Outstanding Achievements of the LHAASO Experiment in the Field of Ultra-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy

Abstract

Recent results obtained in the LHAASO experiment are discussed. The Km2A array, which is one of the constituents of this experiment and is designed to detect extensive air showers, is shown to be a unique instrument for gamma-ray astronomy owing to its outstanding characteristics. Using only the operating half of this array, PeVatrons (natural particle accelerators to energies of 10¹⁵ eV or more) have already been discovered in our Galaxy, many new astrophysical gamma-ray sources have been detected, the energy spectra of emitted gamma-ray photons have been measured, and, what is particularly important, their arrival directions have been determined with an accuracy as high as 0.05°, i.e., their sources have been localized with such an accuracy. This already allows some conclusions about the nature of PeVatrons, i.e., about the possible cosmic-ray acceleration mechanisms, to be drawn.