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Free keywords:
Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, astro-ph.IM, Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE
MPINP:
HESS - Abteilung Hofmann
Abstract:
We present a high-performance event reconstruction algorithm: an Image
Pixel-wise fit for Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (ImPACT). The
reconstruction algorithm is based around the likelihood fitting of camera pixel
amplitudes to an expected image template. A maximum likelihood fit is performed
to find the best-fit shower parameters. A related reconstruction algorithm has
already been shown to provide significant improvements over traditional
reconstruction for both the CAT and H.E.S.S. experiments. We demonstrate a
significant improvement to the template generation step of the procedure, by
the use of a full Monte Carlo air shower simulation in combination with a
ray-tracing optics simulation to more accurately model the expected camera
images. This reconstruction step is combined with an MVA-based background
rejection.
Examples are shown of the performance of the ImPACT analysis on both
simulated and measured (from a strong VHE source) gamma-ray data from the
H.E.S.S. array, demonstrating an improvement in sensitivity of more than a
factor two in observation time over traditional image moments-fitting methods,
with comparable performance to previous likelihood fitting analyses. ImPACT is
a particularly promising approach for future large arrays such as the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA) due to its improved high-energy performance and
suitability for arrays of mixed telescope types.
