The 8th High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection (HERD) International Workshop was held in Xi'an from Dec. 16 to 18 to enhance cooperation in indirect dark matter searches with unprecedented sensitivity, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, as well as the and gamma-ray monitoring and surveys. 

The workshop was organized by the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (XIOPM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Scientists from China, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and the United States discussed the overall progress of HERD payloads, detector and electronics research, Monte-Carlo simulation and software framework. 

HERD, an international cooperation project on Space Astronomy and Experimental Particle Astrophysics, was initiated by Chinese scientist ZHANG Shuangnan in 2007. 

"The main scientific objectives of HERD are indirect dark matter searches with unprecedented sensitivity, precise cosmic ray spectrum and composition measurements up to the knee energy, and gamma-ray monitoring and surveys," said ZHANG. 

HERD will focus on exploring the vast universe by searching dark matter and measuring cosmic ray spectrum with four instruments, i.e., PSD (Gamma identification & Charge measurement), Tracker (Gamma converting & tracking) , TRD (TeV CR calibration) , and CALO (Energy measurement & Particle identification). 

"As one of the HERD’s payloads, CALO payload with 3D imaging calorimeter for energy measurement and particle identification can greatly improve particle discrimination and reduce systemic error. This is a novel design for distinguishing different origins of excess and new features in the electron spectrum," said one delegate from CIEMAT, Italy. 

According to the workshop, three CERN beam tests on HERD have been successfully implemented for the verification of HERD novel design and performances. It is planned to be installed on the Chinese space station around 2025.