High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy Results on Fundamental Questions after 30 Years of Ground-Based Observations

• Other Authors: de Almeida, Ulisses Barres (Editor), Doro, Michele (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022
• Subjects: Research & information: general; Mathematics & science; gamma ray astronomy; imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique; TeV gamma-rays; non-thermal radiation; keV-TeV cosmic sources; INTEGRAL legacy data base; relativistic astrophysics; gamma rays; cosmic rays; interstellar medium; Milky Way; galaxies; radiation mechanisms: non-thermal; high energy astrophysics; background radiation; photon-photon interaction; pair production; axion-like particles; gamma-rays; IACTs; intergalactic magnetic fields; high-energy gamma rays; electromagnetic cascades; pevatrons; Galactic cosmic rays; PeVatron; Crab Nebula; angular resolution; energy spectral distribution; γ-ray astronomy; very-high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics; astroparticle physics; imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes; Quantum Gravity; Lorentz invariance violation; time of flight; modified photon interactions; very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy; open science; data format; multi-messenger; real-time; high-energy; alerts; very-high-energy γ-ray astronomy; atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes; source catalogues; gamma-ray astronomy; Cherenkov telescopes; ISM: supernova remnants; ISM: individual objects-Crab Nebula; pulsars: general; radiation mechanisms: nonthermal; gamma rays: general; acceleration of particles; astrophysical plasmas; MHD; high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics; Gamma-ray bursts; non-thermal emission; radiative processes; very-high energy Gamma-rays; statistical analysis; likelihood; bayes; imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope; IACT; IACT technology; very high energy gamma-ray telescope; ground-based gamma-ray astrophysics; n/a
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

This volume celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first very-high energy (VHE) gamma-ray Source detection: the Crab Nebula, observed by the pioneering ground-based Cherenkov telescope Whipple, at teraelectronvolts (TeV) energies, in 1989. As we entered a new era in TeV astronomy, with the imminent start of operations of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) and new facilities such as LHAASO and the proposed Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), we conceived of this volume as a broad reflection on how far we have evolved in the astrophysics topics that dominated the field of TeV astronomy for much of recent history.In the past two decades, H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS pushed the field of TeV astronomy, consolidating the field of TeV astrophysics, from few to hundreds of TeV emitters. Today, this is a mature field, covering almost every topic of modern astrophysics. TeV astrophysics is also at the center of the multi-messenger astrophysics revolution, as the extreme photon energies involved provide an effective probe in cosmic-ray acceleration, propagation and interaction, in dark matter and exotic physics searches. The improvement that CTA will carry forward and the fact that CTA will operate as the first open observatory in the field, mean that gamma-ray astronomy is about to enter a new precision and productive era.This book aims to serve as an introduction to the field and its state of the art, presenting a series of authoritative reviews on a broad range of topics in which TeV astronomy provided essential contributions, and where some of the most relevant questions for future research lie.