Fermi Summer School

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has initiated an era of very broad energy coverage in the gamma-ray band. The combination of Fermi GBM and LAT provide observations of gamma-ray bursts and transients from 8 keV to >300 GeV. The combination of Fermi-LAT and ground-based gamma-ray observatories currently allows us to probe the high-energy emission from astrophysical sources over at least five orders of magnitude, including the previously unexplored territory from 10 to 100 GeV. These combinations of telescopes allow the measurement of broad-band spectra, the study of energy-dependent source morphologies, and correlated observations of time-variable sources, both within the gamma-ray energy range and with observations at longer wavelengths. These measurements provide critical diagnostics with which to identify source characteristics, particle acceleration and photon emission mechanisms.

The Fermi Summer School emphasizes the analysis of data from Fermi through lectures and hands-on workshops. Students spend time working directly with experts in instrumentation, analysis, theory and modeling to develop and extend their own research projects. Topics range across the gamma-ray band from Fermi's GBM up to the highest energies observed by the LAT and beyond to very high energies observed by ground-based gamma-ray telescopes.

Material will be aimed at graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. Topics will include particle acceleration and gamma-ray production mechanisms; space-based and ground-based gamma-ray instrumentation; spectral, spatial, and time-based analysis of gamma-ray data; modeling and interpretation of gamma-ray data; and astrophysical source classes such as AGN, GRBs, Galactic pulsars and binary systems, supernova remnants, and pulsar wind nebulae as well as searches for dark matter and new physics.

Information on Upcoming and Past Summer Schools

Contact

fermischool@bigbang.gsfc.nasa.gov