| 1. |
- Acharya, B. S., et al.
(author)
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Introducing the CTA concept
- 2013
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In: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 43, s. 3-18
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to span about four decades of energy, from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV with enhanced angular and energy resolutions over existing VHE gamma-ray observatories. An international collaboration has formed with more than 1000 members from 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. In 2010 the CTA Consortium completed a Design Study and started a three-year Preparatory Phase which leads to production readiness of CTA in 2014. In this paper we introduce the science goals and the concept of CTA, and provide an overview of the project. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Abdellaoui, G., et al.
(author)
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Meteor studies in the framework of the JEM-EUSO program
- 2017
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In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 143, s. 245-255
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We summarize the state of the art of a program of UV observations from space of meteor phenomena, a secondary objective of the JEM-EUSO international collaboration. Our preliminary analysis indicates that JEM-EUSO, taking advantage of its large FOV and good sensitivity, should be able to detect meteors down to absolute magnitude close to 7. This means that JEM-EUSO should be able to record a statistically significant flux of meteors, including both sporadic ones, and events produced by different meteor streams. Being unaffected by adverse weather conditions, JEM-EUSO can also be a very important facility for the detection of bright meteors and fireballs, as these events can be detected even in conditions of very high sky background. In the case of bright events, moreover, exhibiting some persistence of the meteor train, preliminary simulations show that it should be possible to exploit the motion of the ISS itself and derive at least a rough 3D reconstruction of the meteor trajectory. Moreover, the observing strategy developed to detect meteors may also be applied to the detection of nuclearites, exotic particles whose existence has been suggested by some theoretical investigations. Nuclearites are expected to move at higher velocities than meteoroids, and to exhibit a wider range of possible trajectories, including particles moving upward after crossing the Earth. Some pilot studies, including the approved Mini-EUSO mission, a precursor of JEM-EUSO, are currently operational or in preparation. We are doing simulations to assess the performance of Mini-EUSO for meteor studies, while a few meteor events have been already detected using the ground-based facility EUSO-TA.
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| 4. |
- Feroci, M., et al.
(author)
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The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT)
- 2012
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In: Experimental Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 34:2, s. 415-444
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-time-resolution X-ray observations of compact objects provide direct access to strong-field gravity, to the equation of state of ultradense matter and to black hole masses and spins. A 10 m(2)-class instrument in combination with good spectral resolution is required to exploit the relevant diagnostics and answer two of the fundamental questions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Cosmic Vision Theme "Matter under extreme conditions", namely: does matter orbiting close to the event horizon follow the predictions of general relativity? What is the equation of state of matter in neutron stars? The Large Observatory For X-ray Timing (LOFT), selected by ESA as one of the four Cosmic Vision M3 candidate missions to undergo an assessment phase, will revolutionise the study of collapsed objects in our galaxy and of the brightest supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. Thanks to an innovative design and the development of large-area monolithic silicon drift detectors, the Large Area Detector (LAD) on board LOFT will achieve an effective area of similar to 12 m(2) (more than an order of magnitude larger than any spaceborne predecessor) in the 2-30 keV range (up to 50 keV in expanded mode), yet still fits a conventional platform and small/medium-class launcher. With this large area and a spectral resolution of < 260 eV, LOFT will yield unprecedented information on strongly curved spacetimes and matter under extreme conditions of pressure and magnetic field strength.
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| 5. |
- Ankowski, A., et al.
(author)
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Energy reconstruction of electromagnetic showers from Ν0 decays with the ICARUS T600 liquid argon TPC
- 2010
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In: Acta Physica Polonica, Series B.. - 1509-5770 .- 0587-4254. ; 41:1, s. 103-125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We discuss the ICARUS T600 detector capabilities in electromagnetic shower reconstruction through the analysis of a sample of 212 events, coming from the 2001 Pavia surface test run, of hadronic interactions leading to the production of π 0 mesons. Methods of shower energy and shower direction measurements were developed and the invariant mass of the photon pairs was reconstructed. The (γγ) invariant mass was found to be consistent with the value of the π 0 mass. The resolution of the reconstructed π 0 mass was found to be equal to 27.3%. An improved analysis, carried out in order to clean the full event sample from the events measured in the crowded environment, mostly due to the trigger conditions, gave a π 0 mass resolution of 16.1%, significantly better than the one evaluated for the full event sample. The trigger requirement of the coincidence of at least four photo-multiplier signals favored the selection of events with a strong pile up of cosmic ray tracks and interactions. Hence a number of candidate π 0 events were heavily contaminated by other tracks and had to be rejected. Monte Carlo simulations of events with π 0 production in hadronic and neutrino interactions confirmed the validity of the shower energy and shower direction reconstruction methods applied to the real data.
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| 6. |
- Ankowski, A, et al.
(author)
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Energy reconstruction of electromagnetic showers from π0 decays with the ICARUS T600 liquid argon TPC
- 2010
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In: Acta Physica Polonica B. - : Jagellonian University. - 0587-4254 .- 1509-5770. ; 41:1, s. 103-125
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We discuss the ICARUS T600 detector capabilities in electromagnetic shower reconstruction through the analysis of a sample of 212 events, coming from the 2001 Pavia surface test run, of hadronic interactions leading to the production of π0 mesons. Methods of shower energy and shower direction measurements were developed and the invariant mass of the photon pairs was reconstructed. The (γ,γ) invariant mass was found to be consistent with the value of the π0 mass. The resolution of the reconstructed π0 mass was found to be equal to 27.3%. An improved analysis, carried out in order to clean the full event sample from the events measured in the crowded environment, mostly due to the trigger conditions, gave a π0 mass resolution of 16.1%, significantly better than the one evaluated for the full event sample. The trigger requirement of the coincidence of at least four photo-multiplier signals favored the selection of events with a strong pile up of cosmic ray tracks and interactions. Hence a number of candidate π0 events were heavily contaminated by other tracks and had to be rejected. Monte Carlo simulations of events with π0 production in hadronic and neutrino interactions confirmed the validity of the shower energy and shower direction reconstruction methods applied to the real data.
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| 7. |
- Rubbia, C, et al.
(author)
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Underground operation of the ICARUS T600 LAr-TPC : first results
- 2011
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. ; 6:07
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Important open questions are still present in fundamental Physics and Cosmology, like the nature of Dark Matter, the matter-antimatter asymmetry and the validity of the Standard Model of particle interactions. Addressing these questions requires a new generation of massive particle detectors to explore the subatomic and astrophysical worlds. ICARUS T600 is the first large mass (760 tons) example of a new generation of detectors able to combine the imaging capabilities of the old famous “bubble chamber” with the excellent energy measurement of huge electronic detectors. ICARUS T600 now operates at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory and is used to study cosmic rays, neutrino oscillations and the proton decay. The potential for doing physics of this novel telescope is presented through a few examples of neutrino interactions reconstructed with unprecedented detail. Detector design and early operation are also reported.
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| 8. |
- Kajava, J. J. E., et al.
(author)
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X-ray dips and a complex UV/X-ray cross-correlation function in the black hole candidate MAXI J1820+070
- 2019
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966 .- 1745-3925 .- 1745-3933. ; 488:1, s. L18-L23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- MAXI J1820+070, a black hole candidate first detected in early 2018 March, was observed by XMM-Newton during the outburst rise. In this letter we report on the spectral and timing analysis of the XMM-Newton X-ray and UV data, as well as contemporaneous X-ray data from the Swift satellite. The X-ray spectrum is well described by a hard thermal Comptonization continuum. The XMM-Newton X-ray light curve shows a pronounced dipping interval, and spectral analysis indicates that it is caused by a moderately ionized partial covering absorber. The XMM-Newton/OM U-filter data do not reveal any signs of the 17 h orbital modulation that was seen later on during the outburst decay. The UV/X-ray cross-correlation function shows a complex shape, with a peak at positive lags of about 4 s and a precognition dip at negative lags, which is absent during the X-ray dipping episode. Such shape could arise if the UV emission comes partially from synchrotron self-Compton emission near the black hole, as well as from reprocessing of the X-rays in the colder accretion disc further out.
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