12 research outputs found

    Study of secondary muons detected within the tunnels of the Cholula pyramid

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    The pyramid of Cholula was built at the beginning of 100 B.C. and during of period of 500 years it was finished, had several new constructions, based on the previous constructions. The primarily material of construction is the adobe. Early in 1931 archaeological excavations began with the intention of exploring the interior of the pyramid, excavations were stopped in 1971, and to date no further excavations have been carried out. This work shows the first measurements of muons, particles that are very penetrating, these are generated by primary cosmic rays that was incoming in the atmosphere and these generates a rain of secondary particles, among them the muons. To measure this kind of particles was implemented a detector system, it is formed by a scintillator plastic coupled to a tube photomultiplier; the signals were acquired by mean of an oscilloscope. The detector was collocated near of the center of the pyramid; the location belongs to the maxima concentration in mass over the detector. Graphs of the charge distribution, maximum amplitude and characteristic rise times of the generated pulses in a plastic scintillator are shown, this is scintillator was synthesized in the materials laboratory of the FCFM-BUAP. In addition the optical characterization of the same was realized

    Galactic Science with the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is a proposed ground-based gamma-ray detector that will be located in the Southern Hemisphere and is currently in its design phase. In this contribution, we will outline the prospects for Galactic science with this Observatory. Particular focus will be given to the detectability of extended sources, such as gamma-ray halos around pulsars; optimisation of the angular resolution to mitigate source confusion between known TeV sources; and studies of the energy resolution and sensitivity required to study the spectral features of PeVatrons at the highest energies. Such a facility will ideally complement contemporaneous observatories in studies of high energy astrophysical processes in our Galaxy

    Monitoring Gamma-Ray Burst VHE emission with the Southern Wide-field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory

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    It has been established that Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) can produce Very High Energy radiation (E > 100 GeV), opening a new window on the investigation of particle acceleration and radiation properties in the most energetic domain. We expect that next-generation instruments, such as the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), will mark a huge improvement in their observation. However, constraints on the target visibility and the limited duty cycle of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) reduce their ability to react promptly to transient events and to characterise their general properties. Here we show that an instrument based on the Extensive Air Shower (EAS) array concept, proposed by the Southern Wide Field-of-view Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) Collaboration, has promising possibilities to detect and track VHE emission from GRBs. Observations made by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) identified some events with a distinct spectral component, extending above 1 GeV or even 10 GeV, which can represent a substantial fraction of the emitted energy and also arise in early stages of the process. Using models based on these properties, we estimate the possibilities that a wide field of view and large effective area ground-based monitoring facility has to probe VHE emission from GRBs. We show that the ability to monitor VHE transients with a nearly continuous scanning of the sky grants an opportunity to access simultaneous electromagnetic counterparts to Multi-Messenger triggers up to cosmological scales, in a way that is not available to IACTs

    Technological options for the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) and current design status

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    The SWGO Collaboration is in the process of designing and prototyping a wide field of view, high duty cycle complement to CTA and the existing ground-based particle detectors of the Northern Hemisphere (HAWC and LHAASO). In this contribution, we will compare the various technological options for designing the detector and present an overarching system design accommodating them. We will introduce a feasible reference configuration that is used for the first large-scale simulations and cost estimates, and show ongoing prototyping work focused on reaching a maintenance-free and cost-effective detector

    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory reach for Primordial Black Hole evaporation

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is a proposed ground-based gamma-ray detector that will be located in the Southern Hemisphere and is currently in its design phase. In this contribution, we will outline the prospects for Galactic science with this Observatory. Particular focus will be given to the detectability of extended sources, such as gamma-ray halos around pulsars; optimisation of the angular resolution to mitigate source confusion between known TeV sources; and studies of the energy resolution and sensitivity required to study the spectral features of PeVatrons at the highest energies. Such a facility will ideally complement contemporaneous observatories in studies of high energy astrophysical processes in our Galaxy

    Lake Deployment of Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) Detector Units

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) will be a next-generation high altitude gamma-ray survey observatory in the southern hemisphere consisting of an array of water cherenkov detectors. With its energy range, wide field of view, large duty cycle and location it will complement the other existing and planned gamma-ray observatories. In this contribution we describe the lake concept for SWGO, an alternative to a HAWC-like design with individual water tanks and a LHAASO-style design with artificial ponds. In the lake concept, bladders filled with clean water are deployed near the surface of a natural lake, where each bladder is a light-tight stand-alone unit containing one or more photosensors. We will give an overview of the advantages and challenges for this design concept and describe the first results obtained from prototyping

    Benchmarking the Science for the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO)

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is the project to build a new extensive air shower particle detector for the observation of very-high-energy gamma-rays in South America. SWGO is currently planned for installation in the Southern Hemisphere, which grants it a unique science potential among ground-based gamma-ray detectors. It will complement the capabilities of CTA, working as a wide-field instrument for the monitoring of transient and variable phenomena, and will expand the sky coverage of Northern Hemisphere facilities like HAWC and LHAASO, thus granting access to the entire Galactic Plane and the Galactic Center. SWGO aims to achieve excellent sensitivity over a very large target energy range from about 100 GeV to the PeV, and improve on the performance of current sampling array instruments in all observational parameters, including energy and angular resolution, background rejection, and single-muon detection capabilities. The directives for the final observatory design will be given by a number of key science goals which are being defined over the course of the Project’s R&D phase. In this contribution we will present the core science topics and target performance goals that serve as benchmarks to guide SWGO’s design configuration

    The search for high altitude sites in South America for the SWGO detector

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is a project for a new generation of extensive air shower front detectors, based primarily on the water Cherenkov technique, to be located in the Southern Hemisphere, where no other instrument of that kind is currently operating in the TeV gamma-ray energy range. The reference configuration of SWGO foresees an array of about 6, 000 water Cherenkov tanks deployed over a circle of 320 m diameter, about 80, 000 m2 area. In order to reach a sensitivity at energies around and below 1 TeV competitive with current and future detectors, SWGO will be placed at altitude above 4, 400 m a.s.l. Preliminary site searches have found several candidate sites in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The major challenge will be the water provision, considering that at least 105 m3 of water will be required. This poster will present the challenges and status of the SWGO site search in South America

    Gamma/hadron discrimination using a small-WCD with four PMTs

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    The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is the next-generation gamma-ray observatory, currently in an R&D phase. The experiment is expected to have a large array of water Cherenkov detectors (WCD) placed at a high elevation (> 4.4 km a.s.l.) in South America. Here we present a WCD concept with reduced surface area and height of stations comprising four PMTs at the bottom. We show that it is possible to reach an excellent gamma/hadron discrimination by analysing the data gathered by this station with machine learning techniques. Such performance can be achieved by analysing the shower patterns at the ground or through the PMTs signal time structure to tag muons. Moreover, it is shown that the station's performance does not depend on the array configuration (dense or sparse) nor on the shower inclination (θ< 40◦). Such a concept reduces the cost associated with the transport of massive amounts of water to high elevation sites while keeping a high physics performance. Therefore, it could be a good candidate station for SWGO, enabling to reach good sensitivities from low energies (∼ 100 GeV) up to the PeV region, covering large ground surface areas (few square km)

    AEROSITE: Autonomous Environmental and Scientific SWGO site Characterization Instrument

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    The project Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) aims to build an array of air-shower detectors in the Southern hemisphere. Preliminary site searches identified suitable sites in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Site environment (including weather, seismic activity and also the electric field) is one of the key aspects to be considered in the site selection and should be based on reliable and comparable measurements. We describe an environmental monitoring device to equip several candidate sites proposed for the SWGO. The individual monitoring sensors, control unit and the data storage together with the power system and data transfer concepts are specified. We also present the results of a long term cross-calibration campaign and a climate chamber evaluation of the proposed devices
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