UK participation in the pre-production phase of CTA - extension 2018-2019

英国参与 CTA 的预制作阶段 - 延期 2018-2019

• 批准号: ST/S00257X/1
• 负责人: Paula Chadwick
• 金额: $ 30.92万
• 依托单位: Durham University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2018 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FS00257X%2F1
• 关键词: UK; participation; pre; production; phase

The Universe is full of particles with energies so great that they are travelling at very close to the speed of light. They affect the Universe in many ways, influencing the life-cycles of stars and 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 so few gamma rays that detecting them using spacecraft becomes impossible. Luckily, it is possible to observe them from the ground via the flashes of blue light, Cherenkov radiation, produced when they interact 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 reached the limit of what can be done with current instruments, and so about 1600 scientists and engineers from 31 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 extend the energy range of the gamma rays observed to both lower and higher values. It is predicted that the catalogue of known VHE emitting objects will expand from the roughly 130 known now to over 1000, and we can expect many new discoveries in key areas of astrophysics and fundamental physics. To achieve the energy coverage of CTA, telescopes of three different sizes are needed: Small (~4 m diameter), Medium (12 m) and Large (23 m) Sized Telescopes (SSTs, MSTs and LSTs, respectively). CTA will have arrays in the northern and southern hemispheres. The northern array will consist of 4 LSTs and 25 MSTs. The southern array will add to its 4 LSTs and 25 MSTs an extensive array of 70 SSTs, to investigate the highest energy phenomena, visible mainly in the southern sky. We expect construction of the first telescopes on the CTA southern site to start in 2019. There are currently 12 UK universities and Laboratories involved in CTA. The UK groups are concentrating their efforts on the construction of the SSTs. We have produced an innovative dual-mirror SST design, the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), which is being prototyped in sight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and are building two prototype cameras, with different sensors, we will test on this device. Here we ask for funding to complete tests of the prototype camera, use the results to design the final camera for the GCT and to prepare for contributing cameras for the final SST telescopes. We also want to work with UK industry a new protective window for the camera that will keep out some of the background light, enabling us to detect fainter Cherenkov flashes. Finally, we want to develop data analysis techniques for CTA, to ensure that UK scientists are ready to analyse the data from CTA as soon as the first telescopes start operation.

宇宙到处都是能量如此之大的颗粒，以至于它们非常接近光速。它们在许多方面影响宇宙，影响恒星的生命周期和星系的演变。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，使用航天器检测到它们的伽马射线很少。幸运的是，可以通过蓝光，切伦科夫辐射在大气中相互作用时从地面上观察它们。大气中Cherenkov辐射的辉光比星光的淡淡10,000倍，因此需要大的镜子来收集它，并且因为闪光仅持续数十亿秒，需要超快速的摄像头来记录它们。 我们从当前基于地面的伽马射线望远镜（例如Hess）中知道，需要研究大量现象。 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31个国家 /地区的大约1600名科学家和工程师聚集在一起，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值。可以预测，已知的发射物体的目录将从现在已知的大约130个扩展到1000多个，我们可以期望天体物理学和基本物理学的关键领域有许多新发现。为了达到CTA的能量覆盖率，需要三种不同尺寸的望远镜：小（〜4 m直径），中（12 m）和大型（23 m）大小的望远镜（分别为SSTS，MSTS和LST）。 CTA将在北半球和南半球有阵列。北部阵列将由4个LST和25 MST组成。南部阵列将增加40个LST和25 MSTS的70 sST阵列，以调查最高的能量现象，主要在南部的天空中可见。我们预计，CTA南部现场的第一批望远镜建设将于2019年开始。目前，CTA涉及12所英国大学和实验室。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，即伽马射线Cherenkov望远镜（GCT），该设计是在巴黎的Eiffel Tower上进行原型的，并且正在构建两个具有不同传感器的原型摄像机，我们将在该设备上进行测试。在这里，我们要求资金完成原型相机的测试，使用结果为GCT设计最终摄像头，并为最终SST望远镜的摄像机做准备。我们还希望与英国行业合作一个新的保护窗口，以防止某些背景光线，从而使我们能够检测出卑鄙的Cherenkov闪光灯。最后，我们希望为CTA开发数据分析技术，以确保英国科学家准备在第一个望远镜开始操作后立即分析CTA的数据。

项目成果

Gamma-ray emission from high Galactic latitude globular clusters

高银河纬度球状星团的伽马射线发射

• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty2150
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• 影响因子: 4.8
• 作者: Lloyd S

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array for probing cosmology and fundamental physics with gamma-ray propagation

切伦科夫望远镜阵列通过伽马射线传播探测宇宙学和基础物理的灵敏度

• DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2021/02/048
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
• 影响因子: 6.4
• 作者: Abdalla, H.;Abe, H.;Acero, F.;Acharyya, A.;Adam, R.;Agudo, I.;Aguirre-Santaella, A.;Alfaro, R.;Alfaro, J.;Alispach, C.
• 通讯作者: Alispach, C.

Monte Carlo studies for the optimisation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array layout

• DOI: 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2019.04.001
• 发表时间: 2019-09-01
• 期刊: ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS
• 影响因子: 3.5
• 作者: Acharyya, A.;Agudo, I;Zorn, J.
• 通讯作者: Zorn, J.

Constraining the axion mass through gamma-ray observations of pulsars

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.100.063005
• 发表时间: 2019-08
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: S. Lloyd;P. Chadwick;A. Brown

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to a dark matter signal from the Galactic centre

切伦科夫望远镜阵列对来自银河系中心的暗物质信号的灵敏度

• DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2021/01/057
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
• 影响因子: 6.4
• 作者: Tagliaferri Gianpiero;Antonelli Angelo;Arnesen Tora;Aschersleben Jann;Attina' Primo;Balbo Matteo;Bang Sunghyun;Barcelo Miquel;Baryshev Andrey;Bellassai Giancarlo;et al.;Adams Colin B. et al.;H. Abe et al.;H. Abe et al.;H. Abe et al.;B. Mode et al.;H. Abe et al.;R. Lopez-Coto et al.;R. White et al.;Y. Ohtani et al.;Y. Kobayashi et al.;O. Blanch et al.;D. Ribeiro et al.;C. Alispach et al.;L. Foffano et al.;H. Abe et al.;A. Okumura;R. Zanin et al.;Colin B. Adams et al.;Colin B. Adams et al.;Adams Colin B. et al.;Adams C.B et al.;Acharyya A et al.
• 通讯作者: Acharyya A et al.