International School of Cosmic Ray Astrophysics
14th Course: "Neutrinos and Explosive Events in the Universe"
A NATO Advanced Study Institute
2-13 July 2004
Ettore Majorana Centre
Erice, Sicily, Italy
Topic: Astrophysics with Ground Based Gamma Ray Detectors
Lecturer: Felix Aharonian
Over the last decade, the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT)
technique has emerged as the most powerful tool for a study of the sky in very
high energy gamma-rays. I will highlight astrophysical implications of reported
TeV gamma-ray sources, and discuss the potential of the forthcoming "100 GeV"
threshold IACT arrays, in particular for solution of the old-standing problem of
origin of galactic cosmic rays, and exploration of physics of relativistic jets
of Active Galactic Nuclei and Microquasars . Finally, I will describe the
current concepts of extension of the IACT technique to the sub-10 GeV energy
domain, and outline the astrophysical motivations for practical realization of
these concepts.