Oxford development work for Compact High-Energy Camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Arrey

牛津为切伦科夫望远镜阿雷设计的紧凑型高能相机的开发工作

基本信息

批准号：
ST/L006499/1
负责人：
Garret Cotter
金额：
$ 2.67万
依托单位：
University of Oxford
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2014 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FL006499%2F1
关键词：
Oxford development work Compact Energy

项目摘要

The Universe is full of particles with such high-energies that they are travelling at very close to the speed of light. These particles play a significant role in many areas of astrophysics, from the life-cycles of stars to the evolution of galaxies. These particles are hard to trace, but can reveal their presence by producing gamma rays. Like their lower-energy cousins, X-rays, gamma rays do not penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and usually satellite-based telescopes are used to detect them. However, at very high energies (VHE) there are very few gamma rays, and detecting them from spacecraft becomes impossible. Luckily, it is possible to detect them from the ground via the flashes of blue light, Cherenkov radiation, produced by the cascades they initiate in the atmosphere. The glow from Cherenkov radiation in the atmosphere is 10,000 times fainter than starlight, so large mirrors are required to collect it, and because the flashes last only a few billionths of a second, ultra-fast cameras are needed to record them.We know from current ground-based gamma-ray telescopes such as HESS that there is a wealth of phenomena to be studied. VHE gamma ray telescopes have detected the remains of supernova explosions, binary star systems, highly energetic jets produced by black holes in distant galaxies, star formation regions, and many other objects. These observations can help us to understand not only what is going on inside these objects, but also answer fundamental physics questions relating to the nature of dark matter and of space-time itself. However, we have now reached the limit of what can be done with current instruments, and so ~800 scientists from 25 countries around the world have come together to build a new instrument - the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). CTA will offer a dramatic increase in sensitivity over current instruments, and extends the energy range of the gamma rays observed to both lower and higher energies. It is predicted that the catalogue of known VHE emitting objects will expand from the 130 known to over 1000, and we can expect many new discoveries in key areas of astrophysics and fundamental physics research.To achieve the wide energy range we require of CTA, it is necessary to build telescopes of three different sizes: ~5 m diameter small-sized telescopes (SSTs), ~12 m medium-sized telescopes (MSTs) and ~23 m large-sized telescope (LST). CTA will consist of two arrays of telescopes, one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere. The northern array will likely consist of 4 or so LSTs, and around 20 MSTs. The southern array will contain similar numbers of large and medium telescopes, but add to them an extensive array of ~50 SSTs, specifically to investigate the highest- energy phenomena which can be observed preferentially from the southern hemisphere. The SSTs will detect the highest energy photons ever seen, with energies approach a peta-electronvolt, each a thousand billion times more energetic than an X-ray. CTA is currently in its preparatory phase, and we expect construction to start in 2015.There are currently 11 UK universities involved in CTA. The UK groups are concentrating their efforts on the construction of the SSTs. We have already produced an innovative dual-mirror SST design, which will be built in sight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In this proposal we request funds to do several things. Firstly, we want to build and test a prototype dual-mirror SST camera, together with a calibration system. Secondly, we will use our expertise in computer simulations to optimise the design of the SSTs and the overall array layout. Thirdly, we will develop data analysis techniques for CTA, to ensure that UK scientists are able to analyse the data from CTA as soon as the first telescopes start operation. Finally, several UK team members have leadership roles in CTA and we are requesting funds to support these people and enable us to travel to the relevant meetings.

宇宙到处都是颗粒，具有高氧气，以至于它们以非常接近光速的方式行驶。这些颗粒在天体物理学的许多领域都起着重要作用，从恒星的生命周期到星系的演变。这些颗粒很难追踪，但可以通过产生伽马射线来揭示它们的存在。像它们的低能量表亲一样，X射线，伽玛射线也不会穿透地球大气，通常使用基于卫星的望远镜来检测它们。但是，在非常高的能量（VHE）下，伽马射线很少，从航天器中检测到它们是不可能的。幸运的是，可以通过蓝光，切伦科夫辐射的闪光从地面上检测到它们，这些辐射是由它们在大气中发起的级联反应产生的。大气中Cherenkov辐射的辉光比星光比星光的10,000倍，因此需要大的镜子来收集它，并且因为闪光只持续了几十亿秒，需要超快速的摄像头才能记录下来。当前基于地面的伽马射线望远镜，例如Hess，可以研究很多现象。 Vhe伽马射线望远镜已经检测到超新星爆炸，二进制恒星系统，遥远星系中的黑洞产生的高能喷射，恒星形成区域和许多其他物体。这些观察结果可以帮助我们不仅了解这些物体内部发生的事情，还可以回答与暗物质本身和时空本身有关的基本物理问题。但是，我们现在已经达到了当前工具可以完成的工作的极限，因此来自世界25个国家的约800名科学家已经汇聚在一起，建造了一种新工具-Cherenkov望远镜阵列（CTA）。 CTA将对当前仪器的灵敏度显着提高，并将观察到的伽马射线的能量范围扩展到较低和更高的能量。据预测，已知的VHE发射物体的目录将从已知的130个扩展到1000多个，我们可以期望在天体物理学和基本物理学的关键领域中有许多新发现。建造三种不同尺寸的望远镜是必需的：〜5 m直径的小型望远镜（SSTS），〜12 m中型望远镜（MSTS）和〜23 m的大型望远镜（LST）。 CTA将由两个望远镜阵列组成，一个在北半球，一个在南半球。北部阵列可能由4个左右的LST和大约20 MST组成。南部阵列将包含相似数量的大型和中望远镜，但添加了大约50个SST的广泛阵列，特别是为了研究最高能量现象，可以优先从南半球观察到。 SST将检测到有史以来最高的能量光子，而能量接近PETA-Electronvolt，每千亿倍的能量比X射线高数亿倍。 CTA目前处于准备阶段，我们预计建设将于2015年开始。目前有11所英国大学参与CTA。英国团体将精力集中在SST的建设上。我们已经制作了创新的双摩尔SST设计，该设计将在巴黎的埃菲尔铁塔上建造。在此提案中，我们要求资金做几件事。首先，我们希望构建和测试原型双mirror SST摄像头以及校准系统。其次，我们将在计算机模拟中使用我们的专业知识来优化SST的设计和整体阵列布局。第三，我们将为CTA开发数据分析技术，以确保英国科学家能够在第一个望远镜开始操作后立即分析CTA的数据。最后，几个英国团队成员在CTA中担任领导职务，我们要求资金支持这些人，并使我们能够参加相关会议。