CTA - A Project for a New Generation of Cherenkov Telescopes
  Gamma-rays provide a powerful insight into the non-thermal universe and
perhaps a unique probe for new physics beyond the standard model. Current
experiments are already giving results in the physics of acceleration of cosmic
rays in supernova remnants, pulsar and active galactic nuclei with almost a
hundred sources detected at very-high-energies so far. Despite its relatively
recent appearance, very high-energy gamma-ray astronomy has proven to have
reached a mature technology with fast assembling, relatively cheap and reliable
telescopes. The goal of future installation is to increase the sensitivity by a
factor ten compared to current installations, and enlarge the energy domain
from few tens of GeV to a hundred TeV. Gamma-ray spectra of astrophysical
origin are rather soft thus hardly one single size telescope can cover more
than 1.5 decades in energy, therefore an array of telescopes of 2,3 different
sizes is required. Hereafter, we present design considerations for a Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA), a project for a new generation of highly automated
telescopes for gamma-ray astronomy. The status of the project, technical
solutions and an insight in the involved physics will be presented.
