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Abstract: The Telescope Array (TA) is a hybrid cosmic ray detector deployed in 2007 in Millard County, Utah, USA, which consists of a surface detector of 507 plastic scintillation counters spanning a 700 km^2 area on the ground that is overlooked by three fluorescence detector stations. The High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiment is a predecessor of TA, which consisted of two fluorescence detector stations operating from 1997 until 2006 from Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, USA, and which was the the first cosmic ray experiment with sufficient resolution and exposure to successfully observe the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin (GZK) suppression at 10^19.75 eV. In this work, we present an updated TA energy spectrum result and a joint fit of independent spectrum measurements by the TA surface detector, TA fluorescence detector, and HiRes fluorescence detector to a broken power law function, which exhibits the ankle, GZK suppression, and the new shoulder feature initially seen by the Pierre Auger Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere. HiRes and TA observe the shoulder feature in the Northern Hemisphere at 10^19.25 eV, with a statistical significance of 5.3 standard deviations.
Keywords: Telescope Array, High Resolution Fly's Eye, HiRes, indirect detection, hybrid detection, ground array, fluorescence detection, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, energy spectrum, GZK
Published in RUNG: 02.10.2023; Views: 543; Downloads: 6
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Abstract: Due to the difficulty of direct measurement of the thunderstorm environment, in particular the electric field strengths, the initial stages of lightning breakdown remain mysterious. The 1994 discovery of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) and their implications for megaVolt potentials within thunderclouds has proved to be a valuable source of information about the breakdown process. The Telescope Array Surface Detector (TASD) --- a 700 km^2 scintillator array in Western Utah, U.S.A --- coupled with a lightning mapping array, fast sferic (field change) sensor and broadband interferometer, has provided unique insight into the properties of this energetic radiation and of lightning initiation in general. In particular, microsecond-scale timing comparisons have clearly established that downward TGFs occur during strong initial breakdown pulses (IBPs) of downward negative cloud-to-ground and intracloud flashes. In turn, the IBPs are produced by streamer-based fast negative breakdown. Investigations into downward TGFs with the TASD have significantly evolved with recent upgrades to lightning instrumentation. A second state-of-the-art broadband interferometer allows high-resolution stereo observation of lightning development. A high-speed optical video camera, set to be deployed in Spring 2021, will allow simultaneous observation of the visual component of lightning responsible for TGF production. Finally, a suite of ground based static electric field mills will provide new information on the large-scale properties of the thunderstorms in which downward TGFs arise. In this talk, we present the most recent TGF observations from the Telescope Array.
Keywords: Telescope Array, ground array, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, photons, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, gamma-rays, lightning
Published in RUNG: 02.10.2023; Views: 641; Downloads: 6
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Abstract: The measurement of the mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays constitutes a prime challenge in astroparticle physics. Most detailed information on the composition can be obtained from measurements of the depth of maximum of air showers, Xmax, with the use of fluorescence telescopes, which can be operated only during clear and moonless nights. Using deep neural networks, it is now possible for the first time to perform an event-by-event reconstruction of Xmax with the Surface Detector (SD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Therefore, previously recorded data can be analyzed for information on Xmax, and thus, the cosmic-ray composition. Since the SD operates with a duty cycle of almost 100% and its event selection is less strict than for the Fluorescence Detector (FD), the gain in statistics with respect to the FD is almost a factor of 15 for energies above 10^19.5 eV. In this contribution, we introduce the neural network particularly designed for the SD of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We evaluate its performance using three different hadronic interaction models, verify its functionality using Auger hybrid measurements, and find that the method can extract mass information on an event level.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, indirect detection, surface detection, ground array, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, composition, neural network, machine learning
Published in RUNG: 29.09.2023; Views: 713; Downloads: 5
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Abstract: In this talk, we summarise the results of recent anisotropy studies conducted by the Telescope Array (TA) collaboration. At largest scales we test the TA data for the presence of a dipole. On smaller scales, an update on the excess of events in the direction of Ursa Major previously found in the TA data will be presented. These flux variations may trace the distribution of UHECR sources. We will examine the data for correlations with large-scale structures in the nearby Universe, and as a result, hints for the chemical composition of primaries will be provided. We also discuss a related anisotropy of the UHECR spectrum.
Keywords: Telescope Array, indirect detection, ground array, surface detection, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, composition, energy spectrum, anisotropy
Published in RUNG: 29.09.2023; Views: 598; Downloads: 4
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Abstract: The Telescope Array (TA) is the largest cosmic ray observatory in the Northern Hemisphere. It is designed to measure the properties of cosmic rays over a wide range of energies. TA with it's low energy extension (TALE) observe cosmic-ray induced extensive air showers between 2 PeV and 100 EeV in hybrid mode using multiple instruments, including an array of scintillator detectors at the Earth's surface and telescopes to measure the fluorescence and Cerenkov light. The statistics at the highest energies is being enhanced with the ongoing construction of the TAx4 experiment which will quadruple the surface area of the detector. We review the present status of the experiments and most recent physics results on the cosmic ray anisotropy, chemical composition and energy spectrum. Notable highlights include a new feature in the energy spectrum at about 10^19.2 eV, and a new clustering of events in the direction of Perseus-Pisces supercluster above this energy. We also report on updated diffuse photon flux limits and new spectrum and composition results in the lower energy range from the TALE extension.
Keywords: Telescope Array, TALE, low energy extension, TAx4, indirect detection, hybrid detection, ground array, fluorescence detection, Cherenkov light, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, energy spectrum, composition, anisotropy
Published in RUNG: 26.09.2023; Views: 712; Downloads: 5
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