The HiSCORE experiment and its potential for gamma-ray astronomy

Abstract

The HiSCORE (Hundred*i Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer) detector aims at the exploration of the accelerator sky, using indirect air-shower observations of cosmic rays from 100 TeV to 1 EeV and gamma rays in the last remaining observation window of gamma-ray astronomy from 10 TeV to several PeV. The main questions addressed by HiSCORE are cosmic ray composition and spectral measurements in the Galactic/extragalactic transition range, and the origin of cosmic rays via the search for gamma rays from Galactic PeV accelerators, the pevatrons. HiSCORE is based on non-imaging Cherenkov light-front sampling with sensitive large-area detector modules of the order of 0.5 m2. A prototype station was deployed on the Tunka cosmic ray experiment site in Siberia, where an engineering array of up to 1km2 is planned for deployment in 2012/2013. Here, we address the expected physics potential of HiSCORE, the status of the project, and further plans.