Very High Energy Gamma Rays from Outer Space

by Dr. Phil Allport (IFIC & University of Liverpool)

Monday 19 Jun 2000, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Madrid

Sala Seminarios IFIC (Edf. Institutos de Investigación)

The Universe has been studied across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays. However, the field of extreme energy gamma rays (GeV to TeV) is still very much in its infancy but promises a direct view of some of the most energetic processes in the Universe. The field is truly cross-disciplinary, bringing together high energy astrophysicists with cosmic ray and particle physicists. The science reach of the next generation of experiments also promises measurements of direct interest to all three disciplines. In this seminar, some of the experimental facilities and potential discoveries are reviewed from a particle physics perspective, showing how the growing area of `particle astrophysics' offers complimentary results to accelerator based studies and to longer wavelength astrophysics measurements.