[en] With the HiSCORE (Hundred*i Square kilometer Cosmic ORigin Explorer) experiment we aim at the exploration of the accelerator sky using indirect air shower observations of cosmic rays from 100 TeV to 1 EeV and gamma rays above 10 TeV to several PeV. In this paper the HiSCORE detector is discribed and the results of the first prototype deployment are shown. Several components are discussed like the photomultiplier tubes, the clip-sum-trigger and the DRS4 based data acquisition. We present data taken with a first prototype station in April 2012 at Tunka.

[en] The physical motivations and advantages of the new gamma-observatory TAIGA (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy) is presented. The TAIGA array is a complex, hybrid detector for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy for energies from a few TeV to several PeV as well as for cosmic ray studies from 100 TeV to several EeV. The TAIGA will include the wide angle Cherenkov array TAIGA-HiSCORE with ∼5 km² area, a net of 16 I ACT telescopes (with FOV of about 10x10 degree), muon detectors with a total area of up to 2000-3000 m² and the radio array Tunka-Rex. (paper)

[en] TAIGA stands for “Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy” and is a project to build a complex, hybrid detector system for ground-based gamma- ray astronomy from a few TeV to several PeV, and for cosmic-ray studies from 100 TeV to 1 EeV. TAIGA will search for ”PeVatrons” (ultra-high energy gamma-ray sources) and measure the composition and spectrum of cosmic rays in the knee region (100 TeV - 10 PeV) with good energy resolution and high statistics. TAIGA will include Tunka-HiSCORE (an array of wide-angle air Cherenkov stations), an array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, an array of particle detectors, both on the surface and underground, and the TUNKA-133 air Cherenkov array. (paper)

[en] The HiSCORE (Hundred*i Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer) detector aims at the exploration of the accelerator sky, using indirect air-shower observations of cosmic rays from 100 TeV to 1 EeV and gamma rays in the last remaining observation window of gamma-ray astronomy from 10 TeV to several PeV. The main questions addressed by HiSCORE are cosmic ray composition and spectral measurements in the Galactic/extragalactic transition range, and the origin of cosmic rays via the search for gamma rays from Galactic PeV accelerators, the pevatrons. HiSCORE is based on non-imaging Cherenkov light-front sampling with sensitive large-area detector modules of the order of 0.5 m². A prototype station was deployed on the Tunka cosmic ray experiment site in Siberia, where an engineering array of up to 1km² is planned for deployment in 2012/2013. Here, we address the expected physics potential of HiSCORE, the status of the project, and further plans.

[en] HiSCORE is a non-imaging wide-angle Cherenkov array for the detection of extensive air showers induced by ultrahigh energy gamma-rays above 10 TeV and cosmic ray studies above 100 TeV. In October 2013 a 9-station engineering array has been deployed in Tunka valley. For HiSCORE-9, two DAQ systems are being used. The second system is a DRS4 based acquisition system with WhiteRabbit integrated time synchronization. We present the first results on the amplitude calibration from the data of this DAQ system. (paper)

[en] The Tunka-HiSCORE detector follows the concept of a non-imaging wide-angle EAS Cherenkov array, designed to search for γ-ray sources above 10 TeV and to investigate the spectrum and composition of cosmic-rays above 100 TeV. A prototype array with 9 stations has been deployed in October 2013 at the site of the Tunka experiment in Russia. We describe design and performance of the array data acquisition system DAQ-2, focusing on its timing system based on the White Rabbit technology for sub-nsec time-synchronization over ethernet. First results of EAS arrival direction reconstruction, compared with MC simulations, and tests with artifical light sources verify an excellent performance of the system. (paper)

[en] The TAIGA project is aimed at solving the fundamental problems of gamma-ray astronomy and physics of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays with the help of the complex of detectors, located in the Tunka valley (Siberia, Russia). TAIGA includes a wide-angle large area Tunka-HiSCORE array, designed to detect gamma-rays of ultrahigh energies in the range 20 - 1000 TeV and charged cosmic rays with energies of 100 TeV - 100 PeV, large area muon detector to improve the rejection of background EAS protons and nuclei and a network of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes for gamma radiation detection. We discuss the goals and objectives of the complex features of each detector and the results obtained in the first stage of the HiSCORE installation. (paper)

[en] TAIGA stands for ''Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy'' and is a project to built a complex, hybrid detector system for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy from a few TeV to several PeV, and for cosmic ray studies from 100 TeV to 1 EeV. TAIGA will search for ''PeVatrons'' (ultra-high energy gamma-ray sources) and measure the composition and spectrum of cosmic rays in the knee region (100 TeV–10 PeV) with good energy resolution and high statistics. TAIGA will include Tunka-HiSCORE — an array of wide-angle air Cherenkov stations, an array of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes, an array of particle detectors, both on the surface and underground and the TUNKA-133 air Cherenkov array

[en] The gamma-ray energy regime beyond 10 TeV is crucial for the search for the most energetic Galactic accelerators. The energy spectra of most known gamma-ray emitters only reach up to few 10s of TeV, with 80 TeV from the Crab Nebula being the highest energy so far observed significantly. Uncovering their spectral shape up to few 100 TeV could answer the question whether some of these objects are cosmic ray Pevatrons, i.e. Galactic PeV accelerators.Sensitive observations in this energy range and beyond require very large effective detector areas of several 10s to 100 square-km. While imaging air Cherenkov telescopes have proven to be the instruments of choice in the GeV to TeV energy range, very large area telescope arrays are limited by the number of required readout channels per instrumented square-km (due to the large number of channels per telescope). Alternatively, the shower-front sampling technique allows to instrument large effective areas and also naturally provides large viewing angles of the instrument. Solely measuring the shower front light density and timing (hence timing- arrays), the primary particle properties are reconstructed on the basis of the measured lateral density function and the shower front arrival times. This presentation gives an overview of the technique, its goals, and future perspective. (paper)

[en] Up to several 10s of TeV, Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) have proven to be the instruments of choice for GeV/TeV gamma-ray astronomy due to their good reconstrucion quality and gamma-hadron separation power. However, sensitive observations at and above 100 TeV require very large effective areas (10 km"2 and more), which is difficult and expensive to achieve.The alternative to IACTs are shower front sampling arrays (non-imaging technique or timing-arrays) with a large area and a wide field of view. Such experiments provide good core position, energy and angular resolution, but only poor gamma-hadron separation. Combining both experimental approaches, using the strengths of both techniques, could optimize the sensitivity to the highest energies.The TAIGA project plans to combine the non-imaging HiSCORE [8] array with small (∼10m"2) imaging telescopes. This paper covers simulation results of this hybrid approach. (paper)