Gamma rays are the highest energy form of electromagnetic radiation. Observations of astrophysical gamma rays serve as probes of physical conditions and processes in the most extreme environments throughout the Universe and can be used to test fundamental physics. This award supports scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles to carry out gamma-ray astrophysics research with two ground-based gamma-ray experiments, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) and the newly commissioned prototype Schwarzschild Couder Telescope (pSCT), both located at the Fred Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. The group will participate in both technical aspects of operations and scientific investigations of Galactic and extragalactic astrophysical sources. In addition, the award supports the leadership roles and activities of the group members in the development of a next-generation international gamma-ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The group is deeply engaged in education and outreach efforts by involving high school students in astrophysics research and attracting the public, both in Arizona and in the Los Angeles area, to scientific exploration of the Universe.
The University of California, Los Angeles group will contribute to the operations and maintenance of VERITAS and the pSCT and to the scientific analysis of the data. With this award the group will focus on studies of Galactic and extragalactic sources with significant angular extension including the Cygnus region, the Galactic Center, galaxy clusters and active galactic nuclei, in which the signatures of primordial magnetic fields might be detectable in their gamma-ray emission. The development of novel data analysis techniques for sources with angular extension or poor localization capitalizes on the new capabilities offered by pSCT and the future CTA and is essential for the advancement of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger research as well as progress in time-domain astrophysics. The group is notably involved in CTA through the advancement of the pSCT technology for the observatory, through the development of its core science program, and through the top-level management provided to this worldwide project.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
