WoU-MMA: Multi-Messenger and Multi-Wavelength Particle Astrophysics with HAWC

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is located on the highest mountain in Mexico and is designed to observe astrophysical sources at the highest energies of light, called gamma rays. Unlike more traditional ground-based telescopes that point at a small region of sky on clear nights, HAWC continuously monitors the full sky above it serving as a finder telescope and an ideal partner for coincident observations with other observatories. This award supports scientists at Michigan State University (MSU) to use HAWC to study the physical conditions and processes in the most extreme environments in the Universe, as well as test fundamental physics questions such as what’s the nature of dark matter. The group also participates in studies of multi-messenger astrophysics using HAWC’s data to search for gamma-ray counterparts to the high-energy neutrinos detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The exciting science capabilities of HAWC are conveyed to general audiences through public outreach activities and a new workshop on gamma rays for high-school students is being developed. The research group has a strong tradition of training a diverse work force and currently includes women and under-represented minorities. HAWC is the world’s most powerful survey instrument for 1-100 TeV gamma rays. The MSU group has made significant contributions to HAWC’s construction, operations, and science. HAWC recently reprocessed 6 years of data with significantly improved reconstruction software. The improvements will greatly impact all analyses but especially source searches and analyses looking towards the Galactic Center. HAWC’s wide field-of-view and continuous operation means it can study very extended regions of gamma-ray emission and monitor time-varying phenomena nearly-continuously. The MSU group will use these capabilities as well as capitalize on their unique position of having members on both HAWC and IceCube simultaneously to perform multi-messenger searches for time-varying gamma-ray sources correlated with IceCube neutrino events and combined searches for dark matter. A module on gamma rays and the HAWC detector will be added to the MSU Masterclass series offered to high school students. This work directly addresses the goals of NSF's "Windows on the Universe: The Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics" Big Idea. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.