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Abstract: We report an investigation of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies from 3 to 100 EeV (1 EeV = 10[sup]18 eV) using the distributions of the depth of shower maximum Xmax. The analysis relies on ∼50,000 events recorded by the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory and a deep-learning-based reconstruction algorithm. Above energies of 5 EeV, the dataset offers a 10-fold increase in statistics with respect to fluorescence measurements at the Observatory. After cross-calibration using the fluorescence detector, this enables the first measurement of the evolution of the mean and the standard deviation of the Xmax distributions up to 100 EeV. Our findings are threefold: (i) The evolution of the mean logarithmic mass toward a heavier composition with increasing energy can be confirmed and is extended to 100 EeV. (ii) The evolution of the fluctuations of Xmax toward a heavier and purer composition with increasing energy can be confirmed with high statistics. We report a rather heavy composition and small fluctuations in Xmax at the highest energies. (iii) We find indications for a characteristic structure beyond a constant change in the mean logarithmic mass, featuring three breaks that are observed in proximity to the ankle, instep, and suppression features in the energy spectrum.
Keywords: ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, UHECRs, extensive air showers, Pierre Auger Observatory, UHECR mass composition, depth of shower maximum, fluorescence detector, surface detector, deep learning
Published in RUNG: 20.01.2025; Views: 110; Downloads: 0
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Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is the most sensitive instrument to detect photons with energies above 1⁢0[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=1⁢0[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: 763; Downloads: 2
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Keywords: hadronske interakcije, detektorji fluorescence, talni detektorji, Observatorij Pierre Auger
Published in RUNG: 16.05.2024; Views: 1243; Downloads: 6
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Keywords: radio meritve, pljuski delcev, kozmični žarki ekstremnih energij, Observatorij Pierre Auger
Published in RUNG: 31.01.2024; Views: 1606; Downloads: 10
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Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger) and the Telescope Array (TA), located, respectively, in the Southern and Northern hemispheres, are the largest ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) observatories. The Auger and TA Collaborations have collected unprecedented statistics providing us with a unique opportunity to search for the differences between the UHECR energy spectra and mass compositions in the complementary sky regions. To correctly attribute such differences to the properties of the UHECR sources or propagation, the systematic effects in the measurements of each observatory should be considered properly. In this context, the task of the Auger – TA mass composition working group is to identify possible differences of astrophysical origin in the measurements of the depth of the maximum of air-shower profiles, X_max, performed at both observatories using the fluorescence technique. Due to distinct approaches to event selection and analysis atAuger and TA, theworking group uses a specially designed method to transfer the Auger X_max distributions into the TA detector. To this end, dedicated air-shower and detector simulations for the TA Black Rock Mesa and Long Ridge fluorescence detector stations were performed with the Sibyll 2.3d hadronic interaction model. From the comparison of the first two moments and the shapes of X_max distributions for energies above 10^18.2 eV, no significant differences between the Auger and TA measurements were found.
Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, fluorescence detectors
Published in RUNG: 22.01.2024; Views: 1692; Downloads: 6
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