1. Prospects for ▫$\gamma-ray$▫ observations of the Perseus galaxy cluster with the Cherenkov Telescope ArrayK. Abe, Saptashwa Bhattacharyya, Judit Pérez Romero, Samo Stanič, Veronika Vodeb, Serguei Vorobiov, Gabrijela Zaharijas, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Miha Živec, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Galaxy clusters are expected to be both dark matter (DM) reservoirs and storage rooms for the cosmic-ray protons (CRp) that accumulate along the cluster’s formation history. Accordingly, they are excellent targets to search for signals of DM annihilation and decay at γ-ray energies and are predicted to be sources of large-scale γ-ray emission due to hadronic interactions in the intracluster medium (ICM). In this paper, we estimate the sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to detect diffuse γ-ray emission from the Perseus galaxy cluster. We first perform a detailed spatial and spectral modelling of the expected signal for both the DM and the CRp components. For each case, we compute the expected CTA sensitivity accounting for the CTA instrument response functions. The CTA observing strategy of the Perseus cluster is also discussed. In the absence of a diffuse signal (non-detection), CTA should constrain the CRp to thermal energy ratio X500 within the characteristic radius R500 down to about X500 < 0.003, for a spatial CRp distribution that follows the thermal gas and a CRp spectral index αCRp = 2.3. Under the optimistic assumption of a pure hadronic origin of the Perseus radio mini-halo and depending on the assumed magnetic field profile, CTA should measure αCRp down to about ∆αCRp ≃ 0.1 and the CRp spatial distribution with 10% precision, respectively. Regarding DM, CTA should improve the current ground-based γ-ray DM limits from clusters observations on the velocity- averaged annihilation cross-section by a factor of up to ∼ 5, depending on the modelling of DM halo substructure. In the case of decay of DM particles, CTA will explore a new region of the parameter space, reaching models with τχ > 10[sup]27 s for DM masses above 1 TeV. These constraints will provide unprecedented sensitivity to the physics of both CRp acceleration and transport at cluster scale and to TeV DM particle models, especially in the decay scenario. Keywords: cosmic ray experiments, dark matter experiments, galaxy clusters, gamma ray experiments, very-high energy gamma rays, Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, Perseus galaxy cluster Published in RUNG: 09.10.2024; Views: 423; Downloads: 1 Full text (9,26 MB) This document has many files! More... |
2. Constraining models for the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with a novel combined analysis of arrival directions, spectrum, and composition data measured at the Pierre Auger ObservatoryA. Abdul Halim, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Shima Ujjani Shivashankara, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: The combined fit of the measured energy spectrum and shower maximum depth
distributions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is known to constrain the parameters of
astrophysical models with homogeneous source distributions. Studies of the distribution of
the cosmic-ray arrival directions show a better agreement with models in which a fraction of
the flux is non-isotropic and associated with the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A or with
catalogs such as that of starburst galaxies. Here, we present a novel combination of both
analyses by a simultaneous fit of arrival directions, energy spectrum, and composition data
measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The model takes into account a rigidity-dependent magnetic field blurring and an energy-dependent evolution of the catalog contribution shaped by interactions during propagation.
We find that a model containing a flux contribution from the starburst galaxy catalog
of around 20% at 40 EeV with a magnetic field blurring of around 20◦ for a rigidity of
10EV provides a fair simultaneous description of all three observables. The starburst galaxy
model is favored with a significance of 4.5σ (considering experimental systematic effects)
compared to a reference model with only homogeneously distributed background sources.
By investigating a scenario with Centaurus A as a single source in combination with the
homogeneous background, we confirm that this region of the sky provides the dominant
contribution to the observed anisotropy signal. Models containing a catalog of jetted active
galactic nuclei whose flux scales with the γ-ray emission are, however, disfavored as they
cannot adequately describe the measured arrival directions. Keywords: ultra high energy cosmic rays, cosmic ray experiments, Pierre Auger Observatory, active galactic nuclei Published in RUNG: 19.01.2024; Views: 1437; Downloads: 40 Full text (3,93 MB) This document has many files! More... |
3. Testing effects of Lorentz invariance violation in the propagation of astroparticles with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryP. Abreu, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, original scientific article Keywords: cosmic ray experiments, ultra high energy, cosmic rays, physics of the early universe, Pierre Auger Observatory, Lorentz invariance violation effects Published in RUNG: 18.01.2022; Views: 2358; Downloads: 39 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |
4. Search for photons with energies above 10^18 eV using the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger ObservatoryA. Aab, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Ahmed Saleh, Samo Stanič, Marta Trini, Darko Veberič, Serguei Vorobiov, Lili Yang, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2017, original scientific article Keywords: ultra high energy (UHE) cosmic rays, cosmic ray experiments, Pierre Auger Observatory, UHE photon search Published in RUNG: 13.04.2017; Views: 4855; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
5. AugerNext: R&D studies at the Pierre Auger Observatory for a next generation ground-based ultra-high energy cosmic-ray experimentAndreas Haungs, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Ahmed Saleh, Samo Stanič, Marta Trini, Darko Veberič, Serguei Vorobiov, Lili Yang, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2015, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The findings so far of the Pierre Auger Observatory and those
of the Telescope Array define some requirements for a possible
next generation global cosmic ray observatory: it needs to be
considerably increased in size, it needs enhanced sensitivity
to composition, and it has to cover the full sky. At the Pierre
Auger Observatory, AugerNext aims to conduct some innovative
initial research studies on a design of a sophisticated hybrid
detector fulfilling these demands. Within a European supported
ASPERA/APPEC (Astroparticle Physics European Consortium)
project for the years 2011-2014, such R&D studies primarily
focused on the following areas: i) consolidation of the
detection of cosmic rays using MHz radio antennas; ii) proof-
of-principle of cosmic ray microwave detection; iii) test of
the large-scale application of new generation photo sensors;
iv) generalization of data communication techniques; and v)
development of new schemes for muon detection with surface
arrays. The AugerNext Consortium consists of 14 principal
investigators from 9 countries. This contribution summarizes
some achievements of the R&D studies within the AugerNext
project. Keywords: ultra-high energy cosmic-ray experiments, Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array, AugerNext research and development study Published in RUNG: 03.03.2016; Views: 6321; Downloads: 200 Full text (594,23 KB) |