CTAO Simulation Telescope Models for CORSIKA and sim_telarray - prod5

<p>The <a href="https://www.cta-observatory.org/">Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory</a> (CTAO) will be the next-generation gamma-ray observatory under construction on the island of La Palma (Spain) and near Paranal (Chile). CTAO will cover a wide energy range and provide substantial improvements in sensitivity, angular resolution and energy resolution in comparison to any existing gamma-ray detector. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations allow us to optimise the instrument configuration and to estimate the observatory performance using realistic models of the telescope design. The CORSIKA air-shower simulation code and the sim_telarray code for simulation of arrays of Cherenkov telescopes are used for all CTAO Monte Carlo simulation productions.</p> <p>This repository provides access to the simulation configuration describing the site parameters and the telescope simulation models required for the generation of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5499839">CTAO Instrument Response Functions - prod5</a>.</p> <p>In detail, these are:</p> <ul> <li>telescope simulation models for each telescope type (prod5 includes models for large-size, medium-size, and small-size telescopes)</li> <li>CORSIKA input files defining (among others) site atmosphere, telescope positions, and interaction models;</li> <li>execution scripts required to run CORSIKA and sim_telarray.</li> </ul> <p>The CORSIKA air-shower simulation code is available from the Institute for Astroparticle Physics (KIT), see <a href="https://www.iap.kit.edu/corsika/index.php">CORSIKA website</a>. The sim_telarray telescope simulation program, auxilliary libraries, and common configuration files are available at the <a href="https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/~bernlohr/sim_telarray/">sim_telarray website</a>, with an up-to-date interface to CORSIKA at the <a href="https://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/~bernlohr/iact-atmo/">IACT/ATMO interface website</a>. For installation, copy all relevant tar.gz packages plus the &lsquo;build_all&rsquo; script into the same directory and run &lsquo;./build_all prod5 qgs2&rsquo; (see &lsquo;--help&rsquo; for more options).</p> <p>In cases for which the CTAO Simulation Telescope Models are used in a research project, we ask that the following acknowledgement is added in any resulting publication:</p> <p>&ldquo;This research has made use of the CTA Simulation Telescope Models provided by the CTA Observatory and Consortium (version prod5 v1.0; [a]).&rdquo;</p> <p>Please use the following BibTex Entry for [a] in the reference section of your publication: <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/6218687/export/hx">https://zenodo.org/record/6218687/export/hx</a></p> <p>References:</p> <p>[1] K.Bernl&ouml;hr, Simulation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes with CORSIKA and sim_telarray, Astroparticle Physics 30 (2008) 149&ndash;158; <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/0808.2253">arXiv:0808.2253</a></p> <p>[2] O.Gueta for the CTA Consortium and the CTA Observatory, The Cherenkov Telescope Array: layout, design and performance, Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021), Berlin, Germany; <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.04512">arXiv:2108.04512</a></p>