CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) Sensitivity Estimation and Performance Optimization using Geant4
Abstract
The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) aims to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the 25-100 keV X-ray band using a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP will allow us to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures of our star by providing high-sensitivity polarization measurements. CUSP is a project in the framework of the Alcor Program of the Italian Space Agency aimed to develop innovative CubeSat technologies and missions. As part of CUSPs Phase B study, which began in December 2024 and will continue for one year, we present the development status of the Geant4 based simulator to accurately simulate the detectors response and initial results on the sensitivity of the instrument. Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess the physical interactions of the source photons with the detector and the passive materials. We implemented a detailed CUSP Mass Model within Geant4 to simulate and estimate the instruments sensitivity, correcting the geometric effects of the instrument. We also evaluated the effect of backscattering shielding on the sensitivity to optimize the mass model of the instrument.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.00780,
title = {CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) Sensitivity Estimation and Performance Optimization using Geant4},
author = {Abhay Kumar and Giovanni Lombardi and Giovanni De Cesare and Nicolas De Angelis and Sergio Fabiani and Ettore Del Monte and Andrea Alimenti and Riccardo Campana and Enrico Costa and Paolo Soffitta and Mauro Centrone and Sergio Di Cosimo and Giuseppe Di Persio and Alessandro Lacerenza and Pasqualino Loffredo and Fabio Muleri and Paolo Romano and Alda Rubini and Emanuele Scalise and Enrico Silva and Davide Albanesi and Ilaria Baffo and Daniele Brienza and Valerio Campamaggiore and Giovanni Cucinella and Andrea Curatolo and Giulia de Iulis and Andrea Del Re and Vito Di Bari and Simone Di Filippo and Immacolata Donnarumma and Pierluigi Fanelli and Nicolas Gagliardi and Paolo Leonetti and Matteo Merge and Gabriele Minervini and Dario Modenini and Andrea Negri and Daniele Pecorella and Massimo Perelli and Alice Ponti and Francesca Sbop and Paolo Tortora and Alessandro Turchi and Valerio Vagelli and Emanuele Zaccagnino and Alessandro Zambardi and Costantino Zazza},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.00780},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
12 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to SPIE Optics + Photonics 2025, Comments are welcome!