The 2009 Fermi Symposium

Galactic Diffuse Emissions

Troy Porter, UCSC/SCIPP

Abstract:

The Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, is a pair conversion detector designed to study the gamma-ray sky in the energy range 20 MeV to >300 GeV. The greatly improved sensitivity of the LAT compared with its predecessor experiment, EGRET on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, coupled with the uniform and deep sky coverage,provides a unique capability for studying diffuse gamma-ray emission. The interstellar emission provides essential information on the propagation of cosmic rays and the distribution of gas and radiation in the interstellar medium in our own and other galaxies. I will give an overview of our studies of the diffuse gamma-ray emission.