Pass 8: A Comprehensive Revision Of The Fermi Lat Event-level Analysis

The event simulation and reconstruction framework developed for the Fermi Large Area Telescope before the launch performed beyond our expectations and proved to be adequate for the science of the first two years. This framework has been regularly updated to reflect the constantly improving knowledge of the detector and the environment in which it operates.

In parallel, a coherent long-term effort is ongoing, aimed at a radical revision of the entire event-level analysis based on the experience gained in the first phase of the mission. The basic ingredients of the new event simulation and reconstruction are in place and ready to serve as input into the new background rejection chain, which is now being developed.

Pass8 will come close to realizing the full scientific potential of the LAT. The expected improvements include (but are not limited to) greatly reducing the backgrounds, increasing the effective area, arriving at a better understanding of the systematic uncertainties and extending the energy reach of the photon analysis below 100 MeV and above 100 GeV.