Scientific Goals

The "São Paulo School of Advanced Science on High Energy and Plasma Astrophysics in the CTA Era (SPSAS-HighAstro)" will be held at the Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG) of Universidade de São Paulo (USP), in São Paulo from 21 to 31 May 2017.

The main goal of this Advanced School is the training of new researchers in the areas of Plasma and High Energy Astrophysics, emphasizing on gamma-ray astronomy. SPSAS-HighAstro will prepare the participants for the utilization of the largest gamma-ray astronomical observatory ever built - the CTA. The topics to be addressed will include studies of: high-energy non-thermal radiative processes; the mechanisms by which cosmic gamma rays are detected - by the showers of relativistic particles and Cherenkov radiation that they produce after reaching the Earth's atmosphere; the processes used to analyze this radiation for image reconstruction of astrophysical sources that produce the gamma radiation; the acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays, which are responsible for gamma ray emission in astrophysical sources via the interactions with matter, magnetic fields and low energy photons in these same sources.

SPSAS-HighAstro lectures will discuss the following main topics:

The SOC has selected renowned experts in the field to be the lecturers of the topics above. Some of the speakers are members of the CTA collaboration, and will be attending the CTA Consortium General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro held the week before SPSAS-HighAstro.


Scientific Rationale

Astronomy in the 21st century aims the construction of new generations of telescopes and instruments to observe the light emitted by far-off celestial objects, covering the whole spectrum of electromagnetic radiation: from radio to gamma rays. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the world's largest Gamma-ray Observatory, aimed to be constructed by 2022. It involves an international collaboration of more than 32 countries, which includes Brazil. CTA will provide the deepest insight ever reached into the non-thermal high-energy Universe. It will deliver significant contributions to Cosmology, Plasma Astrophysics, and Astroparticle Physics, yielding an intense synergy between these research areas.

The CTA will probe the physical conditions of cosmic ray accelerators which are responsible for gamma radiation - like black hole sources, pulsars, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and relativistic jets; the composition and origin of dark matter; the cosmic magnetic fields; and explore the violation of the constancy of the light speed. CTA will give an improvement in sensitivity of a factor 5-10 times greater than the current observatories between 100 GeV and 10 TeV, and will extend the observable energies well below 100 GeV and above 100 TeV. The CTA will consist of two arrays: one in the Northern Hemisphere at Canary Islands-Spain, and another in the Southern Hemisphere at ESO-Chile. It will consist of about 100 telescopes of 3 different sizes for a complete sky coverage, and will operate as an open observatory.

The ASTRI MINI-ARRAY will be a precursor around which the full CTA will be built. ASTRI will contain 9 Cherenkov telescopes of dual-mirror SST type (small-size telescope) 4.3m in diameter, and will be installed at the South CTA site (ESO-Chile) from 2017. ASTRI will have a sensitivity higher than that of H.E.S.S. (currently the largest ground-based gamma-ray observatory with 5 Cherenkov telescopes), and will reach energies above 100 TeV. With its wide field of view (9.6 degrees in diameter), it will enable the investigation, unprecedented in gamma rays, from energetic sources (such as remnants of supernova and radio galaxies). At the same time, it will detect several objects during the same pointing, thus maximizing the scientific return. The ASTRI prototype telescope was inaugurated in Serra la Nave-Catania in September-2014. It features an innovative modular focal camera with silicone photo-multipliers developed in partnership with Brazilian engineers of IAG-USP.

IAG-USP is participating in the construction of the ASTRI MINI-ARRAY in partnership with Italy and South Africa. USP will build 3 of the ASTRI telescopes through the funding support of FAPESP, with a grant of about $ 4 million over 4 years in the Thematic Project entitled: "Investigation of High Energy and Plasma Astrophysics Phenomena: Theory, Numerical Simulations, Observations, and Instrument Development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)" (No. 2013 / 10559-5). Brazilian engineers are currently engaged in the evaluation tests, modifying the ASTRI prototype and constructing the detector. Similarly, USP-São Carlos is developing CTA's middle-size telescope (MST)'s camera support, in partnership with the German CTA team, and with the funding of FAPESP to another recently approved Thematic Project. Also, CBPF-Rio de Janeiro is actively participating in the CTA mission through the development of structural components for the large-size telescopes (LSTs).

The CTA and ASTRI MINI-ARRAY are among the largest projects in current Brazilian astronomy and the Astronomy Network of the state of São Paulo (SPAnet). These instruments will boost the astronomy research to a new level, with the first coverage of the full radiation spectrum of the Universe, up to a few 100 TeVs. They will enable unique infrastructures and opportunities to current and future astronomers in São Paulo and Brazil. One of our main goals is thus the training of new researchers in this area, comprehensively addressing the key themes. Therefore, the organization of an Advanced Science School on "High Energy and Plasma Astrophysics in the CTA Era", is more than timely and necessary, in order to prepare new generations of researchers in this exciting field.

The first General Meeting of the CTA Consortium in the American continent will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between 15-19 May 2017. It will bring to Brazil hundreds of eminent researchers in high-energy astrophysics and cosmology from all over the world. This will furnish an unique opportunity to combine the two events: i.e. the holding of the Consortium Meeting, and the organization of an Advanced School for the training and preparation of our students in this vast field of research including CTA.