.