The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO)

Wednesday 9 Sept 2026, 14:00 → 15:00 Asia/Shanghai

Tsung-Dao Lee Institute/S4F-SW - Open Area (Tsung-Dao Lee Institute)

Ulisses Barres de Almeida

Host: Hao Zhou
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Meeting ID: 758561642 (no password)

Abstract：
The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) will be the first km2-scale water Cherenkov detector array in the Southern Hemisphere. SWGO will be located in the Atacama Astronomical Park in Chile, at 4770 m above sea level, with a direct view of the Galactic Center and ample coverage of the Southern Sky. The array is designed to detect Very to Ultra-High-Energy gamma rays and will consist of a high fill-factor core and a sparse outer array (2-4% fill-factor) devoted to the detection and reconstruction of the highest energy events, up to the PeV scale. This talk will present in detail an innovative and cost-effective solution for the outer array design, based on rotomolded HDPE tanks and multi-PMT photosensor modules. Simulations and optimization studies, as well as the status of the hardware design will be detailed, and the medium-term prospects for implementation will be discussed. We will also show the next-steps for the upcoming SWGO pathfinder, to be installed at the final observatory site in 2026, with the goal of testing and validating the detector solutions and construction plans proposed for the array. 

Biography:
Ulisses Barres de Almeida is a Senior Researcher at the Brazilian Center for Physics Research (CBPF) and Director of the Latin American Center for Physics (CLAF), an intergovernmental organization operating under the auspices of UNESCO and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. He is also a Collaborating Researcher at the University of São Paulo (IAG/USP) and at the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) in Portugal. Since 2021, he has served as Vice-Spokesperson of the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), and since 2025 he has represented Brazil on the CTAO ERIC Council. Ulisses Barres earned his Ph.D. from Durham University (UK) in 2011 with a dissertation associated with the H.E.S.S. experiment. Between 2010 and 2012, he was an Assistant Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich. In 2014, he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University, and in 2018 he became an Affiliated Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. His scientific work has been recognized with the Young Astronomer Award of the Brazilian Astronomical Society (SAB) in 2017.