The FlashCam camera for CTA: trigger verification and fluorescence light detection capabilities

The next generation of Gamma-ray observatory - Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) - aims at improving the detection capabilities at a broad energy range of the gamma-ray spectrum by a factor of 10 in sensitivity. The FlashCam camera is one of the camera types mounted on the medium-sized telescopes (MST) of CTA, responsible for the observation of the core energy range between 150 GeV and 5 TeV. The first part of this thesis assumed the task of verifying the trigger system of FlashCam. Studies of the trigger efficiency and night-sky background light trigger response were performed, whilst also improving the Monte-Carlo description of the detector. The second part was dedicated to the research of the fluorescence light detection capabilities of the full 25 FlashCam-MST sub-array using simulations. A trigger logic was developed, which allows the detection of air showers with primary energies higher than 1 PeV through their fluorescence emission. The effective area of this detection method was determined and the angular resolution using a shower axis reconstruction calculated. The combination of these individual studies allowed the estimation of the sensitivity on point-like gamma-ray sources emitting in the energy range above 1 PeV

Future developments in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy is a powerful tool to study cosmic-ray physics, providing a diagnostic of the high-energy processes at work in the most extreme astrophysical accelerators of the universe. Ground-based gamma-ray detectors apply a number of experimental techniques to measure the products of air showers induced by the primary gamma-rays over a wide energy range, from about 30 GeV to few PeV. These are based either on the measurement of the atmospheric Cherenkov light induced by the air showers, or the direct detection of the shower's secondary particles at ground level. Thanks to the recent development of new and highly sensitive ground-based gamma-ray detectors, important scientific results are emerging which motivate new experimental proposals, at various stages of implementation. In this chapter we will present the current expectations for future experiments in the field.Comment: To appear in "Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics" by Springer (Eds. C. Bambi and A. Santangelo) - 59 p

Readout technologies for directional WIMP Dark Matter detection

The measurement of the direction of WIMP-induced nuclear recoils is a compelling but technologically challenging strategy to provide an unambiguous signature of the detection of Galactic dark matter. Most directional detectors aim to reconstruct the dark-matter-induced nuclear recoil tracks, either in gas or solid targets. The main challenge with directional detection is the need for high spatial resolution over large volumes, which puts strong requirements on the readout technologies. In this paper we review the various detector readout technologies used by directional detectors. In particular, we summarize the challenges, advantages and drawbacks of each approach, and discuss future prospects for these technologies