Speaker
Description
The Antarctic Demonstrator for the Advanced Particle-astrophysics Telescope (ADAPT) is a NASA-funded balloon-borne mission designed to validate key technologies for the forthcoming Advanced Particle-astrophysics Telescope (APT). APT is envisioned as a next-generation gamma-ray observatory, operating both as a pair-conversion telescope for 50 MeV to ~50 GeV γ-rays and as a Compton telescope extending down to MeV energies.
Scheduled for a long-duration flight over Antarctica in the 2026–27 season, ADAPT aims to demonstrate advanced detection capabilities for gamma-ray transients and cosmic rays.
The ADAPT instrument comprises a scintillating fiber tracker, an imaging CsI(Na) calorimeter, and an anti-coincidence detector. The calorimeter consists of a 3×3 array of 150 mm × 150 mm × 5 mm CsI(Na) tiles, with orthogonally oriented wavelength-shifting fibers on the top and bottom surfaces, read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). The fiber tracker employs 1.5 mm round scintillating fibers arranged in interleaved layers for both x and y coordinates. An anti-coincidence detector made of plastic scintillators surrounds the instrument to discriminate gamma rays from charged particles and assist in nuclei identification. Fast, low-power front-end electronics are under development for SiPM signal amplification (SMART) and digitization (ALPHA).
ADAPT is expected to detect prompt signals from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with degree-scale localization and polarization constraints during its ~30-day flight, offering superior instantaneous sensitivity below 100 MeV compared to existing instruments. Additionally, the mission will measure cosmic-ray elemental abundances, demonstrating the potential for future space-based experiments to study ultra-heavy cosmic-ray nuclei.
Extensive simulations, laboratory experiments, and beam tests have been conducted to evaluate the performance of each sub-detector and the integrated system.
This presentation will provide an overview of the current status of the ADAPT project, highlighting the instrument design, scientific objectives, and recent advancements in front-end electronics development.
Details
Dr. Fabio Gargano, INFN Bari, Italy
| Internet talk | No |
|---|---|
| Is this an abstract from experimental collaboration? | Yes |
| Name of experiment and experimental site | ADAPT/APT |
| Is the speaker for that presentation defined? | Yes |