1. Multi-messenger astrophysics with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryMassimo Mastrodicasa, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Shima Ujjani Shivashankara, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to ultra-high energy neutral particles, such as photons, neutrinos, and neutrons, and can take part in Multi-Messenger searches in collaboration with other observatories. Photons and neutrinos are searched by exploiting the design of the Pierre Auger Observatory and profiting from the different properties of the induced showers caused by different particles. Diffuse and point source fluxes of photons and neutrinos are searched for. Furthermore, photon and neutrino follow-ups of the gravitational wave events observed by the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration are conducted. The Pierre Auger Observatory is also used to search for neutrons from point-like sources. In contrast to photons and neutrinos, neutrons induce air showers that cannot be distinguished from those produced by protons. For this reason, the search for neutrons from a given source is performed by searching for an excess of air showers from the corresponding direction. All these searches have resulted in stringent upper limits on the corresponding fluxes of the considered particles, allowing, together with the results obtained by other experiments, to shed some light on the most energetic phenomena of our Universe. An overview of the Multi-Messenger activities carried out within the Pierre Auger Collaboration is presented.
Keywords: ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, UHE photons, UHE neutrinos, UHE neutrons, Pierre Auger Observatory, multi-messenger astrophysical studies
Published in RUNG: 04.10.2024; Views: 224; Downloads: 0
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2. Search for photons above ▫$10^{18}$▫ eV by simultaneously measuring the atmospheric depth and the muon content of air showers 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 Pierre Auger Observatory is the most sensitive instrument to detect photons with energies above 10[sup]17 eV. It measures extensive air showers generated by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays using a hybrid technique that exploits the combination of a fluorescence detector with a ground array of particle detectors. The signatures of a photon-induced air shower are a larger atmospheric depth of the shower maximum (�max) and a steeper lateral distribution function, along with a lower number of muons with respect to the bulk of hadron-induced cascades. In this work, a new analysis technique in the energy interval between 1 and 30 EeV (1 EeV=10[sup]18 eV) has been developed by combining the fluorescence detector-based measurement of �max with the specific features of the surface detector signal through a parameter related to the air shower muon content, derived from the universality of the air shower development. No evidence of a statistically significant signal due to photon primaries was found using data collected in about 12 years of operation. Thus, upper bounds to the integral photon flux have been set using a detailed calculation of the detector exposure, in combination with a data-driven background estimation. The derived 95% confidence level upper limits are 0.0403, 0.01113, 0.0035, 0.0023, and 0.0021 km[sup]−2 sr[sup]−1 yr[sup]−1 above 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 EeV, respectively, leading to the most stringent upper limits on the photon flux in the EeV range. Compared with past results, the upper limits were improved by about 40% for the lowest energy threshold and by a factor 3 above 3 EeV, where no candidates were found and the expected background is negligible. The presented limits can be used to probe the assumptions on chemical composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and allow for the constraint of the mass and lifetime phase space of super-heavy dark matter particles.
Keywords: ultra-high-energy photons, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, Pierre Auger Observatory, extensive air showers
Published in RUNG: 30.09.2024; Views: 269; Downloads: 0
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3. Search for EeV photon-induced events at the Telescope ArrayI. Kharuk, R. U. Abbasi, Y. Abe, T. Abu-Zayyad, M. Allen, Yasuhiko Arai, R. Arimura, E. Barcikowski, J. W. Belz, Douglas R. Bergman, 2023, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: We report on the updated results on the search for photon-like-induced events in the data, collected by Telescope Array's Surface Detectors during the last 14 years. In order to search for photon-like-induced events, we trained a neural network on Monte-Carlo simulated data to distinguish between the proton-induced and photon-induced air showers. Both reconstructed composition-sensitive parameters and raw signals registered by the Surface Detectors are used as input data for the neural network. The classification threshold was optimized to provide the strongest possible constraint on the photons' flux.
Keywords: Telescope Array, indirect detection, surface detection, ground array, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, photons, neural network, machine learning
Published in RUNG: 09.10.2023; Views: 1676; Downloads: 8
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4. Performance of the 433 m surface array of the Pierre Auger ObservatoryG. Silli, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory, located in western Argentina, is the world's largest cosmic-ray observatory. While it was originally built to study the cosmic-ray flux above 10^18.5 eV, several enhancements have reduced this energy threshold. One such enhancement is a surface array composed of a triangular grid of 19 water-Cherenkov detectors separated by 433 m (SD-433) to explore the energies down to about 10^16 eV. We are developing two research lines employing the SD-433. Firstly, we will measure the energy spectrum in a region where previous experiments have shown evidence of the second knee. Secondly, we will search for ultra-high energy photons to study PeV cosmic-ray sources residing in the Galactic center. In this work, we introduce the SD-433 and we show that it is fully efficient above 5×10^16 eV for hadronic primaries with θ<45∘. Using seven years of data, we present the parametrization of the lateral distribution function of measured signals. Finally, we show that an angular resolution of 1.8∘ (0.5∘) can be attained at the lowest (highest) primary energies. Our study lays the goundmark for measurements in the energy range above 10^16 eV by utilizing the SD-433 and thus expanding the scientific output of the Auger surface detector.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, SD-433, indirect detection, surface detection, low energy extension, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, energy spectrum, photons, multimessenger
Published in RUNG: 04.10.2023; Views: 1529; Downloads: 6
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5. Insight Into Lightning Initiation via Downward Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash Observations at Telescope ArrayJ. Remington, Jon Paul Lundquist, 2022, published scientific conference contribution 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: 1343; Downloads: 7
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6. A search for ultra-high-energy photons at the Pierre Auger Observatory exploiting air-shower universalityP. Savina, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is the most sensitive detector to primary photons with energies
above ∼ 0.2 EeV. It measures extensive air showers using a hybrid technique that combines a
fluorescence detector (FD) with a ground array of particle detectors (SD). The signatures of a photon-induced air shower are a larger atmospheric depth at the shower maximum (Xmax) and a
steeper lateral distribution function, along with a lower number of muons with respect to the bulk of hadron-induced background. Using observables measured by the FD and SD, three photon
searches in different energy bands are performed. In particular, between threshold energies of 1–10 EeV, a new analysis technique has been developed by combining the FD-based measurement of Xmax with the SD signal through a parameter related to its muon content, derived from the universality of the air showers. This technique has led to a better photon/hadron separation and, consequently, to a higher search sensitivity, resulting in a tighter upper limit than before. The outcome of this new analysis is presented here, along with previous results in the energy ranges below 1 EeV and above 10 EeV. From the data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory in about 15 years of operation, the most stringent constraints on the fraction of photons in the cosmic flux are set over almost three decades in energy.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, indirect detection, fluorescence detection, surface array, hybrid detection, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, photons
Published in RUNG: 29.09.2023; Views: 1470; Downloads: 6
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7. Downward Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes at the Pierre Auger Observatory?R. Colalillo, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: At the Pierre Auger Observatory, designed primarily to study ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, phenomena related to atmospheric electricity are also observed. Particularly, events have been detected with the surface detector, characterized by long-lasting signals (tens of microseconds) and event footprints much larger (up to 200 km2) than those produced by the highest energy cosmic rays. Moreover, some of them appear to be accompanied by smaller events occurring in the same area within about 1 ms and probably produced by the same phenomenon. A previously reported correlation with the World Wide Lightning Location Network, as well as the observation of very low-altitude clouds, confirm that such events are related to thunderstorms. An ad-hoc reconstruction points to high-energy particles being produced very close to the ground, suggesting that they originate from electrons accelerated to relativistic energies in strong electric fields inside low clouds, as is the case for terrestrial gamma-ray flashes above thunderstorms.
A clear explanation of the observed phenomenon is hindered by two facts. One is that the rate of such events, detected serendipitously, is very small (less than 2 events/year) and decreases further after optimization of the surface detector trigger for low-energy shower-events. The second is that most events show a puzzling lack of signals in the central part of the footprint. We have studied in detail both effects and will present such studies here. We developed a strategy for a dedicated trigger to enhance the detection efficiency for these events associated with atmospheric-electricity events.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, surface detection, ultra-high energy, cosmic rays, photons, electrons, gamma-ray flashes, lightning
Published in RUNG: 29.09.2023; Views: 1361; Downloads: 7
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8. Follow-up Search for UHE Photons from Gravitational Wave Sources with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryP. Ruehl, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, Lukas Zehrer, 2022, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: Multimessenger astronomy has become increasingly important during the past decade. Some astronomical objects have already been successfully observed in the light of multiple messenger signals, allowing for a much deeper understanding of their physical properties. The Pierre Auger Observatory has taken part in multimessenger astronomy with an exhaustive exploration of the ultra-high-energy sky. In this contribution, for the first time, a search for UHE photons from the sources of gravitational waves is presented. Interactions with the cosmic background radiation fields are expected to attenuate any possible flux of ultra-high-energy photons from distant sources and a non-negligible background of air shower events with hadronic origin makes an unambiguous identification of primary photons a challenging task. In the analysis presented here, a selection strategy is applied to both GW sources and air shower events aiming to provide maximum sensitivity to a possible photon signal. At the same time, a window is kept open for hypothetical new-physics processes, which might allow for much larger interaction lengths of photons in the extragalactic medium. Preliminary results on the UHE photon fluence from a selection of GW sources, including the binary neutron star merger GW170817 are presented.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, indirect detection, fluorescence detection, ultra-high energy, photons, cosmic rays, anisotropy, gravitational waves, multimessenger
Published in RUNG: 29.09.2023; Views: 1330; Downloads: 7
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9. Science with the Global Cosmic-ray Observatory (GCOS)Rafael Alves Batista, M. Ahlers, Pedro Assis, Markus Gottfried Battisti, J. A. Bellido, S. Bhatnagar, K. Bismark, Teresa Bister, Martina Boháčová, Serguei Vorobiov, 2023, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The Global Cosmic-ray Observatory (GCOS) is a proposed large-scale observatory for studying
ultra-high-energy cosmic particles, including ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), photons,
and neutrinos. Its primary goal is to characterise the properties of the highest-energy particles in
Nature with unprecedented accuracy, and to identify their elusive sources. With an aperture at least a ten-fold larger than existing observatories, this next-generation facility should start operating after 2030, when present-day detectors will gradually cease their activities. Here we briefly review the scientific case motivating GCOS. We present the status of the project, preliminary ideas for its design, and some estimates of its capabilities.
Keywords: ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, UHE photons, UHE neutrinos, the Global Cosmic-ray Observatory project
Published in RUNG: 27.09.2023; Views: 1869; Downloads: 6
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10. Search for primary photons at tens of PeV with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryNicolás González, Andrej Filipčič, Jon Paul Lundquist, Shima Ujjani Shivashankara, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2023, published scientific conference contribution Abstract: The observation of primary photons with energies around 10[sup]16 eV would be particularly interesting after the discovery of Galactic gamma-ray sources with spectra extending into the PeV range. Since photons are connected to the acceleration of charged particles, searches for photons enhance the multi-messenger understanding of cosmic-ray sources as well as of transient astrophysical phenomena, while offering wealthy connections to neutrino astronomy and dark matter. Additionally, diffuse photon fluxes are expected from cosmic-ray interactions with Galactic matter and background radiation fields. Previously, the energy domain between 1 PeV and 200 PeV was only explored from the Northern Hemisphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest astroparticle experiment in operation and, thanks to its location, has a sizable exposure to the Southern sky,
including the Galactic center region. In this contribution, we present the first search for photons from the Southern hemisphere between 50 and 200 PeV exploiting the Auger data acquired during
∼4 yr of operation. We describe the method to discriminate photons against the dominating hadronic background; it is based on the measurements of air showers taken with the low-energy extension of the Pierre Auger Observatory composed by 19 water-Cherenkov detectors spanning ∼ 2km[sup]2 and an Underground Muon Detector. The search for a diffuse flux of photons is presented and its results are interpreted according to theoretical model predictions. This study extends the range of Auger photon searches to almost four decades in energy.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, cosmic rays, photons, water-Cherenkov detectors, underground muon detectors
Published in RUNG: 26.09.2023; Views: 1438; Downloads: 7
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