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Performance of the HAWC Observatory and TeV Gamma-Ray Measurements of the Crab Nebula with Improved Extensive Air Shower Reconstruction Algorithms

Fuente: arXiv

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Main Authors:	Albert, A ., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Andrés, A ., Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C., Rojas, D. Avila, Solares, H. A. Ayala, Babu, R., Belmont-Moreno, E., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Capistrán, T., Carramiñana, A., Casanova, S., Cotti, U., Cotzomi, J., de León, S. Coutiño, De la Fuente, E., de León, C., Depaoli, D., Di Lalla, N., Hernandez, R. Diaz, Dingus, B. L ., DuVernois, M. A., Engel, K., Ergin, T., Espinoza, C ., Fan, K. L., Fang, K., Fraija, N., Fraija, S., García-González, J. A., Garfias, F., Goksu, H ., González, M. M., Goodman, J. A., Groetsch, S., Harding, J. P., Hernández-Cadena, S., Herzog, I., Hinton, J ., Huang, D., Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F., Hüntemeyer, P., Iriarte, A., Kaufmann, S., Lara, A ., Lee, J., Vargas, H. León, Linnemann, J. T ., Longinotti, A. L., Luis-Raya, G., Malone, K., Martínez-Castro, J., Matthews, J. A., Miranda-Romagnoli, P., Montes, J. A., Moreno, E., Mostafá, M., Nellen, L., Nisa, M. U ., Noriega-Papaqui, R ., Olivera-Nieto, L ., Omodei, N., Osorio, M., Araujo, Y. Pérez, Pérez-Pérez, E. G., Rho, C. D., Rosa-González, D., Ruiz-Velasco, E ., Salazar, H., Salazar-Gallegos, D., Sandoval, A., Schneider, M., Schwefer, G ., Serna-Franco, J., Smith, A. J., Son, Y., Springer, R. W ., Tibolla, O., Tollefson, K., Torres, I., Torres-Escobedo, R., Turner, R., Ureña-Mena, F., Varela, E ., Wang, X., Watson, I. J., Whitaker, K., Willox, E., Wu, H., Yu, S ., Yun-Cárcamo, S., Zhou, H.
Format:	Preprint
Published:	2024
Subjects:	High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Online Access:	Acceder al recurso
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author	Albert, A . Alfaro, R. Alvarez, C. Andrés, A . Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C. Rojas, D. Avila Solares, H. A. Ayala Babu, R. Belmont-Moreno, E. Caballero-Mora, K. S. Capistrán, T. Carramiñana, A. Casanova, S. Cotti, U. Cotzomi, J. de León, S. Coutiño De la Fuente, E. de León, C. Depaoli, D. Di Lalla, N. Hernandez, R. Diaz Dingus, B. L . DuVernois, M. A. Engel, K. Ergin, T. Espinoza, C . Fan, K. L. Fang, K. Fraija, N. Fraija, S. García-González, J. A. Garfias, F. Goksu, H . González, M. M. Goodman, J. A. Groetsch, S. Harding, J. P. Hernández-Cadena, S. Herzog, I. Hinton, J . Huang, D. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F. Hüntemeyer, P. Iriarte, A. Kaufmann, S. Lara, A . Lee, J. Vargas, H. León Linnemann, J. T . Longinotti, A. L. Luis-Raya, G. Malone, K. Martínez-Castro, J. Matthews, J. A. Miranda-Romagnoli, P. Montes, J. A. Moreno, E. Mostafá, M. Nellen, L. Nisa, M. U . Noriega-Papaqui, R . Olivera-Nieto, L . Omodei, N. Osorio, M. Araujo, Y. Pérez Pérez-Pérez, E. G. Rho, C. D. Rosa-González, D. Ruiz-Velasco, E . Salazar, H. Salazar-Gallegos, D. Sandoval, A. Schneider, M. Schwefer, G . Serna-Franco, J. Smith, A. J. Son, Y. Springer, R. W . Tibolla, O. Tollefson, K. Torres, I. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, R. Ureña-Mena, F. Varela, E . Wang, X. Watson, I. J. Whitaker, K. Willox, E. Wu, H. Yu, S . Yun-Cárcamo, S. Zhou, H.
author_facet	Albert, A . Alfaro, R. Alvarez, C. Andrés, A . Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C. Rojas, D. Avila Solares, H. A. Ayala Babu, R. Belmont-Moreno, E. Caballero-Mora, K. S. Capistrán, T. Carramiñana, A. Casanova, S. Cotti, U. Cotzomi, J. de León, S. Coutiño De la Fuente, E. de León, C. Depaoli, D. Di Lalla, N. Hernandez, R. Diaz Dingus, B. L . DuVernois, M. A. Engel, K. Ergin, T. Espinoza, C . Fan, K. L. Fang, K. Fraija, N. Fraija, S. García-González, J. A. Garfias, F. Goksu, H . González, M. M. Goodman, J. A. Groetsch, S. Harding, J. P. Hernández-Cadena, S. Herzog, I. Hinton, J . Huang, D. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F. Hüntemeyer, P. Iriarte, A. Kaufmann, S. Lara, A . Lee, J. Vargas, H. León Linnemann, J. T . Longinotti, A. L. Luis-Raya, G. Malone, K. Martínez-Castro, J. Matthews, J. A. Miranda-Romagnoli, P. Montes, J. A. Moreno, E. Mostafá, M. Nellen, L. Nisa, M. U . Noriega-Papaqui, R . Olivera-Nieto, L . Omodei, N. Osorio, M. Araujo, Y. Pérez Pérez-Pérez, E. G. Rho, C. D. Rosa-González, D. Ruiz-Velasco, E . Salazar, H. Salazar-Gallegos, D. Sandoval, A. Schneider, M. Schwefer, G . Serna-Franco, J. Smith, A. J. Son, Y. Springer, R. W . Tibolla, O. Tollefson, K. Torres, I. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, R. Ureña-Mena, F. Varela, E . Wang, X. Watson, I. J. Whitaker, K. Willox, E. Wu, H. Yu, S . Yun-Cárcamo, S. Zhou, H.
contents	The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory located on the side of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, has been fully operational since 2015. The HAWC collaboration has recently significantly improved their extensive-air-shower reconstruction algorithms, which has notably advanced the observatory performance. The energy resolution for primary gamma rays with energies below 1~TeV was improved by including a noise-suppression algorithm. Corrections have also been made to systematic errors in direction fitting related to the detector and shower plane inclinations, $\mathcal{O}(0.1^{\circ})$ biases in highly inclined showers, as well as enhancements to the core reconstruction. The angular resolution for gamma rays approaching the HAWC array from large zenith angles ($> 37^{\circ}$) has improved by a factor of four at the highest energies ($> 70$~TeV) as compared to previous reconstructions. The inclusion of a lateral distribution function fit to the extensive air shower footprint on the array to separate gamma-ray primaries from cosmic-ray ones, based on the resulting $χ^{2}$ values, improved the background rejection performance at all inclinations. At large zenith angles, the improvement in significance is a factor of four compared to previous HAWC publications. These enhancements have been verified by observing the Crab Nebula, which is an overhead source for the HAWC Observatory. We show that the sensitivity to Crab-like point sources ($E^{-2.63}$) with locations overhead to 30$^{\circ}$ zenith is comparable or less than 10\% of the Crab Nebula's flux between 2 and 50~TeV. Thanks to these improvements, HAWC can now detect more sources, including the Galactic Center.
format	Preprint
id	arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_06050
institution	arXiv
publishDate	2024
record_format	arxiv
spellingShingle	Performance of the HAWC Observatory and TeV Gamma-Ray Measurements of the Crab Nebula with Improved Extensive Air Shower Reconstruction Algorithms Albert, A . Alfaro, R. Alvarez, C. Andrés, A . Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C. Rojas, D. Avila Solares, H. A. Ayala Babu, R. Belmont-Moreno, E. Caballero-Mora, K. S. Capistrán, T. Carramiñana, A. Casanova, S. Cotti, U. Cotzomi, J. de León, S. Coutiño De la Fuente, E. de León, C. Depaoli, D. Di Lalla, N. Hernandez, R. Diaz Dingus, B. L . DuVernois, M. A. Engel, K. Ergin, T. Espinoza, C . Fan, K. L. Fang, K. Fraija, N. Fraija, S. García-González, J. A. Garfias, F. Goksu, H . González, M. M. Goodman, J. A. Groetsch, S. Harding, J. P. Hernández-Cadena, S. Herzog, I. Hinton, J . Huang, D. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F. Hüntemeyer, P. Iriarte, A. Kaufmann, S. Lara, A . Lee, J. Vargas, H. León Linnemann, J. T . Longinotti, A. L. Luis-Raya, G. Malone, K. Martínez-Castro, J. Matthews, J. A. Miranda-Romagnoli, P. Montes, J. A. Moreno, E. Mostafá, M. Nellen, L. Nisa, M. U . Noriega-Papaqui, R . Olivera-Nieto, L . Omodei, N. Osorio, M. Araujo, Y. Pérez Pérez-Pérez, E. G. Rho, C. D. Rosa-González, D. Ruiz-Velasco, E . Salazar, H. Salazar-Gallegos, D. Sandoval, A. Schneider, M. Schwefer, G . Serna-Franco, J. Smith, A. J. Son, Y. Springer, R. W . Tibolla, O. Tollefson, K. Torres, I. Torres-Escobedo, R. Turner, R. Ureña-Mena, F. Varela, E . Wang, X. Watson, I. J. Whitaker, K. Willox, E. Wu, H. Yu, S . Yun-Cárcamo, S. Zhou, H. High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory located on the side of the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico, has been fully operational since 2015. The HAWC collaboration has recently significantly improved their extensive-air-shower reconstruction algorithms, which has notably advanced the observatory performance. The energy resolution for primary gamma rays with energies below 1~TeV was improved by including a noise-suppression algorithm. Corrections have also been made to systematic errors in direction fitting related to the detector and shower plane inclinations, $\mathcal{O}(0.1^{\circ})$ biases in highly inclined showers, as well as enhancements to the core reconstruction. The angular resolution for gamma rays approaching the HAWC array from large zenith angles ($> 37^{\circ}$) has improved by a factor of four at the highest energies ($> 70$~TeV) as compared to previous reconstructions. The inclusion of a lateral distribution function fit to the extensive air shower footprint on the array to separate gamma-ray primaries from cosmic-ray ones, based on the resulting $χ^{2}$ values, improved the background rejection performance at all inclinations. At large zenith angles, the improvement in significance is a factor of four compared to previous HAWC publications. These enhancements have been verified by observing the Crab Nebula, which is an overhead source for the HAWC Observatory. We show that the sensitivity to Crab-like point sources ($E^{-2.63}$) with locations overhead to 30$^{\circ}$ zenith is comparable or less than 10\% of the Crab Nebula's flux between 2 and 50~TeV. Thanks to these improvements, HAWC can now detect more sources, including the Galactic Center.
title	Performance of the HAWC Observatory and TeV Gamma-Ray Measurements of the Crab Nebula with Improved Extensive Air Shower Reconstruction Algorithms
topic	High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url	https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.06050