41. Mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays at the Pierre Auger ObservatoryGašper Kukec Mezek, 2019, doctoral dissertation Abstract: Cosmic rays with energies above 10^18 eV, usually referred to as ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR), have been a mystery from the moment they have been discovered. Although we have now more information on their extragalactic origin, their direct sources still remain hidden due to deviations caused by galactic magnetic fields. Another mystery, apart from their production sites, is their nature. Their mass composition, still uncertain at these energies, would give us a better understanding on their production, acceleration, propagation and capacity to produce extensive air showers in the Earth's atmosphere. Mass composition studies of UHECR try to determine their nature from the difference in development of their extensive air showers.
In this work, observational parameters from the hybrid detection system of the Pierre Auger Observatory are used in a multivariate analysis to obtain the mass composition of UHECR. The multivariate analysis (MVA) approach combines a number of mass composition sensitive variables and tries to improve the separation between different UHECR particle masses. Simulated distributions of different primary particles are fitted to measured observable distributions in order to determine individual elemental fractions of the composition. When including observables from the surface detector, we find a discrepancy in the estimated mass composition between a mixed simulation sample and the Pierre Auger data. Our analysis results from the Pierre Auger data are to a great degree independent on hadronic interaction models. Although they differ at higher primary masses, the different models are more consistent, when combining fractions of oxygen and iron. Compared to previously published results, the systematic uncertainty from hadronic interaction models is roughly four times smaller. Our analysis reports a predominantly heavy composition of UHECR, with more than a 50% fraction of oxygen and iron at low energies. The composition is then becoming heavier with increasing energy, with a fraction of oxygen and iron above 80% at the highest energies. Keywords: astroparticle physics, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, extensive air showers, mass composition, Pierre Auger Observatory, machine learning, multivariate analysis Published in RUNG: 03.04.2019; Views: 4963; Downloads: 186 Full text (17,53 MB) |
42. |
43. |
44. The Pierre Auger Observatory UpgradeDaniele Martello, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Ahmed Saleh, Samo Stanič, Marta Trini, Darko Veberič, Serguei Vorobiov, Lili Yang, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2017, published scientific conference contribution Keywords: Pierre Auger Observatory, AugerPrime, improved physics sensitivity Published in RUNG: 19.02.2018; Views: 3229; Downloads: 148 Full text (2,79 MB) |
45. An Indication of Anisotropy in Arrival Directions of Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays through Comparison to the Flux Pattern of Extragalactic Gamma-Ray SourcesA. Aab, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Ahmed Saleh, Samo Stanič, Marta Trini, Darko Veberič, Serguei Vorobiov, Lili Yang, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2018, original scientific article Keywords: astroparticle physics, cosmic rays, active galaxies, starburst galaxies, data analysis methods Published in RUNG: 14.02.2018; Views: 3500; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
46. |
47. Search for Physics beyond the Standard Model with the CRESST Experiment2017, master's thesis Abstract: In spite of the successes of observational astro- and particle physics and cosmology very much of the universe remains unknown. The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory describing the electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear interactions, as well as classifying all the subatomic particles known. But there is overwhelming evidence, that all the known particles, the ordinary (baryonic) matter, the building blocks of planets, stars and ourselves, only make up about 4.9% of the energy content of the universe. The standard model of cosmology (CDM) indicates that the total mass-energy of the universe contains beside the 4.9% ordinary matter two other components: 26.8% dark matter and 68.3% dark energy. The accelerating expansion of the Universe is the result of the effect of the dark energy with its most simple form given by a cosmological constant in Einstein's Equation. Dark matter is an unidentified type of matter that is not accounted for by dark energy and neutrinos and is generally believed to be a non-relativistic, charge neutral and non-baryonic new form of matter. Although dark matter has not been directly observed yet, its existence and properties are inferred from its gravitational effects such as the motions of visible matter, gravitational lensing, its influence on the universe's large-scale structure, and its effects in the cosmic microwave background. Thus the search for Dark Matter is the search for physics beyond the standard model. Although the nature of dark matter is yet unknown, its presence is crucial to understanding the future of the universe. The CRESST experiment is searching for direct evidence in the form of a nuclear recoil induced on a scintillating CaWO4 crystal by a dark matter particle, and is installed and taking data underground at Laboratory Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. While both, dark energy and dark matter, have not been detected directly, a class of dark matter particles that interact only via gravity and the weak force, referred to asWeakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), has been established as the leading candidate among the dark matter community. For this thesis a special model of dark matter was studied, namely the dark photon. This thesis provides a detailed description of the calculation of the 90% upper limit on the dark photon kinetic mixing based on data from the second phase of the CRESST experiment. The analysis was carried out in a frequentist approach based on the (unbinned) maximum-likelihood method and likelihood ratios. To make a statement about the calculated result and its quality, the used algorithm had to be tested, what was done with Monte Carlo simulations (pseudo data). Keywords: astro physics, particle physics, cosmology, universe, Standard Model of particle physics, standard model of cosmology, matter, ordinary matter, dark matter, dark energy, accelerating expansion of the Universe, non-baryonic, new form of matter, gravitational lensing, cosmic microwave background, search for physics beyond the standard model, CRESST experiment, direct detection, CaWO4 crystal, underground laboratory, Laboratory Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, WIMP, dark photon, 90% upper limit, upper limit, kinetic mixing, frequentist approach, unbinned, maximum likelihood Published in RUNG: 13.10.2017; Views: 4589; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
48. |
49. Search for UHE neutrinos – in coincidence with LIGO GW150914 event – with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryLili Yang, 2016, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: The first gravitational wave transient GW150914 was observed by Advanced LIGO on September 14th, 2015 at 09:50:45 Universal Time. In addition to follow-up electromagnetic observations, the detection of neutrinos will probe deeply and more on the nature of astrophysical sources, especially in the ultra-high energy regime. Neutrinos in the EeV energy range were searched in data collected at the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory within ± 500 s and 1 day after the GW150914 event. No neutrino candidates were found. Based on this non-observation, we derive the first and only one neutrino fluence upper limit at EeV energies for this event at 90% CL, and report constraints on existence of accretion disk around mergers. Keywords: gravitational waves, neutrinos, black hole physics Published in RUNG: 06.12.2016; Views: 5207; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
50. Prospects On Testing Lorentz Invariance Violation With The Cherenkov Telescope ArrayM. K. Daniel, Andrej Filipčič, Gašper Kukec Mezek, Samo Stanič, Serguei Vorobiov, Lili Yang, Gabrijela Zaharijas, Danilo Zavrtanik, Marko Zavrtanik, 2015, published scientific conference contribution Keywords: Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV), Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-rays, fundamental physics probes, Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), pulsars Published in RUNG: 14.03.2016; Views: 4603; Downloads: 221 Full text (904,49 KB) |