Monte Carlo Performance Studies for the Site Selection of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

T. Hassan , L. Arrabito (1) , K. Bernlöhr , J. Bregeon (1) , J. Cortina , P. Cumani , F. Di Pierro , D. Falceta-Goncalves , R.G. Lang , J. Hinton , T. Jogler , G. Maier , A. Moralejo , A. Morselli , C. J. Todero Peixoto , M. Wood

1 LUPM - Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) represents the next generation of ground-based instruments for very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy, aimed at improving on the sensitivity of current-generation experiments by an order of magnitude and providing coverage over four decades of energy. The current CTA design consists of two arrays of tens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, comprising Small, Medium and Large-Sized Telescopes, with one array located in each of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. To study the effect of the site choice on the overall CTA performance and support the site evaluation process, detailed Monte Carlo simulations have been performed. These results show the impact of different site-related attributes such as altitude, night-sky background and local geomagnetic field on CTA performance for the observation of VHE gamma rays.

Mots clés: Monte Carlo simulations; Cherenkov Telescopes; IACT technique; Gamma rays; Cosmic rays; gamma ray: VHE; numerical calculations: Monte Carlo; Cherenkov counter: design; Cherenkov Telescope Array; performance; site; background; magnetic field: effect; photon: spatial distribution; sensitivity; angular resolution: energy dependence

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

T. Hassan, L. Arrabito, K. Bernlöhr, J. Bregeon, J. Cortina, et al.. Monte Carlo Performance Studies for the Site Selection of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Astropart.Phys., 2017, 93, pp.76-85. ⟨10.1016/j.astropartphys.2017.05.001⟩. ⟨hal-01582902⟩