Astrophysical Researches with the TAIGA Experiment

Participating countries and international organizations:

Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, 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 currently available parts of the cosmic ray spectrum obtained by ground-based and orbital detectors.

• In the NUCLEON space experiment, the spectra and elemental composition of cosmic rays were measured in the energy range of 10¹¹-10¹⁵ eV. Further progress in applying this technique is the planned OLVE-HERO experiment. The unique parameters of the detector within 5 years of direct extra-atmospheric measurements will provide data, large statistics which allow identifying changes to the cosmic ray composition at the energy up to 10¹⁶ eV and measuring the angular anisotropy of the cosmic rays.

Expected results in the current year:

• Completion of manufacturing and testing the fourth IACT telescope and design of the fifth IACT telescope at JINR.

• Development of event simulation programs in the TAIGA experiment. Upgrade of software for data collection and processing for the 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 gamma rays events from the background.

• Monitoring of the brightest gamma-ray sources in a hybrid mode at the TAIGA observatory. Upgrade of software for the IACT data analysis.

• Completion of the data analisys of the TUS space experiments.

• Design and beam tests of OLVE-HERO prototypes.

• Study of the Crab Nebula gamma radiation in the energy range of 2-10 TeV. Observation of the brightest extragalactic sources of gamma radiation Mrk-421, Mrk-501. 

Collaboration