IRFU

Gamma rays, Visiting institute (TNA)

Multi-messenger at IRFU

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, CEA), is a public government-funded research organization. The Institute of Research on the Fundamental Laws of the Universe (IRFU), of the Fundamental Research Division (DRF) of CEA, brings together three scientific disciplines, astrophysics, nuclear physics and particle physics, as well as all the associated technological expertise. It gathers 200physicists, 300 engineers, and 170 technicians and produces around 800 publications per year. The multi-messenger platform at IRFU has expertise in a large variety of instruments, cosmic messengers and data analysis techniques.

Main contact for TNA call: Fabian Schussler

 

Available expertise

Within ACME, the multi-messenger platform at IRFU offers expertise on data analysis of the high energy and very high energy gamma-ray instruments Fermi, H.E.S.S. and CTA. IRFU scientists are experts in using the analysis tools designed for the data of these instruments. The multi-messenger platform at IRFU also offers expertise on the observation planning of VHE instruments, in the case of steady sources as well as in the particular context of transient follow-ups. As such, IRFU scientists can provide support on the elaboration of observation strategies and on the associated observation proposals. In addition, IRFU offers expert support on the use and integration of the Astro-COLIBRI platform that provides real-time information on transient and multi messenger phenomena. IRFU scientists are members of the Fermi-LAT, H.E.S.S. and CTA collaborations. Further MWL expertise is provided by members of the institute who are leading members of various collaborations including SVOM, INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, JWST, NenuFAR, ANTARES, etc.

 

Available tools

  • H.E.S.S. data analysis tools (ParisAnalysis, HAP, GammaPy, etc.)
    • H.E.S.S. proposal preparation
  • CTA simulations and data analysis tools (GammaPy, CTApipe, …)
    • CTAO/LST proposal preparation
  • Fermi-LAT analysis tools and catalogs
  • Astro-COLIBRI
    • Platform to access real time alerts and catalogs of multi-messenger phenomena
  • Tilepy
    • Platform to find optimal observations plans to follow-ups of transient events

Involved scientists

Jean Ballet is a member of the Fermi-LAT collaboration, coordinating the source catalog effort since 2005. He is at the heart of the Fermi-LAT data analysis and can provide advice on how to best use those data.

Francois Brun is a member of H.E.S.S. and CTA collaborations. He has worked on various aspects of these instruments : data calibration, development of analysis methods, production of catalogs and analyses of individual sources. Since 2023 he is also Instrument Scientist of the NectarCAM cameras that will equip the middle-size-telescopes of CTA.

Fabian Schussler is an expert in multi-messenger and time-domain observations and data analysis. He has worked on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) with the Pierre Auger Observatory and high-energy neutrinos with the ANTARES detector. Currently, he is leading the Transient program of the H.E.S.S. very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory. He is also involved in CTAO (including LST- 1), the SVOM mission, as well as various follow-up programs across all wavelengths. Additionally, Fabian is the Principal Investigator of the Astro-COLIBRI multi-messenger platform and the Tilepy follow-up scheduling tool.

Philippe Laurent is working at the CEA Astrophysical Department in Saclay and is head of the High Energy Astrophysics Laboratory (LEPCHE). He specialized in High Energy Astrophysics and got his PHD in 1992, studying Black Holes X-ray binaries keV-MeV emission with SIGMA. He participates to the ESA/INTEGRAL gamma-ray mission since 1995, and is now the INTEGRAL/IBIS telescope Co-PI. He was also PI of the TARANIS/XGRE gamma-ray instrument developed at APC laboratory, dedicated to Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes. Since September 2024, he is Co-Investigator of the COMCUBE-S mission, a nanosat constellation aiming at measuring gamma-ray bursts polarization at the 2030 horizon.