We present an analysis technique that uses the timing information of
Cherenkov images from extensive air showers (EAS). Our emphasis is on distant,
or large core distance gamma-ray induced showers at multi-TeV energies.
Specifically, combining pixel timing information with an improved direction
reconstruction algorithm, leads to improvements in angular and core resolution
as large as ~40% and ~30%, respectively, when compared with the same algorithm
without the use of timing. Above 10 TeV, this results in an angular resolution
approaching 0.05 degrees, together with a core resolution better than ~15 m.
The off-axis post-cut gamma-ray acceptance is energy dependent and its full
width at half maximum ranges from 4 degrees to 8 degrees. For shower directions
that are up to ~6 degrees off-axis, the angular resolution achieved by using
timing information is comparable, around 100 TeV, to the on-axis angular
resolution. The telescope specifications and layout we describe here are geared
towards energies above 10 TeV. However, the methods can in principle be applied
to other energies, given suitable telescope parameters. The 5-telescope cell
investigated in this study could initially pave the way for a larger array of
sparsely spaced telescopes in an effort to push the collection area to >10 km2.
These results highlight the potential of a `sparse array' approach in
effectively opening up the energy range above 10 TeV.Comment: Published in Astroparticle Physic
