Optimization of performance of the KM2A full array using the Crab Nebula*

Abstract

The full array of the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) has been in operation since July 2021. For its kilometer-square array (KM2A), we have optimized the selection criteria for very high and ultra-high energy $\gamma$-rays, using the data collected from August 2021 to August 2022, resulting in an improvement on significance of the detection in the Crab Nebula of about 15$\%$ compared with previous cuts. With the implementation of these new selection criteria, the angular resolution is also significantly improved by approximately 10$\%$ at tens of TeV. Other aspects of the full KM2A array performance, such as the pointing error are also calibrated using the Crab Nebula. The resulting energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula in the energy range of 10-1000 TeV can be well fitted by a log-parabola model, which is consistent with the previous results from LHAASO and other experiments.