Massive Argon Space Telescope (MAST): A concept of heavy time projection chamber for γ-ray astronomy in the 100 MeV–1 TeV energy range

Abstract

We explore the concept of liquid Argon time projection chamber (TPC) for γ-ray astronomy in the 100 MeV–1 TeV energy range. We propose a basic layout for such a telescope called MAST. Using a last-generation rocket such as Falcon Heavy, it is possible to launch a detector with the effective area and the differential sensitivity about one order of magnitude better than the Fermi-LAT ones. At the same time, the MAST concept allows for an excellent angular resolution, 3–10 times better than the Fermi-LAT one depending on the energy, and good energy resolution ( ≈ 20% at 100 MeV and 6–10% for the 10 GeV–1 TeV energy range). We show that such a telescope would be instrumental in a broad range of long-standing astrophysical problems.