A pair production telescope for medium-energy gamma-ray polarimetry

Authors

S Hunter, Goddard Space Flight Center
Peter F. Bloser, University of New HampshireFollow
Gerardo O. Depaola, Universidad de Córdoba
Michael P. Dion, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
Georgia A. DeNolfo, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
Andrei Hanu, NASA
Marcos Iparraguirre, Universidad de Córdoba
Jason S. Legere, University of New HampshireFollow
Francesco Longo, Università Degli Studi de Trieste
Mark L. McConnell, University of New Hampshire - Main CampusFollow
Suzanne F. Nowicki, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr
James M. Ryan, University of New HampshireFollow
Seunghee Son, University of Maryland - Baltimore CountyFollow
Floyd Stecker, NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr

Abstract

We describe the science motivation and development of a pair production telescope for medium-energy (∼5–200 MeV) gamma-ray polarimetry. Our instrument concept, the Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT), takes advantage of the Three-Dimensional Track Imager, a low-density gaseous time projection chamber, to achieve angular resolution within a factor of two of the pair production kinematics limit (∼0.6° at 70 MeV), continuum sensitivity comparable with the Fermi-LAT front detector (<3 × 10⁻⁶ MeV cm⁻² s⁻¹ at 70 MeV), and minimum detectable polarization less than 10% for a 10 mCrab source in 10⁶ s.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

7-2014

Journal Title

Astroparticle Physics

Publisher

Elsevier

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.astropartphys.2014.04.002

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Stanley D. Hunter, Peter F. Bloser, Gerardo O. Depaola, Michael P. Dion, Georgia A. DeNolfo, Andrei Hanu, Marcos Iparraguirre, Jason Legere, Francesco Longo, Mark L. McConnell, Suzanne F. Nowicki, James M. Ryan, Seunghee Son, Floyd W. Stecker, A pair production telescope for medium-energy gamma-ray polarimetry, Astroparticle Physics, Volume 59, July–August 2014, Pages 18-28, ISSN 0927-6505, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2014.04.002. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927650514000413)