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Opis: The search for anisotropies in the arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays plays a key role in the efforts to understand their origin. The observed first-harmonic modulation in right ascension above 8 EeV, detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory with a current significance of 6.9�, suggests an extragalactic origin above this energy. Furthermore, there are indications, at the ∼4� significance level, of anisotropies at intermediate angular scales, which are obtained when comparing the arrival directions against the distribution of potential sources from astrophysical catalogs, in particular that of nearby starburst galaxies, and around the Centaurus region. In this contribution, we present the status of the different searches for anisotropies at small, intermediate and large angular scales. We use the latest available data set, with 19 years of operation that has yielded 135,000 km^2 yr sr of accumulated exposure, covering the sky at declinations from −90◦ to 45◦. At small and intermediate scales, we report updates of the all-sky blind search for localized excesses, the study around the Centaurus region, and the likelihood analysis with catalogs of candidate sources. We have also studied the regions of the sky from which the Telescope Array Collaboration has reported hints of excesses in their data and we find no significant effects in the same directions with a data set of comparable size. At large angular scales, the dipolar and quadrupolar amplitudes in energy bins are updated. We discuss the prospects of these searches, both in regards to increases in statistics and in relation to the future inclusion of event-by-event mass estimators in these analyses through the upgrade of the Observatory, AugerPrime.
Ključne besede: anisotropies, Pierre Auger Observatory, ultra-high energy cosmic-rays, arrival directions
Objavljeno v RUNG: 22.01.2024; Ogledov: 2277; Prenosov: 7
Celotno besedilo (2,45 MB)
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Opis: 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.
Ključne besede: ultra high energy cosmic rays, cosmic ray experiments, Pierre Auger Observatory, active galactic nuclei
Objavljeno v RUNG: 19.01.2024; Ogledov: 2171; Prenosov: 43
Celotno besedilo (3,93 MB)
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Opis: Astrophysical neutral particles, such as neutrons, can point directly to their sources since they are not affected by magnetic fields. We expect neutron production in the immediate vicinity of the acceleration sites due to cosmic ray interactions. Hence, a high-energy neutron flux could help to identify sources of cosmic rays in the EeV range. Free neutrons, although unstable, can travel a mean distance of 9.2 kpc times their energy in EeV. Due to the neutron instability, we limit the searches to Galactic candidate sources. Since air showers initiated by a neutron are indistinguishable from those generated by a proton, we would recognize a neutron flux as an excess of events from the direction of its source. Previous searches using events with a zenith angle up to 60^◦ and energies above 1 EeV found no surplus of events that would indicate a neutron flux. We present the results of the search for evidence of high-energy neutron fluxes using a data set about three times larger than the previous work. We investigate the sky in the field of view of the Pierre Auger Observatory, narrowing down to specific directions of candidate sources. With respect to previous works, we extend the angular range up to zenith angles of 80^◦ , reaching declinations from −90^◦ to +45^◦ , and the energy range going as low as 0.1 EeV. The extension in the field of view provides exposure to the Crab Nebula for the first time.
Ključne besede: neutrons, cosmic ray, Pierre Auger Observatory, Crab Nebula, proton, high-energy neutron flux
Objavljeno v RUNG: 14.11.2023; Ogledov: 2415; Prenosov: 6
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Opis: The study of correlations between observations of different messengers from extreme sources of the Universe has emerged as an outstanding way to make progress in astrophysics. The Pierre Auger Observatory is capable of significant contributions as an ultra-high energy particle detector, particularly through its capability to search for inclined showers produced by neutrinos. We describe the neutrino searches made with the Observatory with particular emphasis on the recent results following the detections of gravitational waves from binary mergers with Advanced LIGO and VIRGO, leading to competitive limits.
Ključne besede: ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic rays (CRs), Pierre Auger Observatory, UHE neutrinos, multi-messenger astrophysics
Objavljeno v RUNG: 11.10.2023; Ogledov: 3061; Prenosov: 11
Celotno besedilo (1,69 MB)
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Opis: The flux of ultra-high energy cosmic rays above 3×10[sup]17 eV has been measured with unprecedented precision at the Pierre Auger Observatory. The flux of the cosmic rays is determined by four different measurements. The surface detector array provides three data sets, two formed by dividing the data into two zenith angle ranges, and one obtained from a nested, denser detector array. The fourth measurement is obtained with the fluorescence detector. By combining all four data sets, the all-sky flux of cosmic rays is determined. The spectral features are discussed in detail and systematic uncertainties are addressed.
Ključne besede: ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), Pierre Auger Observatory, UHECR energy spectrum
Objavljeno v RUNG: 11.10.2023; Ogledov: 2091; Prenosov: 11
Celotno besedilo (1,66 MB)
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