Search for optical flashes accompanying gamma ray bursts Pi of the Sky collaboration

Perhaps the most powerful cosmic processes ever observed are gamma ray bursts (GRB). So far, phenomena responsible for GRB have not been unambiguously identified. In the present paper we propose an approach completely different from the classical one. It employs experimental techniques developed for particle physics. Presented project is pioneering research in the unexplored so far domain of cosmic phenomena on the time scale of seconds. Both the rate of signal in question and the rate of unexpected background are not known. Therefore we decided to divide the project into two phases: phase I -- two CCD cameras, phase II - a system of cameras covering all sky. The phase I is well defined whereas detailed realization of phase II will depend strongly on results and experience gained in phase I.