CTA: the future of ground-based gamma-ray astrophysics
arXiv:1303.2346 · doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2013.05.048
Abstract
Very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) gamma-rays provide a unique probe into the non-thermal processes in the universe. The ground-based Imaging Air Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for detecting VHE gamma-rays have been perfected, so a relatively fast and inexpensive assembly of IACTs is now possible. Next generation instruments will have a sensitivity about 10 times better than current facilities, and will extend the accessible gamma-ray bandwidth at both energy ends (down to 30 GeV and up to 300 TeV) with improved angular and energy resolutions. Some key physics drivers, that are discussed here, suit specific features of the upcoming IACT facility, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The resulting technical solutions chosen for CTA, and the current status of the project, are also outlined.
6 pages, no figures. To be published in Proc. of 9th Workshop on "Science with the New Generation of High-Energy Gamma-Ray Experiments" (SciNeGHE 2012), held in Lecce, Italy, on June 20-22, 2012
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