A pair production telescope for medium-energy gamma-ray polarimetry

We describe the science motivation and development of a pair production telescope for medium-energy (similar to 5-200 MeV) gamma-ray polarimetry. Our instrument concept, the Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT), takes advantage of the Three-Dimensional Track Imager, a low-density gaseous time projection chamber, to achieve angular resolution within a factor of two of the pair production kinematics limit (similar to 0.6 degrees at 70 MeV), continuum sensitivity comparable with the Fermi-LAT front detector (<3 x 10(-6) MeV cm(-2) s(-1) 70 MeV), and minimum detectable polarization less than 10% for a 10 mCrab source in 10(6) s. Published by Elsevier B.V.