Instruments for Astroparticle Physics

A special issue of Instruments (ISSN 2410-390X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 3566

Special Issue Editor


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Département de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (DPNC), Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève, Switzerland
Interests: particle detection and space technology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to announce this Special Issue devoted to instruments for astroparticle detectors. The focus will be on state-of-the-art instruments which meet the challenges of operation in space. We especially invite you to contribute papers on the following subjects:

  • New ideas for space astroparticle detectors
  • Calorimeters and spectrometers for space applications
  • Particle identification subsystems, instruments, and algorithms
  • Electronics amenable to space conditions
  • Subsystems to control environmental parameters
  • Simulation results for novel instruments
  • Calibration methods and results
  • Inflight calibration and performance

This is an excellent opportunity to get your new ideas on the map (and establish intellectual property at the same time), for selected contributed papers. Material from white papers can of course be used, if at peer-reviewable level.

Prof. Dr. Martin Pohl
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Instruments is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • space calorimeters
  • space spectrometers
  • particle identification instruments
  • space electronics
  • instrument calibration
  • control systems

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 427 KB  
Article
Geant4-Based Characterization of Muon, Electron, Photon, and Hadron Signals from Atmospheric Showers in a Water Cherenkov Detector
by Luiz Augusto Stuani Pereira and Raiff Hugo Santos
Instruments 2025, 9(4), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments9040028 - 24 Nov 2025
Viewed by 249
Abstract
Cherenkov radiation is a widely used detection mechanism in high-energy and astroparticle physics experiments, particularly in water-based detectors operated by leading cosmic-ray observatories. Its popularity stems from its robustness, cost-effectiveness, and high detection efficiency across a broad range of environmental conditions. In this [...] Read more.
Cherenkov radiation is a widely used detection mechanism in high-energy and astroparticle physics experiments, particularly in water-based detectors operated by leading cosmic-ray observatories. Its popularity stems from its robustness, cost-effectiveness, and high detection efficiency across a broad range of environmental conditions. In this study, we present a detailed Monte Carlo characterization of a Water Cherenkov Detector (WCD) using the Geant4 simulation toolkit as a general, experiment-independent reference for understanding detector responses to secondary cosmic-ray particles. The detector is modeled to register secondary particles produced by the interaction of high-energy cosmic-ray primaries with the Earth’s atmosphere, which give rise to extensive air showers composed of hadronic, electromagnetic, and muonic components capable of reaching ground level. By simulating the differential energy spectra and angular distributions of these particles at the surface, we evaluate the WCD response in terms of energy deposition, Cherenkov photon production, photoelectron generation at the photomultiplier tube, and the resulting charge spectra. The results establish a systematic and transferable baseline for detector performance characterization and particle identification, providing a physically grounded reference that can support calibration, trigger optimization, and analysis efforts across different WCD-based experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Instruments for Astroparticle Physics)
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28 pages, 5099 KB  
Article
Fast Infrared Detector for Time-Domain Astronomy
by Alessandro Drago
Instruments 2025, 9(2), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments9020012 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 2396
Abstract
Multi-messenger astronomy and time-domain astronomy are strongly linked even if they do not have the same objectives. Multi-messenger astronomy is an astrophysical observation approach born by the simultaneous, even if casual, detection of a few events discovered up to now. In contrast, time-domain [...] Read more.
Multi-messenger astronomy and time-domain astronomy are strongly linked even if they do not have the same objectives. Multi-messenger astronomy is an astrophysical observation approach born by the simultaneous, even if casual, detection of a few events discovered up to now. In contrast, time-domain astronomy is a recent technological trend that aims to make observations to explore the sky not with imaging, astrometry, photometry or spectroscopy but through the fast dynamic behavior of celestial objects. Time-domain astronomy aims to detect events on a temporal scale between seconds and nanoseconds. In this paper, a time-domain infrared fast detector for ground-based telescopes is proposed. This instrument can be useful for multi-messenger observations, and it is able to detect fast astronomical signals in the order of 1 ns. It is based on HgCdTe photoconductors, but the InAsSb photovoltaic detector has also been tested. The detection system designed to detect fast mid-infrared bursts includes trigger modules, an off-line noise-canceling strategy, and a classifier of the transients. Classification is derived from the analysis of fast instabilities in particle circular accelerators. This paper aims to be a preliminary feasibility study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Instruments for Astroparticle Physics)
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