Matthew Hakes with Corbin Covault

Design and Construction of Optical Concentrators

When ultra high energy particles strike the upper atmosphere, they emit Cherenkov radiation.  By studying the radiation, we hope to determine the direction of their travel and ultimately where they come from which is currently unknown.  Optical concentrators are used to limit the viewing angle, allowing the experimenter to select a portion of the sky and focus the light from that portion into a detector.  The main considerations in the design of a concentrator are performance characteristics and ease of construction.  Computer simulations will be done to investigate the performance of various concentrator designs.  The designs which exhibit desirable characteristics will be evaluated on how easily they can be built.  The one which is the best compromise between performance and ease of construction will be built and tested to ensure it has the characteristics predicted in the simulation.