Astrophysical Researches with the TAIGA Experiment

Participating countries and international organizations:

Germany, Japan, Italy, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia.

Issues addressed and main goals of research:

• Search for local galactic sources of gamma rays with energies above 20-30 TeV.

• Study of gamma rays fluxes from known sources in the same energy region.

• Search for diffuse gamma rays from the galactic disk.

• Study of the energy spectrum and the mass composition of cosmic rays in the energy range of 10 ¹⁵ to 10 ¹⁷ eV in order to detect spots of Lorentz invariance violation.

• Search for galactic PeVatrons.

• The TAIGA observatory also plans to introduce a "hybrid method" of observation - the combined use of IACT and HiScore wide angle Cherenkov detectors. This method will not only significantly improve the quality of high-energy gamma-rays emission signals selection from background hadron events, but will also help to match available for today parts of the cosmic ray spectrum (CR) obtained by fundumentally different methods - ground-based (in the range above 10¹⁵ eV) and orbital (below 10¹⁴ eV).

• In the framework of the NUCLEON space experiment the spectra and elemental composition of CR were measured in the energy range 10¹¹-10¹⁵ eV, i.e. in the "knee" region in the CR spectrum and in front of it. Further progress in applying this technique in the planned OLVE-HERO experiment.  The unique size design of the detector (more than 10 m³) within 5 years of direct extra-atmospheric measurements will provide data, large statistics which allow to identify changes to the composition of cosmic rays in the energy interval and to measure the angular anisotropy of the CR.

Expected results in the current year:

• Design, manufacture and testing for the fourth IACT telescope at the JINR.

• Modernization of event simulation programs in the TIGA experiment. Upgrade of software for data collection and the production of mirrors for the fourth IACT telescope.

• Processing for IACT telescope, as well as for their hybrid mode of operation in conjunction with HiScore detectors.

• MC-simulation of the joint operation of the IACT telescope and the TAIGA observatory's wide-angle Cherenkov detectors and optimization of the selection of events from gamma rays from the background.

• Monitoring of the brightest gamma-ray sources at the TAIGA observatory in hybrid made (joint observation of HiScore and IACT). Upgrade of software for IACT data analysis.

• Completion of data processing for the TUS and NUCLEON space experiments.

• Study of the crab nebula gamma radiation in the energy range of 2-10 TeV (when the telescope is operating independently) and check the correctness of the telescope operation and data processing procedure. Observation of the brightest extragalactic sources of gamma radiation Mrk-421, Mrk-501. 

Collaboration