Cosmology through very high energy gamma-ray observations
by
M. Raue(DESY)
→
Europe/Stockholm
Description
Over the last decade the ground based observation of cosmic sources of very high energy (VHE; E> 100 GeV) gamma-rays has matured from a small discovery driven field to a full fledged branch of astronomy with a large variety of sources and topics. VHE astronomy does not only provide a close up view on the extreme, non-thermal Universe as observed in, e.g., super nova remnants, pulsars, or in the vicinity of black holes, but it also holds the key to unique cosmological informations: distant source of VHE gamma-rays act as beacons to probe intervening photon fields in the ultraviolet to infrared which, through pair-production, leave distinct attenuation imprints in the observed energy spectra. These imprints can be used to study, e.g., the cosmic star formation history, properties of stars in the early universe, or the intergalactic magnetic fields. In this contribution, a brief introduction to ground-base VHE gamma-ray astronomy is given, the potential of VHE gamma-ray astronomy to address key questions in cosmology is reviewed, and recent results are presented. Finally, the potential of the next generation VHE instrument Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) for studying cosmology will be discussed.
