arXiv subjects

S. Pita

Publications and source records attributed to S. Pita.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Monte Carlo design studies for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescopes Array (CTA) is planned as the future instrument for very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy with a wide energy range of four orders of magnitude and an improvement in sensitivity compared to current instruments of about an order of magnitude. Monte Carlo simulations are a crucial tool in the design of CTA. The ultimate goal of these simulations is to find the most cost-effective solution for given physics goals and thus sensitivity goals or to find, for a given cost, the solution best suited for different types of targets with CTA. Apart from uncertain component cost estimates, the main problem in this procedure is the dependence on a huge number of configuration parameters, both in specifications of individual telescope types and in the array layout. This is addressed by simulation of a huge array intended as a superset of many different realistic array layouts, and also by simulation of array subsets for different telescope parameters. Different analysis methods -- in use with current installations and extended (or developed specifically) for CTA -- are applied to the simulated data sets for deriving the expected sensitivity of CTA. In this paper we describe the current status of this iterative approach to optimize the CTA design and layout.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2007

A Spectacular VHE Gamma-Ray Outburst from PKS 2155-304 in 2006

Since 2002 the VHE (>100 GeV) gamma-ray flux of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac PKS 2155-304 has been monitored with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS). An extreme gamma-ray outburst was detected in the early hours of July 28, 2006 (MJD 53944). The average flux above 200 GeV observed during this outburst is ~7 times the flux observed from the Crab Nebula above the same threshold. Peak fluxes are measured with one-minute time scale resolution at more than twice this average value. Variability is seen up to ~600 s in the Fourier power spectrum, and well-resolved bursts varying on time scales of ~200 seconds are observed. There are no strong indications for spectral variability within the data. Assuming the emission region has a size comparable to the Schwarzschild radius of a ~10^9 solar mass black hole, Doppler factors greater than 100 are required to accommodate the observed variability time scales.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Discovery of Very High Energy gamma - ray emission from the extreme BL Lac object H2356-309 with H.E.S.S

The understanding of acceleration mechanisms in active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets and the measurement of the extragalactic-background-light (EBL) density are closely linked and require the detection of a large sample of very-high-energy (VHE) emitting extragalactic objects at varying redshifts. We report here on the discovery with the H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) atmospheric-Cherenkov telescopes of the VHE Gamma-ray emission from H2356 - 309, an extreme BL Lac object located at a redshift of 0.165. The observations of this object, which was previously proposed as a southern-hemisphere VHE candidate source, were performed between June and December 2004. The total exposure is 38.9 hours live time, after data quality selection, which yields the detection of a signal at the level of 9.0$σ$ (standard deviations) .

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Investigation of the 6He cluster structures

The 4He+2n and t+t clustering of the 6He ground state were investigated by means of the transfer reaction 6He(p,t)4He at 25 MeV/nucleon. The experiment was performed in inverse kinematics at GANIL with the SPEG spectrometer coupled to the MUST array. Experimental data for the transfer reaction were analyzed by a DWBA calculation including the two neutrons and the triton transfer. The couplings to the 6He --> 4He + 2n breakup channels were taken into account with a polarization potential deduced from a coupled-discretized-continuum channels analysis of the 6He+1H elastic scattering measured at the same time. The influence on the calculations of the 4He+t exit potential and of the triton sequential transfer is discussed. The final calculation gives a spectroscopic factor close to one for the 4He+2n configuration as expected. The spectroscopic factor obtained for the t+t configuration is much smaller than the theoretical predictions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2000

Single-neutron transfer from 11Be gs via the (p,d) reaction with a radioactive beam

The 11Be(p,d)10Be reaction has been performed in inverse kinematics with a radioactive 11Be beam of E/A = 35.3 MeV. Angular distributions for the 0+ ground state, the 2+, 3.37 MeV state and the multiplet of states around 6 MeV in 10Be were measured at angles up to 16 deg CM by detecting the 10Be in a dispersion-matched spectrometer and the coincident deuterons in a silicon array. Distorted wave and coupled-channels calculations have been performed to investigate the amount of 2+ core excitation in 11Be gs. The use of "realistic" 11Be wave functions is emphasised and bound state form factors have been obtained by solving the particle-vibration coupling equations. This calculation gives a dominant 2s component in the 11Be gs wave function with a 16% [2+ x 1d] core excitation admixture. Cross sections calculated with these form factors are in good agreement with the present data. The Separation Energy prescription for the bound state wave function also gives satisfactory fits to the data, but leads to a significantly larger [2 x 1d] component in 11Be gs.

nucl-ex↗