Speaker
Description
Tunka-Grande and TAIGA-Muon are scintillation detector arrays that are part of the TAIGA gamma observatory located near Lake Baikal. TAIGA is a hybrid complex of different systems located on an area of 1 km2 and detecting simultaneously secondary charged particles and Cherenkov light produced by extensive air showers (EAS). The experimental scientific program covers gamma-ray astronomy, cosmic ray physics and astroparticle physics.
Tunka-Grande scintillation array was put into service at the end of 2015. It consists of 19 stations each equipped with 12 surface and 8 underground detectors with the area 0.64 m^2. The energy range of Tunka-Grande array is 10^16–10^18 eV. The latest experimental results on the search for diffuse gamma radiation will be presented.
To expand the energy range of the experiment to 10^15 eV, it was decided to supplement the existing detector system with a new TAIGA-muon installation. For this purpose, the new scintillation detectors of large area (0.96 m^2) were developed. These detectors use wavelength shifting light guides for the collection of scintillation light on the PMT. The original design helped to minimize the thickness of the scintillator in the counter and allowed to use small PMTs in the detector. All these minimize the cost of the counter. At the moment, 5 new TAIGA-Muon stations have been installed. One station comprises 20 underground and 4 surface detectors. The 4 remaining consist of only 8 surface detectors. This summer all of them will be equipped with underground detectors. The scientific program of the upgraded scintillation arrays includes the search for diffuse gamma radiation in the extended energy region, study of the mass composition of cosmic rays and search of multi-messenger events in coincidence with other astroparticle experiments.
