CTA Consortium; Yamazaki, Ryo; Yamamoto, Tokonatsu; Williams, David A.; Wijers, Ralph A. M. J.; Wagner, Stefan; Toma, Kenji; Teshima, Masahiro; Tajima, Hiroyasu; Starling, Rhaana; Otte, A. Nepomuk; Osborne, Julian P.; Murase, Kohta; Markoff, Sera; Kakuwa, Jun; Ioka, Kunihito; Inoue, Yoshiyuki; Hinton, Jim; Gilmore, Rudy; Garczarczyk, M.; Connaughton, Valerie; Carosi, Alessandro; Bouvier, Aurelien; Asano, Katsuaki; O'Brien, Paul T.; Granot, Jonathan; Inoue, S.
Bibliographical reference
Astroparticle Physics, Volume 43, p. 252-275.
Advertised on:
3
2013
Journal
Citations
77
Refereed citations
58
Description
We outline the science prospects for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with the
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next-generation ground-based
gamma-ray observatory operating at energies above few tens of GeV. With
its low energy threshold, large effective area and rapid slewing
capabilities, CTA will be able to measure the spectra and variability of
GRBs at multi-GeV energies with unprecedented photon statistics, and
thereby break new ground in elucidating the physics of GRBs, which is
still poorly understood. Such measurements will also provide crucial
diagnostics of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray and neutrino production in
GRBs, advance observational cosmology by probing the high-redshift
extragalactic background light and intergalactic magnetic fields, and
contribute to fundamental physics by testing Lorentz invariance
violation with high precision. Aiming to quantify these goals, we
present some simulated observations of GRB spectra and light curves,
together with estimates of their detection rates with CTA. Although the
expected detection rate is modest, of order a few GRBs per year,
hundreds or more high-energy photons per burst may be attainable once
they are detected. We also address various issues related to following
up alerts from satellites and other facilities with CTA, as well as
follow-up observations at other wavelengths. The possibility of
discovering and observing GRBs from their onset including short GRBs
during a wide-field survey mode is also briefly discussed.
Related projects
Particle Astrophysics
The members of the Particle Astrophysics Group of the IAC participate actively in three large international collaborations of high-energy astrophysics: AMS-02 (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer), the Cherenkov radiation telescopes MAGIC I and II and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory ( CTAO). We also participate in the ASTRI mini-array, the gamma
Mónica Luisa
Vázquez Acosta