Sensitivity to point-like sources of the ALTO atmospheric particle detector array, designed for $\rm 200\,GeV$--$\rm 50\,TeV$ $\gamma$-ray astronomy

In the context of atmospheric shower arrays designed for $\gamma$-ray astronomy and in the context of the ALTO project, we present: a study of the impact of heavier nuclei in the cosmic-ray background on the estimated $\gamma$-ray detection performance on the basis of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations, a method to calculate the sensitivity to a point-like source, and finally the required observation times to reach a firm detection on a list of known point-like sources.
Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in JHEAP (Journal of High-Energy Astrophysics)