Studies of Cosmic Rays with GeV Gamma Rays

We describe the role of GeV gamma-ray observations with GLAST-LAT (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope - Large Area Telescope) in identifying interaction sites of cosmic-ray proton (or hadrons) with interstellar medium (ISM). We expect to detect gamma rays from neutral pion decays in high-density ISM regions in the Galaxy, Large Magellanic Cloud, and other satellite galaxies. These gamma-ray sources have been detected already with EGRET (Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope) as extended sources (eg. LMC and Orion clouds) and GLAST-LAT will detect many more with a higher spatial resolution and in a wider spectral range. We have developed a novel image restoration technique based on the Richardson-Lucy algorithm optimized for GLAST-LAT observation of extended sources. Our algorithm calculates PSF (point spread function) for each event. This step is very important for GLAST-LAT and EGRET image analysis since PSF varies more than one order of magnitude from one gamma ray to another depending on its energy as well as its impact point and angle in the instrument. The GLAST-LAT and EGRET image analysis has to cope with Poisson fluctuation due to low number of detected photons for most sources. Our technique incorporates wavelet filtering to minimize effects due to the fluctuation. Preliminary studies on some EGRET sources are presented, which shows potential of this novel image restoration technique for the identification and characterisation of extended gamma-ray sources.

Studies of EGRET sources with a novel image restoration technique

We have developed an image restoration technique based on the Richardson-Lucy algorithm optimized for GLAST-LAT image analysis. Our algorithm is original since it utilizes the PSF (point spread function) that is calculated for each event. This is critical for EGRET and GLAST-LAT image analysis since the PSF depends on the energy and angle of incident gamma-rays and varies by more than one order of magnitude. EGRET and GLAST-LAT image analysis also faces Poisson noise due to low photon statistics. Our technique incorporates wavelet filtering to minimize noise effects. We present studies of EGRET sources using this novel image restoration technique for possible identification of extended gamma-ray sources.