A Monte Carlo code for full simulation of a transition radiation detector

A full simulation of a transition radiation detector (TRD) based on the GEANT, GARFIELD, MAGBOLTZ and HEED codes has been developed. This simulation can be used to study and develop TRD for high energy particle identification using either the cluster counting or the total charge measurement method. In this article it will be also shown an application of this simulation to the discrimination of electrons from hadrons in beams of momentum of few GeV/c or less, assuming typical TRD configuration, namely radiator-detector modules.Comment: 14 pages with 12 figure

Unfolding spectral analysis of the Fermi-LAT data

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite is observing the gamma-ray sky in the high energy region, above 20 MeV. We have developed a method to reconstruct the energy spectra of the gamma-rays detected by the Fermi LAT instrument based on a Bayesian unfolding approach, that takes into account the energy dispersion introduced by the instrument response. The method has been successfully applied to reconstruct the energy spectra of both steady and pulsating point sources. The analysis technique will be illustrated and the results obtained in some significant test cases will be discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figure

Analysis of the Spectral Energy Distributions of Fermi bright blazars

Blazars are a small fraction of all extragalactic sources but, unlike other objects, they are strong emitters across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. In this study we have conducted a detailed investigation of the broad-band spectral properties of the gamma-ray selected blazars of the Fermi-LAT Bright AGN Sample (LBAS). By combining the accurately estimated Fermi gamma-ray spectra with Swift, radio, NIR-Optical and hard-X/gamma-ray data, collected within three months of the LBAS data taking period, we were able to assemble high-quality and quasi-simultaneous Spectral Energy Distributions (SED) for 48 LBAS blazars.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, "2009 Fermi Symposium", "eConf Proceedings C091122

Hadronic interactions of primary cosmic rays with the FLUKA code

The measured fluxes of secondary particles produced by the interactions of cosmic rays with the astronomical environment represent a powerful tool to infer some properties of primary cosmic rays. In this work we investigate the production of secondary particles in inelastic hadronic interactions between several cosmic rays species of projectiles and different target nuclei of the interstellar medium. The yields of secondary particles have been calculated with the FLUKA simulation package, that provides with very good accuracy the energy distributions of secondary products in a large energy range. An application to the propagation and production of secondaries in the Galaxy is presented.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; Contribution to the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, July 30 to August 6, The Hague, Netherlands; fixing a typo in the y-axis label of Fig.