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arXiv · 2308.11989

Reconstruction procedure of the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST)

Fraser Bradfield·Justin Albury·Jose Bellido·Ladislav Chytka·John Farmer·Toshihiro Fujii·Petr Hamal·Pavel Horvath·Miroslav Hrabovsky·Vlastimil Jilek·Jakub Kmec·Jiri Kvita·Max Malacari·Dusan Mandat·Massimo Mastrodicasa·John N. Matthews·Stanislav Michal·Hiromu Nagasawa·Hiroki Namba·Libor Nozka·Miroslav Palatka·Miroslav Pech·Paolo Privitera·Shunsuke Sakurai·Francesco Salamida·Petr Schovanek·Radomir Smida·Daniel Stanik·Zuzana Svozilikova·Akimichi Taketa·Kenta Terauchi·Stan B. Thomas·Petr Travnicek·Martin Vacula
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Abstract

The Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) is one of several proposed designs for a next-generation cosmic-ray detector. Such detectors will require enormous collecting areas whilst also needing to remain cost-efficient. To meet these demands, the FAST collaboration has designed a simplified, low-cost fluorescence telescope consisting of only four photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Since standard air shower reconstruction techniques cannot be used with so few PMTs, FAST utilises an alternative two-step approach. In the first step, a neural network is used to provide a first estimate of the true shower parameters. This estimate is then used as the initial guess in a minimisation procedure where the measured PMT traces are compared to simulated ones, and the best-fit shower parameters are found. A detailed explanation of these steps is given, with the expected performance of FAST prototypes at the Telescope Array experiment acting as a demonstration of the technique.

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Fraser Bradfield, Justin Albury, Jose Bellido, Ladislav Chytka, John Farmer, Toshihiro Fujii, Petr Hamal, Pavel Horvath, Miroslav Hrabovsky, Vlastimil Jilek, Jakub Kmec, Jiri Kvita, Max Malacari, Dusan Mandat, Massimo Mastrodicasa, John N. Matthews, Stanislav Michal, Hiromu Nagasawa, Hiroki Namba, Libor Nozka, Miroslav Palatka, Miroslav Pech, Paolo Privitera, Shunsuke Sakurai, Francesco Salamida, Petr Schovanek, Radomir Smida, Daniel Stanik, Zuzana Svozilikova, Akimichi Taketa, Kenta Terauchi, Stan B. Thomas, Petr Travnicek, Martin Vacula. 2023-08-23. Reconstruction procedure of the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST). https://doi.org/10.22323/1.444.0303

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