Published October 11, 2008 | Version v1
Journal article

Monte Carlo studies of geomagnetic field effects on the imaging air Cherenkov technique for the MAGIC telescope site

  • 1. ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Switzerland (Switzerland)
  • 2. Universidad Complutense, E-28040 Madrid (Spain)
  • 3. Institut de Fisica d'Altes Energies, Edifici Cn., E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona (Spain)
  • 4. University of Lodz, PL-90236 Lodz (Poland)
  • 5. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik, D-80805 Muenchen (Germany)

Description

Imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) detect the Cherenkov light from extensive air showers (EAS) initiated by very high energy (VHE) γ-rays impinging on the Earth's atmosphere. Due to the overwhelming background from hadron-induced EAS, the discrimination of the rare γ-like events is vital. The influence of the geomagnetic field (GF) on the development of EAS can further complicate the imaging air Cherenkov technique. The amount and the angular distribution of Cherenkov light from EAS can be obtained by means of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Here we present the results from dedicated MC studies of GF effects on images from γ-ray initiated EAS for the MAGIC telescope site, where the GF strength is ∼40μT. The results from the MC studies suggest that GF effects degrade not only measurements of very low energy γ-rays below ∼100GeV but also those at TeV-energies

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2008.07.144

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.nima.2008.07.144;
arXiv
arXiv:0802.2551v4;
PII
S0168-9002(08)01097-8;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Journal Volume
595
Journal Issue
3
Journal Page Range
p. 572-586
ISSN
0168-9002
CODEN
NIMAER

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.