Monte Carlo Studies of the GCT Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Abstract: The GCT is an innovative dual-mirror solution proposed for the small-size telescopes for CTA, capable of imaging primary cosmic gamma-rays from below a TeV to hundreds of TeV. The reduced plate scale resulting from the secondary optics allows the use of compact photosensors, including multi-anode photomultiplier tubes or silicon photomultipliers. We show preliminary results of Monte Carlo simulations using the packages CORSIKA and Sim_telarray, comparing the relative performance of each photosensor type. We also investigate the effect of the secondary optics in terms of optical performance, image resolution and camera response. With the ongoing commissioning of the prototype structure and camera, we present the preliminary expected performance of GCT.