The Group

In 2003 Prof. F. Pauss (who retired 2016) and A.Biland joined the MAGIC collaboration to investigate the highest energetic phenomena in the universe. For this, dedicated telescopes measure the dim, faint flashes of Cherenkov light that is emitted when a high-energy cosmic-ray particle of gamma-ray interacts with the atmosphere. While the direction of cosmic-ray particles is completely randomized by omnipresent magnetic fields, the gamma-rays are unaffected and one can identify individual galactic and extragalactic sources.

Unexpectedly, the high energy sky is far more diverse than anybody had expected, and continued observations basically deliver more questions than answers. A regularly updated list of all sources found to emit gamma-rays with energies exceeding about 100 GeV can be found external page on TeVCat.

Despite its small size, the group has quite an impact in the community. As example, all next generation Cherenkov telescopes that currently are planed will use one or other techniques developed and pioneered by this group.

The strong standing can also be recognized by major managment positions of A. Biland that include:

• external page FACT Collaboration: Spokesperson (since 2010)
• external page MAGIC Collaboration: Co-Chairperson of the Collaboration Board (since 2017), Member of the Executive Board(since 2017), Member of the Time Allocation Committee (2006-2014), Convenor of the Fundamental Physics Working Group (2003-2010)  
• external page CTA Consortium: Member of the Work Packages Convenor Board and Steering Committee (2006-2012), Swiss Delegate to the Board of Governmental Representatives (since 2020)