Simulation studies of the high-energy component of a future imaging Cherenkov telescope array

TL;DR

This paper presents simulation results for a future high-energy imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array, exploring its potential to probe cosmic rays and extragalactic sources beyond 100 TeV.

Contribution

It provides initial simulation insights into the design and capabilities of a future IACT array targeting energies above 100 TeV.

Findings

Potential to study cosmic ray 'knee' region

Access to unexplored extragalactic spectra

Design parameters for high-energy IACT array

Abstract

The current generation of Imaging Atmospheric telescopes (IACTs) has demonstrated the power of the technique in an energy range between ~100 GeV up to several tens of TeV. At the high-energy end, these instruments are limited by photon statistics. Future arrays of IACTs such as CTA or AGIS are planned to push into the energy range beyond 100 TeV. Scientifically, this region is very promising, providing a probe of particles up to the 'knee' in the cosmic ray spectrum and access to an unexplored region in the spectra of nearby extragalactic sources. We present first results from our simulation studies of the high-energy part of a future IACT array and discuss the design parameters of such an array.