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This thesis is missing page 36, all other versions of the thesis are missing this page as well. -Digitization Centre / This thesis deals with the theory, fabrication and application of semi-conductor detectors to gamma ray spectroscopy. The theory section discusses the semi-conductor lattice with respect to the incoming gamma ray and the subsequent hole-electron pairs formed in the diode depletion region. The fabrication section describes the materials and apparatus used in this work to produce the Ge(Li) detectors. A table is given showing the characteristics of these devices as they proceed through the process. The section on the characteristics of these detectors gives information as to how a good detector should operate under certain tests., The detectors made in this laboratory were used to investigate a well known "fission product" nuclide and a neutron capture reaction on a rare earth element. However, these investigations were not exhaustive but only show how the improved resolution of the Ge(Li) detectors has opened up new areas of gamma ray studies. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Astrophysical events that evolve on short timescales (from milliseconds to years) are widely referred as transient events. In many cases, transient events are explosions or mergers of astrophysical objects that emit particles of all energies. This thesis focuses on very-high-energy (VHE; 100 GeV to 100 TeV) gamma rays, observed by the VERITAS telescope, to understand two types of transients, superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and classical novae. In the first part, the background physics and technical approach of an imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique deployed by VERITAS is reviewed in depth, including the analysis pipeline of VERITAS data, from camera data reduction to high level analysis output. In addition to supporting the ongoing work at VERITAS, the second part of this thesis describes the extensive effort to develop, commission and align the optical system of the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder telescope, also located at the VERITAS observatory. This new telescope provides an wider field of view and higher angular resolution compared with the conventional IACT design of current telescopes, and will join the next generation of VHE telescopes in the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) project currently in development. The observation and analysis of two SLSNe is performed, on SN 2015bn and SN 2017egm, with both VERITAS and Fermi-LAT telescopes. The upper limit is reported on both events and is compared to a simple and a self-consistent model for parameter estimation. In addition, a population of sources were analyzed to estimate the future detection potential of new SLSNe with several gamma-ray observatories. Finally, the observation and analysis of several novae were performed. These sources were observed with VERITAS and Fermi-LAT. The observation of Nova Herculis 2021 is noteworthy in that the overlap of both observations may constrain the cutoff energy of the nova spectral model, providing a estimate for the maximum energy of the accelerated particles in the nova’s shock region.

The goal of this research is to evaluate the secondary prompt gamma (PG) yield from proton therapy at high characteristic energies from MC model simulations and experimental data. Recent studies indicate that target composition influences PG characteristic energy and yield, and the quantification of PG may be used to offer real-time dose verification for proton therapy. In this study PG analysis was performed for MC simulations to evaluate the characteristic measurements and total yield of secondary PG emitted from a target in the 0-8 MeV range from a proton therapy beam over a range of four different beam energies (70 MeV, 160 MeV, 200 MeV, 220 MeV). This was repeated in several target materials (carbon, calcium oxide, calcium fluoride, PMMA, and HDPE) in order to evaluate the influence of the incident energy and the target material on the PG yield and energy spectra. PG energy spectra determined from the specified target materials indicated that the 3.74 MeV energy peak shows a linear correlation between PG intensity and calcium mass fraction of the target material. 6.13 MeV and 4.44 MeV energy peak are not unique to the respective, oxygen and combined oxygen and carbon, mass fraction of the target material. This relationship is complicated by the addition of calcium within the target. Experimental data was collected in order to validate the computational model based on comparison of relative characteristic energy peek intensities. The relative peak ratio determined from experimental data is in good agreement with model prediction, the combined peak ratio is within 0.2%.

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