Thesis

Cherenkov radiation in air showers

• Call:

  IDPASC Portugal - PHD Programme 2015

• Academic Year:

  2015 / 2016

• Domain:

  Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Lorenzo Cazon

• Co-Supervisor:

  Patricia Goncalves

• Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico

• Host Institution:

  Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas

• Abstract:

  High energy gamma ray and cosmic ray are messengers of the most violent regions in the cosmos. When they interact with the Earth atmosphere, they produce an air shower of secondary particles, that emits Cherenkov radiation. By analyzing this radiation, we are able to reconstruct the energy, arrival direction and nature of the primary. The present proposal aims to develop a model to describe the 4-dimensional behavior of the Cherenkov radiation in air showers in the UV wavelength. Based on these results, he or she will develop algorithms, methods and recipes to be applied by experimentalists to reconstruct the air shower by using the Cherenkov light. The student will become part of the Pierre Auger Collaboration, and will be exploring other experiments that make use of the Cherenkov radiation produced by air showers. This proposal ensures the publication in peer reviewed journals, with large impact factor. The student will enter the field of astroparticle physics, with great career opportunities in the forthcoming years, as the field is expanding and experiments are to be constructed, or updated. The student will also achieve unique expertise very valuable for the industry and society applications like knowledge of cutting edge technology and electronics, high level computing skills (mostly in C++), Monte Carlo and numerical simulations, statistics, and large data handling, which might be of interest for Big Data projects.