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Opis: The large-scale distribution of arrival directions of high-energy cosmic rays is a key observable in attempts to understanding their origin. The dipole and quadrupole moments are of special interest in revealing potential anisotropies. An unambiguous measurement of these moments as well as of the full set of spherical harmonic coefficients requires full-sky coverage. This can be achieved by combining data from observatories located in both the northern and southern hemispheres. To this end, a joint analysis using data recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array above 10[sup]19 eV has been performed. Thanks to the full-sky coverage, the measurement of the dipole moment reported in this study does not rely on any assumption on the underlying flux of cosmic rays. As well, the resolution on the quadrupole and higher order moments is the best ever obtained. The resulting multipolar expansion of the flux of cosmic rays allows a series of anisotropy searches to be performed, and in particular to report on the first angular power spectrum of cosmic rays. This allows a comprehensive description of the angular distribution of cosmic rays above 10[sup]19 eV.
Ključne besede: Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array, high-energy cosmic rays, large-scale anisotropies, angular power spectrum
Objavljeno v RUNG: 08.03.2016; Ogledov: 4533; Prenosov: 189
Celotno besedilo (462,61 KB)

Opis: We have conducted three searches for correlations between ultra-high energy cosmic rays detected by the Telescope Array and the Pierre Auger Observatory, and high-energy neutrino candidate events from IceCube. Two cross-correlation analyses with UHECRs are done: one with 39 cascades from the IceCube ‘high-energy starting events’ sample and the other with 16 high-energy ‘track events’. The angular separation between the arrival directions of neutrinos and UHECRs is scanned over. The same events are also used in a separate search using a maximum likelihood approach, after the neutrino arrival directions are stacked. To estimate the significance we assume UHECR magnetic deflections to be inversely proportional to their energy, with values 3◦, 6◦ and 9◦ at 100 EeV to allow for the uncertainties on the magnetic field strength and UHECR charge. A similar analysis is performed on stacked UHECR arrival directions and the IceCube sample of through-going muon track events which were optimized for neutrino point- source searches.
Ključne besede: ultra-high energy cosmic rays, Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array, high-energy neutrinos, IceCube, correlation search
Objavljeno v RUNG: 08.03.2016; Ogledov: 4974; Prenosov: 192
Celotno besedilo (1,11 MB)

Opis: The data collected with the Pierre Auger Observatory have led to a number of surprising discoveries. While a strong suppression of the particle flux at the highest energies has been established unambiguously, the dominant physics processes related to this suppression could not be identified. Within the energy range covered by fluorescence detector observations with sufficient statistics, an unexpected change of the depth of maximum distribution is found. Using LHC-tuned interaction models these observations can be understood as a correlated change of the fluxes of different mass groups. On the other hand, they could also indicate a change of hadronic interactions above the energy of the ankle. Complementing the water Cherenkov detectors of the surface array with scintillator detectors will, mainly through the determination of the muonic shower component, extend the composition sensitivity of the Auger Observatory into the flux suppression region. The upgrade of the Auger Observatory will allow us to estimate the primary mass of the highest energy cosmic rays on a shower-by-shower basis. In addition to measuring the mass composition the upgrade will open the possibility to search for light primaries at the highest energies, to perform composition-selected anisotropy studies, and to search for new phenomena including unexpected changes of hadronic interactions. After introducing the physics motivation for upgrading the Auger Observatory the planned detector upgrade is presented. In the second part of the contribution the expected performance and improved physics sensitivity of the upgraded Auger Observatory are discussed.
Ključne besede: Pierre Auger Observatory, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, elemental composition sensitivity, Auger upgrade (AugerPrime), muonic shower component, scintillator detectors
Objavljeno v RUNG: 03.03.2016; Ogledov: 4429; Prenosov: 222
Celotno besedilo (659,02 KB)

Opis: The muon content of extensive air showers is an observable sensitive to the primary composition and to the hadronic interaction properties. We present here different methods which allow us to estimate the muon number at the ground level and the muon production depth by exploiting the measurement of the longitudinal, lateral and temporal distribution of particles in air showers recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The results, obtained at about 10[sup]19 eV (E[inf]CM ∼ 140 TeV center-of-mass energy for proton primaries), are compared to the predictions of LHC-tuned hadronic interaction models with different primary masses and suggest a deficit in the muon content at the ground predicted by simulations. The Pierre Auger Observatory uses water-Cherenkov detectors to measure particle densities at the ground and therefore has a good sensitivity to the muon content of air showers. Moreover, due to its hybrid design, the combination of muon measurements with other independent mass composition analyses such as Xmax provides additional constraints on hadronic interaction models.
Ključne besede: Pierre Auger Observatory, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, muons, mass composition, hadronic interactions
Objavljeno v RUNG: 03.03.2016; Ogledov: 4792; Prenosov: 218
Celotno besedilo (298,46 KB)

Opis: We report for the first time on the measurement of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in water-Cherenkov stations for events reconstructed by both the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlated measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory and allows us to determine the purity of the cosmic-ray composition. The observed correlation in the energy range around the “ankle” lg(E/eV) = 18.5−19.0 differs significantly from the expectations for pure beams, indicating that the primary composition in this range is mixed, unless the hadronic interactions at these energies behave very differently than in conventional, LHC-tuned event generators.
Ključne besede: ultra-high energy cosmic rays, elemental composition, depth of shower maximum, secondary cosmic rays, Pierre Auger Observatory
Objavljeno v RUNG: 02.03.2016; Ogledov: 5322; Prenosov: 238
Celotno besedilo (388,00 KB)