Pierre Sokolsky & Gus Sinnis 
LARGE AREA NETWORKED DETECTORS FOR PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS [EPUB ebook] 

The universe is pervaded by particles with extreme energies, millions of times greater than we can produce on Earth. They have been a mystery for over a century. Now, current and future experiments in particle astrophysics are leading us to answers to the most fundamental questions about them. How does nature accelerate the highest energy particles in the universe? Do new interactions between them occur at such extreme energies? Are there unknown aspects of spacetime that can be uncovered by studying these particles?

This book brings together three fields within ‘extreme astronomy’: ultra-high-energy cosmic ray physics, neutrino astronomy, and gamma-ray astronomy, and discusses how each can help answer these questions. Each field is presented with a theoretical introduction that clearly elucidates the key questions scientists face. This is followed by chapters that discuss the current set of experiments — how they work and their discoveries. Finally, new techniques and approaches are discussed to solve the mysteries uncovered by the current experiments.

Contents:

• Preface


• About the Editors


• About the Contributors


• Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays: Scientific Motivation (Ke Fang)


• Ground Arrays: Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array (Douglas R Bergman)


• Digital Antenna Arrays for Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Particles (Frank G Schroeder)


• Space-based Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray Experiments (John F Krizmanic)


• Neutrinos: Scientific Motivation (Francis Halzen)


• New Techniques for Neutrino Detection (Amy Connolly)


• Very-High-Energy Gamma Rays (Felix Aharonian)


• Particle Detection Arrays for Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astrophysics (Petra Huentemeyer)


• Networks of Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes for Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astrophysics (Justin A Vandenbroucke)

Readership: Academic faculty in Physics and Astronomy; graduate students and postdocs in Physics and Astronomy; research scientists in National Laboratories; Federal Funding Agency staff.

Key Features:

• Combine Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays, Neutrino Astronomy and High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy in a unique, unified approach


• Completely up-to-date description and discussion of cutting-edge current and future detector networks in particle astrophysics


• Concise presentation of current theoretical issues that are motivating the next generation experiments in all three fields


• Chapters written by leaders in their respective fields


• Timely presentation for discussion of the future of particle astrophysics in the US and Europe