arXiv subjects

Sean Griffin

Publications and source records attributed to Sean Griffin.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Positron Annihilation in the Galaxy

The 511 keV line from positron annihilation in the Galaxy was the first $γ$-ray line detected to originate from outside our solar system. Going into the fifth decade since the discovery, the source of positrons is still unconfirmed and remains one of the enduring mysteries in $γ$-ray astronomy. With a large flux of $\sim$10$^{-3}$ $γ$/cm$^{2}$/s, after 15 years in operation INTEGRAL/SPI has detected the 511 keV line at $>50σ$ and has performed high-resolution spectral studies which conclude that Galactic positrons predominantly annihilate at low energies in warm phases of the interstellar medium. The results from imaging are less certain, but show a spatial distribution with a strong concentration in the center of the Galaxy. The observed emission from the Galactic disk has low surface brightness and the scale height is poorly constrained, therefore, the shear number of annihilating positrons in our Galaxy is still not well know. Positrons produced in $β^+$-decay of nucleosynthesis products, such as $^{26}$Al, can account for some of the annihilation emission in the disk, but the observed spatial distribution, in particular the excess in the Galactic bulge, remains difficult to explain. Additionally, one of the largest uncertainties in these studies is the unknown distance that positrons propagate before annihilation. In this paper, we will summarize the current knowledge base of Galactic positrons, and discuss how next-generation instruments could finally provide the answers.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Development of a Silicon Tracker for the All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory Prototype

The gamma-ray sky from several hundred keV to $\sim$ a hundred MeV has remained largely unexplored due to the challenging nature of detecting gamma rays in this regime. At lower energies, Compton scattering is the dominant interaction process whereas at higher energies pair production dominates, with a crossover at a few MeV. Thus, an instrument designed to work in this energy range must be optimized for both Compton and pair-production events. AMEGO, the All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory, a Probe-class mission in consideration for the 2020 decadal survey, is designed to operate at energies from $\sim$ 200 keV to $>$ 10 GeV with over an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity and with superior angular and energy resolution compared to previous instruments. AMEGO comprises four major subsystems: a plastic anti-coincidence detector for rejecting cosmic-ray events, a silicon tracker for tracking pair-production products and tracking and measuring the energies of Compton-scattered electrons, a cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) calorimeter for measuring the energy and location of Compton scattered photons, and a CsI calorimeter for measuring the energy of the pair-production products at high energies. A prototype instrument, known as ComPair, is under development at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the US Naval Research Laboratory. In this contribution, we provide details on the development of the silicon tracker subsystem.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

VERITAS Observations under Bright Moonlight

The presence of moonlight is usually a limiting factor for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes due to the high sensitivity of the camera photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In their standard configuration, the extra noise limits the sensitivity of the experiment to gamma-ray signals and the higher PMT currents also accelerates PMT aging. Since fall 2012, observations have been carried out with VERITAS under bright moonlight (Moon illumination $> 35\%$), in two observing modes, by reducing the voltage applied to the PMTs and with UV bandpass filters, which allow observations up to $\sim80\%$ Moon illumination resulting in $29\%$ more observing time over the course of the year. In this presentation, we provide details of these new observing modes and their performance relative to the standard VERITAS observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

Minimal Pancyclicity

A pancyclic graph is a simple graph containing a cycle of length $k$ for all $3\leq k\leq n$. Let $m(n)$ be the minimum number of edges of all pancyclic graphs on $n$ vertices. Exact values are given for $m(n)$ for $n\leq 37$, combining calculations from an exhaustive search on graphs with up to 29 vertices with a construction that works for up to 37 vertices. The behavior of $m(n)$ in general is also explored, including a proof of the conjecture that $m(n+1)>m(n)$ for all $n$ in some special cases.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Using Raster Scans of Bright Stars to Measure the Relative Total Throughputs of Cherenkov Telescopes

Gamma-ray astronomy at energies in excess of 100 GeV is carried out using arrays of imaging Cherenkov telescopes. Each telescope comprises a large reflector, of order 10 m diameter, made of many mirror facets, and a camera consisting of a matrix of photomultiplier pixels. Differences in the total throughput between nominally identical telescopes, due to aging of the mirrors and PMTs and other effects, should be monitored to reduce possible systematic errors. One way to directly measure the throughput of such telescopes is to track bright stars and measure the photocurrents produced by their light falling on camera pixels. We have developed such a procedure using the four telescopes in the VERITAS array. We note the technique is general, however, and could be applied to other imaging Cherenkov experiments. For this measurement, a raster scan is performed on a single star such that its image is swept across the central pixels in the camera, thus providing a statistically robust set of measurements in a short period of time to reduce time-dependent effects on the throughput. Photocurrents are measured using the starlight-induced baseline fluctuations of the pixel outputs, as recorded by the standard readout electronics. In this contribution we describe details of the procedure and report on feasibility studies carried out during the 2012-2013 observing season.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

In-situ measurements of whole-dish reflectivity for VERITAS

The VERITAS array is a set of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) sensitive to gamma rays at energies between 85 GeV and 30 TeV. Each telescope is based on a tessellated mirror, 12 metres in diameter, which reflects light from a gamma-ray-induced air shower to form an image on a pixellated `camera' comprising 499 photomultiplier tubes. The image brightness is the primary measure of the gamma ray's energy so a knowledge of the mirror reflectivity is important. We describe here a method, pioneered by members of the MAGIC collaboration, to measure the whole-dish reflectivity, quickly and regularly, so that effects of aging can be monitored. A CCD camera attached near the centre of the dish simultaneously acquires an image of both a target star and its reflection on a target of Spectralon, a highly-reflective material, placed at the focus of the telescope. The ratio of their brightnesses, as recorded by the CCD, along with geometric factors, provides an estimate of the dish reflectivity with few systematic errors. A filter wheel is placed in front of the CCD camera, allowing to measure the reflectivity as a function of wavelength. We present initial results obtained with the VERITAS telescopes during 2012.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2012

Searching for Fast Optical Transients using VERITAS Cherenkov Telescopes

Astronomical transients are intrinsically interesting things to study. Fast optical transients (microsecond timescale) are a largely unexplored field of optical astronomy mainly due to the fact that large optical telescopes are oversubscribed. Furthermore, most optical observations use instruments with integration times on the order of seconds and are thus unable to resolve fast transients. Current-generation atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescopes, however, have huge collecting areas (e.g., VERITAS, which consists of four 12-m telescopes), larger than any existing optical telescopes, and time is typically available for such studies without interfering with gamma-ray observations. The following outlines the benefits of using a Cherenkov telescope to detect optical transients and the implementation of the VERITAS Transient Detector (TRenDy), a dedicated multi-channel photometer based on field-programmable gate arrays. Data are presented demonstrating the ability of TRenDy to detect transient events such as a star passing through its field of view and the optical light curve of a pulsar.

astro-ph.HE↗