The Advanced Gamma-Ray Imaging System (AGIS): Science Highlights

The Advanced Gamma‐ray Imaging System (AGIS), a future gamma‐ray telescope consisting of an array of ∼50 atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes distributed over an area of ∼1 km2, will provide a powerful new tool for exploring the high‐energy universe. The order‐of‐magnitude increase in sensitivity and improved angular resolutioncould provide the first detailed images of γ‐ray emission from other nearby galaxies or galaxy clusters. The large effective area will provide unprecedented sensitivity to short transients (such as flares from AGNs and GRBs) probing both intrinsic spectral variability (revealing the details of the acceleration mechanism and geometry) as well as constraining the high‐energy dispersion in the velocity of light (probing the structure of spacetime and Lorentz invariance). A wide field of view (∼4 times that of current instruments) and excellent angular resolution(several times better than current instruments) will allow for an unprecedented survey of the Galactic plane, providing a deep u...