The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO)

Abstract

The scientific potential of a wide field-of-view, and very-high duty cycle, ground-based gamma-ray detector has been demonstrated by the current generation of instruments, such as HAWC and ARGO, and will be further extended in the Northern Hemisphere by LHAASO. Nevertheless, no such instrument exists in the Southern Hemisphere yet, where a great potential lies uncovered for the mapping of Galactic large scale emission as well as providing access to the full sky for transient and variable multi-wavelength and multi-messenger phenomena. Access to the Galactic Centre and complementarity with the CTA-South are other key motivations for such a gamma-ray observatory in the South. There is also significant potential for cosmic ray studies, including investigation of cosmic-ray anisotropy. In this contribution I will present the motivations and the concept of the future Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), now formally established as an international Collaboration and currently in R\&D phase. I will also outline its scientific objectives.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; Proceedings of the IWARA 2020 Virtual Conference, September 2020; To be published in Astronomisch Nachrichten

References in corpus (14)

• The H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey
• The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog
• Teraelectronvolt emission from the $\gamma$-ray burst GRB 190114C
• A very-high-energy component deep in the Gamma-ray Burst afterglow
• First Detection of Photons with Energy Beyond 100 TeV from an Astrophysical Source
• The population of TeV pulsar wind nebulae in the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey
• On the TeV Halo Fraction in gamma-ray bright Pulsar Wind Nebulae
• All-Sky Measurement of the Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays at 10 TeV and Mapping of the Local Interstellar Magnetic Field
• Searching for Dark Matter in the Galactic Halo with a Wide Field of View TeV Gamma-ray Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere
• Design and expected performance of a novel hybrid detector for very-high-energy gamma astrophysics
• Searching for Gamma-Ray counterparts to Gravitational Waves from merging binary neutron stars with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• On the search for Galactic supernova remnant PeVatrons with current TeV instruments
• The HAWC real-time flare monitor for rapid detection of transient events
• Detection of VHE gamma-ray transients with monitoring facilities

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Muon identification in a compact single-layered water Cherenkov detector and gamma/hadron discrimination using Machine Learning techniques
• Axion-Like Particle Searches with IACTs
• Solar gamma ray probe of local cosmic ray electrons
• On the Utility Function of Experiments in Fundamental Science