Muons as a tool for background rejection in imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays

Discussion timeslot (ZOOM-Meeting): 16. July 2021 - 18:00
ZOOM-Meeting URL: https://icrc2021.desy.de/pf_access_abstracts
Corresponding Session: https://icrc2021-venue.desy.de/channel/Presenter-Forum-1-Evening-All-Categories/48
Abstract:
'The presence of muons in air-showers initiated by cosmic ray protons and nuclei is well established as a powerful tool to separate such showers from those initiated by gamma-rays. However, so far this approach has been exploited only for ground level particle detecting arrays. In this contribution, we explore the feasibility of using Cherenkov light from muons as a background rejection tool for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays at the highest energies. We adopt an analytical model of the Cherenkov light from individual muons to allow rapid simulation of a large number of showers in a hybrid mode. This allows exploration of the very high background rejection power regime at acceptable cost in terms of computing time. We find that for very large telescopes (~20 m diameter), efficient identification of muons would provide a major improvement with respect to standard background rejection techniques at energies above several tens of TeVs.'

Authors: Laura Olivera-Nieto | Alison Mitchell | Jim Hinton
Indico-ID: 1151
Proceeding URL: https://pos.sissa.it/395/754