1. SEARCH FOR NEUTRINOS AT EXTREME ENERGIES WITH THE PIERRE AUGER OBSERVATORYMarta Trini, 2019, doctoral dissertation Abstract: The detection of Ultra-High-Energy (UHE) neutrinos around and above 10 18 eV (1 EeV) can be the key to
answering the long-standing question of the origin of the UHE cosmic rays. The Pierre Auger Observatory
is the largest experiment that can detect the extensive air showers produced when the cosmic rays and
neutrinos interact in the earth’s atmosphere. In particular, with the Infilled array of the Surface Detector
of the Pierre Auger Observatory we can detect sub-EeV neutrino-induced particle showers. In this thesis
we demonstrate that it is possible to discriminate neutrino-induced showers from the background showers
produced by the more numerous nucleonic cosmic rays. The sensitivity to neutrinos is enhanced in the
inclined directions with respect to the vertical to the ground, where cosmic ray-induced showers starting in
the upper layers of the atmosphere are dominated by the muonic component of the shower, while deeply-
penetrating neutrino showers in contrast exhibit a large electromagnetic component. Based on this idea in
this thesis we have developed a search procedure for UHE neutrinos that consists on selecting inclined
events in the Infilled array of the Pierre Auger Observatory in which the signals in the water-Cherenkov
stations are spread in time, characteristic of the presence of electromagnetic component in the shower. We
have established a complete chain of criteria to first select the inclined events among the sample of all
events triggering the Infilled array, and then identifying those that have a large electromagnetic component
at ground, and hence can be considered as neutrino candidates. We have identified a single variable, the
so-called area-over-peak averaged over all of the stations in each event, as a suitable observable for neutrino
identification purposes. The neutrino selection was established using extensive Monte Carlo simulations of
the neutrino-induced showers in the Infilled array of Auger as well as a fraction of the data assumed to
be totally constituted of background nucleonic cosmic rays. Using these neutrino simulations we have also
computed the exposure of the Infilled array to UHE neutrinos in the period 1 January 04 - 31 December 2017.
Associated systematic uncertainties on the exposure are also described. Expecting no candidate neutrinos in
the period up to 31 December 2017, and adopting a differential neutrino diffuse flux dN ν /dE ν = k E ν −2 in
the energy range from 0.05 to 1 EeV, we have obtained a 90% C.L. upper limit on the all neutrino flavor,
k 90 < 7.97 × 10 −8 GeV cm −2 s −1 sr −1 . Found in: ključnih besedah Summary of found: ...astroparticles, astrophysical neutrinos, cosmic rays showers, Pierre Auger Observatory,... Keywords: astroparticles, astrophysical neutrinos, cosmic rays showers, Pierre Auger Observatory, Infilled
array Published: 03.10.2019; Views: 3811; Downloads: 136
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2. Follow-up searches for ultra-high energy neutrinos from transient astrophysical sources with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryLukas Zehrer, Marko Zavrtanik, Danilo Zavrtanik, Lili Yang, Serguei Vorobiov, Marta Trini, Samo Stanič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Andrej Filipčič, Michael Schimp, 2019, published scientific conference contribution Found in: ključnih besedah Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, transient astrophysical sources, binary black hole mergers, gravitational wave events, blazar TXS 0506+056, follow-up search for counterpart ultra-high energy neutrinos Published: 21.12.2020; Views: 1707; Downloads: 60
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3. Multi-messenger studies with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryLukas Zehrer, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Marta Trini, Serguei Vorobiov, Marko Zavrtanik, Danilo Zavrtanik, 2021, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: Over the past decade the multi-messenger astrophysics has emerged as a distinct discipline,
providing unique insights into the properties of high-energy phenomena in the Universe. The
Pierre Auger Observatory, located in Malargüe, Argentina, is the world’s largest cosmic ray
detector sensitive to photons, neutrinos, and hadrons at ultra-high energies. Using its data, stringent
limits on photon and neutrino fluxes at EeV energies have been obtained. The collaboration uses
the excellent angular resolution and the neutrino identification capabilities of the Observatory
for follow-up studies of events detected in gravitational waves or other messengers, through
cooperation with global multi-messenger networks. We present a science motivation together
with an overview of the multi-messenger capabilities and results of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Found in: ključnih besedah Summary of found: ...high-energy cosmic phenomena, multi-messenger astrophysical studies, cosmic rays, gamma-rays, neutrinos, Pierre Auger... Keywords: high-energy cosmic phenomena, multi-messenger astrophysical studies, cosmic rays, gamma-rays, neutrinos, Pierre Auger Observatory Published: 06.05.2022; Views: 658; Downloads: 0
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