Lateral density and arrival time distributions of Cherenkov photons in extensive air showers: A simulation study

Hazarika, P.; Goswami, Umananda Dev; Chitnis, V. R.; Acharya, B. S.; Das, Gouree Shankar; Singh, B. B.; Britto, R. J.

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2015.02.003

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…3 shows the density distributions of Cherenkov photons generated by primary incident γ-rays with energies of 100, 500, and 1000 GeV, at zenith angles of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 • , and altitudes of 4300, 5300, and 6300 m. The distributions were evaluated as a function of the distance from the shower core. In particular, the density of Cherenkov photons produced by primary incident γ-rays with varying energies decreases in an almost exponential manner as the distance from the shower core increases (Hazarika & Goswami, 2015). Additionally, the slope of this decrease diminishes with higher zenith angles.…”

Section: Data Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…CRs interact with an interstellar medium in the source region and during their propagation to produce neutral γ-rays, and the origins of CRs can be traced by directly observing the γ-rays. The atmospheric Cherenkov technique (ACT) is frequently employed to detect γ-rays with energies between several hundred gigaelectron volts and several tens of teraelectron volts by detecting Cherenkov light produced by charged particles in an atmospheric medium in ground-based γ-ray astronomy (Hazarika & Goswami, 2015). As the ACT indirectly detects γ-rays, Cherenkov light must be investigated using the Monte Carlo simulation to estimate incident γ-ray energies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lateral Density Distributions of Cherenkov Photons at Different Altitudes

Li,

Chen,

Feng

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Astrophysical very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays (with energies > 30 GeV) are believed to result almost exclusively from the interactions of populations of highly relativistic particles with ambient matter or photon ﬁelds. The study of these VHE photons therefore allows us to examine the processes of particle acceleration in the Universe, and the extreme environments in which they occur. Gamma-rays are also highly directional, making them useful for studying the origin, acceleration, propagation, and composition of cosmic rays. This study uses the Monte Carlo method to simulate the process of extensive air showers being initiated when primary incident γ-rays interact with the atmosphere. The ultimate goal is to investigate and analyze the properties and lateral density distributions of Cherenkov light at different altitudes. The simulation considers various energies and zenith angles. The results show that a hump in the lateral density distribution of Cherenkov light is a distinctive feature of a γ-initiated shower, with the hump becoming less prominent at higher energy levels and altitudes. These significant findings not only facilitate better fitting of experimental data obtained from actual extensive air showers but also assist with estimating readings from detectors, thus advancing our understanding of these processes.

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Section: Data Analysis and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lateral Density Distributions of Cherenkov Photons at Different Altitudes

Li,

Chen,

Feng

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…As shown in Fig. 3, light produced by muons arrives to the telescope in short, concentrated bursts, unlike the shower photons, which span a range of tens of nanoseconds [24]. This difference could be exploited to identify muons if the time distribution of the photons, rather than only the timeintegrated images, is available [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muons as a tool for background rejection in imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays

et al. 2021

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The presence of muons in air-showers initiated by cosmic ray protons and nuclei is well established as a powerful tool to separate such showers from those initiated by gamma rays. However, so far this approach has been fully exploited only for ground level particle detecting arrays. We explore the feasibility of using Cherenkov light from muons as a background rejection tool for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays at the highest energies. We adopt an analytical model of the Cherenkov light from individual muons to allow rapid simulation of a large number of showers in a hybrid mode. This allows us to explore the very high background rejection power regime at acceptable cost in terms of computing time. We show that for very large ($$\gtrsim 20$$ ≳ 20 m mirror diameter) telescopes, efficient identification of muon light can potentially lead to background rejection levels up to 10$$^{-5}$$ - 5 whilst retaining high efficiency for gamma rays. While many challenges remain in the effective exploitation of the muon Cherenkov light in the data analysis for imaging Cherenkov telescope arrays, our study indicates that for arrays containing at least one large telescope, this is a very worthwhile endeavor.

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“…There are several promising strategies, which use different characteristics of the muon Cherenkov light. As shown in Figure 4, light produced by muons arrives to the telescope in short, concentrated bursts, unlike the shower photons, which span a range of tens of nanoseconds [24]. This difference could be exploited to identify muons if the time distribution of the photons, rather than only the time-integrated images, is available [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Muons as a tool for background rejection in Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope arrays

Olivera-Nieto,

Mitchell,

Bernlöhr

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The presence of muons in air-showers initiated by cosmic ray protons and nuclei is well established as a powerful tool to separate such showers from those initiated by gamma rays. However, so far this approach has been fully exploited only for ground level particle detecting arrays. We explore the feasibility of using Cherenkov light from muons as a background rejection tool for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays at the highest energies. We adopt an analytical model of the Cherenkov light from individual muons to allow rapid simulation of a large number of showers in a hybrid mode. This allows us to explore the very high background rejection power regime at acceptable cost in terms of computing time. We show that for very large ( 20 m mirror diameter) telescopes, efficient identification of muon light can potentially lead to background rejection levels up to 10 −5 whilst retaining high efficiency for gamma rays. While many challenges remain in the effective exploitation of the muon Cherenkov light in the data analysis for imaging Cherenkov telescope arrays, our study indicates that for arrays containing at least one large telescope, this is a very worthwhile endeavor.

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Lateral density and arrival time distributions of Cherenkov photons in extensive air showers: A simulation study

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Lateral Density Distributions of Cherenkov Photons at Different Altitudes

Lateral Density Distributions of Cherenkov Photons at Different Altitudes

Muons as a tool for background rejection in imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays

Muons as a tool for background rejection in Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope arrays

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