| Project Detail |
All Disciplines (2)
Discipline
Particle Physics
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences
Keywords (11)
Chinese Space Station, cosmic rays, High Energy Radiation Detector HERD, gamma-ray astronomy, astroparticle physics, AMS-02, HERD, DAMPE, x-ray astrophysics, Dark Matter, POLAR on Tiangong 2 space laboratory
Lay Summary (French)
Lead
High energy particles from the cosmos were discovered more than 100 years ago. Since then, many measurements and discoveries have been made, including the experiment conducted by the Swiss physicist Auguste Picard in 1932 in a pressurized cabin attached to a hot air balloon at an altitude of 16 km. Despite all these advances, great mysteries persist. What are the origins of these particles, how are they accelerated to such high energy, and how did they cross the interstellar spaces to reach the Earth? In addition, 85% of matter in the Universe is "black," since its existence is only evidenced by their gravitational effects. So, is it possible that clues about dark matter are found in astroparticles? Astroparticle Physics in Space is a multidisciplinary research that combines particle physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and space technology.
Lay summary
Content and objectives of the research work
We are conducting our research on high energy particles in space with two flagship missions currently in orbit, AMS and DAMPE. AMS is a mission mounted on the International Space Station for which the team from the University of Geneva has developed a particle detector based on the silicon detector of very high precision, which allows to measure the pulses of charged particles entered in the spectrometer. Since taking office in May 2011, AMS has measured the flow of electrons, positrons, protons, helium and other ions with unprecedented accuracy. Several unexpected phenomena in these measurements have been discovered.
DAMPE is a satellite mission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for which our team, in collaboration with Italian and Chinese teams, has developed a detector similar to that of AMS. The development and construction of this detector, the Silicon-Tungsten Tracker (STK), took place mainly in our laboratory in Geneva, with the support of SMEs in Switzerland. DAMPE was launched in December 2015. Since then, all devices on DAMPE, including STK, have worked very well. AMS and DAMPE are complementary, one (AMS) is based on a precise measurement of the particle impulse up to a few TeV / c, the other (DAMPE) excels in the measurement of energies, up to some 50 TeV. So with DAMPE we can explore particles with energies never measured directly with a very high precision.
In fact, to go beyond 100 TeV, you have to develop new mission concepts and innovative detection technologies. The HERD component of this project concerns R & D for a mission on the future Chinese space station. Our team is developing a detector with a new technology, based on sparkling fibers, which is more robust, more economical and more efficient to detect large sizes.
POLAR is a polarimeter mounted on the Chinese TG-2 space laboratory, which was launched into orbit on September 15, 2016. Our team set up the main detector based on the plastic scintillator. The accurate polarization measurement by POLAR will help us understand how gamma-ray bursts have occurred.
Scientific and social context of the research project
Our research projects are at the forefront in the research of astroparticle physics. The results are published in prestigious scientific journals. We develop space missions involving advanced particle detection techniques as well as space technology. Thanks to these projects, close international collaborations, especially between Switzerland and China, have been developed. Swiss industry, especially high tech SMEs, are involved in these projects.
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 05.10.2017
Responsible applicant and co-applicants
Name Institute
Wu Xin Department of Nuclear and Corpuscular Physics University of Geneva
Employees
Name Institute
Vitilo Stefania
Kole Merlin Department of Nuclear and Corpuscular Physics University of Geneva
Gallo Valentina Santina Department of Nuclear and Corpuscular Physics University of Geneva
Munoz Salinas Maria Fernanda
Chen Yao
Associated projects
Number Title Start Funding scheme
163289 HIGH ENERGY ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS IN SPACE: THE DAMPE MISSION 01.12.2015 Project support (Dept. I-III)
169053 Astroparticle Physics in Space: AMS, POLAR and Future Missions 01.10.2016 Project support (Dept. I-III)
Abstract
The past decade has seen a rapid development of astroparticle physics in space, in which advanced particle detection techniques typically used in accelerator experiments were successfully applied to payloads deployed either with satellites or on board the International Space Station (ISS), aiming to answer key questions in astrophysics and cosmology by studying high-energy particles in space. The multi-messenger and multi-wavelength approach, grown out of the synergy between the astroparticle physics, astrophysics and observational cosmology, both in detection technology and in science, provides a new and powerful tool to understanding the physics of the Universe. Direct observations of cosmic particles are being extended to multi-TeV and early indications point to the possibility that some unknown physical processes are at play at this energy range. The Geneva group has been a major player in this process and has been the leading institute for several important detector systems used in space missions that are either in operation (AMS-02, DAMPE and POLAR), or in the proposal selection/approval phase (HERD, eASTROGAM, eXTP). The Geneva group has been supported by two SNF grants: 200021_163289 (DAMPE) and 200021_169053 (AMS, POLAR and future missions). This request is the merger of these two grants. It presents a coherent and dynamic research program at the leading edge of the cosmic ray physics and of the space particle detection instrumentation, connecting seamlessly mature, new and future major missions of the field: A) AMS: Precise measurements of heavy nuclei fluxes at the hundreds GeV/nucleon range and isotopic composition at ~10 GeV/nucleon; B) DAMPE: Measurements of the electron, proton and nuclei fluxes to multi-TeV/nucleon with high accuracy; C) HERD: Detector development for the future mission HERD, for hundreds TeV/nucleon measurements; D) POLAR: Time-binned and high statistics measurement of Gamma-Ray Burst polarization; It will be a very exciting period for the group in the next few years. It is in the remarkable situation that three missions (AMS, DAMPE, POLAR) to which the group has contributed strongly to the payload construction are all in smooth operation, providing a large amount of high quality science data. The analysis of these data may lead to some ground-breaking measurements. In this regard, the support of SNF is crucial for the group to fully exploit the science data, in order to reap the return of the important amount of hardware, personnel and expertise already invested in the design, construction, commissioning, and calibration of these payloads. The support will allow the group, unique in Switzerland for space astroparticle physics hardware development, to position itself for a leading role in future astroparticle and astrophysics mission opportunities. The Geneva group collaborates closely with the Integral Science Data Center (ISDC) of the University of Geneva, through the framework of the Center for Astroparticle Physics, CAP Genève. Ongoing collaborations include POLAR and HERD, and, not covered by this request, the development of future x-ray (eXTP) and gamma-ray (eASTROGAM) missions. The HERD fiber tracker R&D project profits from the collaboration with the EPFL LHCb group, and is synergetic with the CTA project and the TOF detector for Mu3e at PSI. The project supported by this request will allow the Geneva group to sustain the close collaborative relationship cultivated over the past years with Chinese research institutes and space agencies, as well as with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Swiss Space Office (SSO). |
