Compton Telescopes for Gamma-ray Astrophysics

Abstract

Compton telescopes rely on the dominant interaction mechanism in the MeV gamma-ray energy range: Compton scattering. By precisely recording the position and energy of multiple Compton scatter interactions in a detector volume, a photon's original direction and energy can be recovered. These powerful survey instruments can have wide fields of view, good spectroscopy, and polarization capabilities, and can address many of the open science questions in the MeV range, and in particular, from multimessenger astrophysics. The first space-based Compton telescope was launched in 1991 and progress in the field continues with advancements in detector technology. This chapter will give an overview of the physics of Compton scattering and the basic principles of operation of Compton telescopes; electron tracking and polarization capabilities will be discussed. A brief introduction to Compton event reconstruction and imaging reconstruction is given. The point spread function for Compton telescopes and standard performance parameters are described, and notable instrument designs are introduced.