Nature of the low-energy, γ-like background for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
arXiv:1710.06980 · doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2017.10.005
Abstract
The upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project is expected to provide unprecedented sensitivity in the low-energy (<~100 GeV) range for Cherenkov telescopes. Most of the remaining background in this energy range results from misidentified hadron showers. In order to fully exploit the potential of the telescope systems it is worthwhile to look for ways to further improve the available analysis methods for γ/hadron separation. We study the composition of the background for the planned CTA-North array by identifying events composed mostly of a single electromagnetic subcascade or double subcascade from a π0 (or another neutral meson) decay. We apply the standard simulation chain and state-of-the-art analysis chain of CTA to evaluate the potential of the standard analysis to reject such events. Simulations show a dominant role of such single subcascade background for CTA up to energies ~70 GeV. We show that a natural way of rejection of such events stems from a shifted location of the shower maximum, and that the standard stereo reconstruction method used by CTA already exploits most of expected separation.
arXiv comment11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics
References in corpus (24)
- Microscopic Models for Ultrarelativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
- Design Concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
- Monte Carlo treatment of hadronic interactions in enhanced Pomeron scheme: I. QGSJET-II model
- Observations of the Crab Nebula with H.E.S.S
- The major upgrade of the MAGIC telescopes, Part II: A performance study using observations of the Crab Nebula
- Probing the ATIC peak in the cosmic-ray electron spectrum with H.E.S.S
- VERITAS: the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
- Measurements of Primary and Atmospheric Cosmic-Ray Spectra with the BESS-TeV Spectrometer
- The major upgrade of the MAGIC telescopes, Part I: The hardware improvements and the commissioning of the system
- Simulation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes with CORSIKA and sim_telarray
- Performance of the MAGIC stereo system obtained with Crab Nebula data
- Monte Carlo design studies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
- Implementation of the Random Forest Method for the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope MAGIC
- A Monte Carlo Template based analysis for Air-Cherenkov Arrays
- Gamma-Hadron Separation in Very-High-Energy gamma-ray astronomy using a multivariate analysis method
- Gamma-Hadron Separation Methods for the VERITAS Array of Four Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
- Monte Carlo Performance Studies for the Site Selection of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
- Cosmic-Ray Events as Background in Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes
- Monte Carlo Studies of Geomagnetic Field Effects on the Imaging Air Cherenkov Technique for the MAGIC Telescope Site
- Second large-scale Monte Carlo study for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
- Cerenkov Photon Density Fluctuations in Extensive Air Showers
- Influence of the Geomagnetic Field on the IACT detection technique for possible sites of CTA observatories
- Natural limit on the gamma/hadron separation for a stand alone air Cherenkov telescope
- The Cosmic Electron Background in Low Energy IACTs. Effect of the Geomagnetic Field
Cited by in corpus (6)
- A spatial likelihood analysis for MAGIC telescope data
- Performance of the joint LST-1 and MAGIC observations evaluated with Crab Nebula data
- Effect of the uncertainty in the hadronic interaction models on the estimation of the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
- An analysis method for data taken by Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes at very high energies under the presence of clouds
- Performance and systematic uncertainties of CTA-North in conditions of reduced atmospheric transmission
- Estimation of the height of the first interaction in gamma-ray showers observed by Cherenkov telescopes