2016/02/26 by D. Horns
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Cherenkov radiation #Cosmic ray #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Detector #Gamma ray #Neutrino Physics Research #Nuclear physics #Optics #Particle acceleration #Photon #Physics #Plasma #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1742-6596/718/2/022010
8 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the 14th international conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics: TAUP2015, Torino, Italy, edited by N. Fornengo, M. Regis, and H. Zechlin. To be published in Journal of Physics, Conference Series
arxiv created 2016/02/26 · openalex publication_date 2016/05/01 · arxiv updated 2016/06/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The observation of cosmic gamma-rays from the ground is based upon the detection of gamma-ray initiated air showers. At energies between approximately 10 11 eV and 10 13 eV, the imaging air Cherenkov technique is a particularly successful approach to observe gamma-ray sources with energy fluxes as low as ≈ 10 -13 erg cm -2 s -1 . The observations of gamma-rays in this energy band probe particle acceleration in astrophysical plasma conditions and are sensitive to high energy phenomena beyond the standard model of particle physics (e.g., self-annihilating or decaying dark matter, violation of Lorentz invariance, mixing of photons with light pseudoscalars). The current standing of the field and its major instruments are summarized briefly by presenting selected highlights. A new generation of ground based gamma-ray instruments is currently under development. The perspectives and opportunities of these future facilities will be discussed.