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1.
Considerable progress has been made in the last half-decade in the field of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy (photons with energies between 1011 and 1013 eV). The high background level due to the isotropic cosmic ray flux which has bedevilled the field since its inception in the early 1960's can now be reduced to such a degree that significant gamma-ray signals from several sources become visible within a few hours of observation. The instrumentation and methodologies which have made this possible are reviewed. A brief historical introduction is followed by a summary of the salient properties of the atmospheric Cherenkov flash associated with VHE gamma-ray events. The major components of a VHE gamma-ray astronomy telescope are then reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of the different methodologies currently being used to discriminate against the cosmic ray background. Properties of several specific installations are then summarized, and possible future developments in VHE instrumentation are briefly discussed.  相似文献   

2.
Muons produced in atmospheric cosmic ray showers account for the by far dominant part of the event yield in large-volume underground particle detectors. The IceCube detector, with an instrumented volume of about a cubic kilometer, has the potential to conduct unique investigations on atmospheric muons by exploiting the large collection area and the possibility to track particles over a long distance. Through detailed reconstruction of energy deposition along the tracks, the characteristics of muon bundles can be quantified, and individual particles of exceptionally high energy identified. The data can then be used to constrain the cosmic ray primary flux and the contribution to atmospheric lepton fluxes from prompt decays of short-lived hadrons.In this paper, techniques for the extraction of physical measurements from atmospheric muon events are described and first results are presented. The multiplicity spectrum of TeV muons in cosmic ray air showers for primaries in the energy range from the knee to the ankle is derived and found to be consistent with recent results from surface detectors. The single muon energy spectrum is determined up to PeV energies and shows a clear indication for the emergence of a distinct spectral component from prompt decays of short-lived hadrons. The magnitude of the prompt flux, which should include a substantial contribution from light vector meson di-muon decays, is consistent with current theoretical predictions.The variety of measurements and high event statistics can also be exploited for the evaluation of systematic effects. In the course of this study, internal inconsistencies in the zenith angle distribution of events were found which indicate the presence of an unexplained effect outside the currently applied range of detector systematics. The underlying cause could be related to the hadronic interaction models used to describe muon production in air showers.  相似文献   

3.
Since the century discovery of cosmic ray, the origin of cosmic ray is always a mystery. The study on the origin of high-energy cosmic ray is in an interdiscipline between the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray astronomy and the cosmic ray physics. The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is a unique and new generation cosmic-ray station with the advantages of high altitude, all-weather, and large-scale. It takes the function of hybrid technology to detect cosmic rays and to upgrade greatly the resolving power between gamma rays and cosmic rays. The LHAASO is expected to make the full-sky survey to find new gamma-ray sources, to obtain the highest sensitivity of gamma-ray detection at the high energy band of > 30 TeV, and to make the very high precision measurement on the component energy spectra of cosmic rays in a broad energy range of 5 orders of magnitude, in order to provide the evidence for revealing the mystery of the origin of cosmic ray. This paper describes the detector structure, performance superiority and scientific motivation of the LHAASO.  相似文献   

4.
The origin and nature of the highest energy cosmic ray events is currently the subject of intense investigation by giant air shower arrays and fluorescent detectors. These particles reach energies well beyond what can be achieved in ground-based particle accelerators and hence they are fundamental probes for particle physics as well as astrophysics. One of the main topics today focuses on the high energy end of the spectrum and the potential for the production of high-energy neutrinos. Above about 1020 eV cosmic rays from extragalactic sources are expected to be severely attenuated by pion photoproduction interactions with photons of the cosmic microwave background. Investigating the shape of the cosmic ray spectrum near this predicted cut-off will be very important. In addition, a significant high-energy neutrino background is naturally expected as part of the pion decay chain which also contains much information.Because of the scarcity of these high-energy particles, larger and larger ground-based detectors have been built. The new generation of digital radio telescopes may play an important role in this, if properly designed. Radio detection of cosmic ray showers has a long history but was abandoned in the 1970s. Recent experimental developments together with sophisticated air shower simulations incorporating radio emission give a clearer understanding of the relationship between the air shower parameters and the radio signal, and have led to resurgence in its use. Observations of air showers by the SKA could, because of its large collecting area, contribute significantly to measuring the cosmic ray spectrum at the highest energies. Because of the large surface area of the moon, and the expected excellent angular resolution of the SKA, using the SKA to detect radio Cherenkov emission from neutrino-induced cascades in lunar regolith will be potentially the most important technique for investigating cosmic ray origin at energies above the photoproduction cut-off.  相似文献   

5.
《Astroparticle Physics》2009,32(1):53-60
The High Resolution Fly’s Eye (HiRes) experiment has measured the flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays using the stereoscopic air fluorescence technique. The HiRes experiment consists of two detectors that observe cosmic ray showers via the fluorescence light they emit. HiRes data can be analyzed in monocular mode, where each detector is treated separately, or in stereoscopic mode where they are considered together. Using the monocular mode the HiRes collaboration measured the cosmic ray spectrum and made the first observation of the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin cutoff. In this paper we present the cosmic ray spectrum measured by the stereoscopic technique. Good agreement is found with the monocular spectrum in all details.  相似文献   

6.
Cosmic ray electrons represent a background for gamma-ray observations with Cherenkov telescopes, initiating air-showers which are difficult to distinguish from photon-initiated showers. This similarity, however, and the presence of cosmic ray electrons in every field observed, makes them potentially very useful for calibration purposes. Here we study the precision with which the relative energy scale and collection area/efficiency for photons can be established using electrons for a major next generation instrument such as CTA. We find that variations in collection efficiency on hour timescales can be corrected to better than 1%. Furthermore, the break in the electron spectrum at ∼ 0.9 TeV can be used to calibrate the energy scale at the 3% level on the same timescale. For observations on the order of hours, statistical errors become negligible below a few TeV and allow for an energy scale cross-check with instruments such as CALET and AMS. Cosmic ray electrons therefore provide a powerful calibration tool, either as an alternative to intensive atmospheric monitoring and modelling efforts, or for independent verification of such procedures.  相似文献   

7.
We outline the science prospects for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory operating at energies above few tens of GeV. With its low energy threshold, large effective area and rapid slewing capabilities, CTA will be able to measure the spectra and variability of GRBs at multi-GeV energies with unprecedented photon statistics, and thereby break new ground in elucidating the physics of GRBs, which is still poorly understood. Such measurements will also provide crucial diagnostics of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray and neutrino production in GRBs, advance observational cosmology by probing the high-redshift extragalactic background light and intergalactic magnetic fields, and contribute to fundamental physics by testing Lorentz invariance violation with high precision. Aiming to quantify these goals, we present some simulated observations of GRB spectra and light curves, together with estimates of their detection rates with CTA. Although the expected detection rate is modest, of order a few GRBs per year, hundreds or more high-energy photons per burst may be attainable once they are detected. We also address various issues related to following up alerts from satellites and other facilities with CTA, as well as follow-up observations at other wavelengths. The possibility of discovering and observing GRBs from their onset including short GRBs during a wide-field survey mode is also briefly discussed.  相似文献   

8.
Most of what we know of cosmic gamma rays has come from spacecraft, but at energies above tens of GeV it has become possible to make observations with ground-based detectors of enormously greater collecting area. In recent years one such detector type, the cluster of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes, has reached a very productive state, whilst several alternative approaches have been explored, including converted solar power collectors and novel high-altitude particle shower detectors which promised to extend the energy range covered. Key examples of development from 1952 to 2011 are followed, noting the problems and discoveries that stimulated the current work, explaining the logic of the alternative approaches that were taken. The merits of the current major Cherenkov observatories and of other viable detectors are examined and compared, with examples of the astrophysical information they are beginning to provide. The detectors are still evolving, as we still do not understand the processes onto which the gamma rays provide a window. These include the acceleration of Galactic cosmic rays (in particular, the wide-band spectra of radiation from some individual supernova remnants are still hard to interpret), the highly relativistic and variable jets from active galactic nuclei, and aspects of the electrodynamics of pulsars. Larger groups of Cherenkov telescopes still offer the possibility of an increase in power of the technique for resolvable Galactic sources especially.  相似文献   

9.
Recent reports of superhigh energy cosmic rays beyond the expected spectral cutoff have intensified interest in the unknown origin of the highest energy cosmic rays. There is a need for a much larger data base of more precisely measured air showers. This requires new sensitive detectors of enormous aperture. Combining a ground array of particle counters with an optical detector of atmospheric fluorescence yields a detector of outstanding capability. Such a hybrid detector provides far more accurate measurements of energies, arrival directions, and primary particle atomic masses than can be achieved by either type of detector separately.  相似文献   

10.
We have searched for very high energy (VHE) gamma rays from four blazars using the CANGAROO-III imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope. We report the results of the observations of H 2356-309, PKS 2155-304, PKS 0537-441, and 3C 279, performed from 2005 to 2009, applying a new analysis to suppress the effects of the position dependence of Cherenkov images in the field of view. No significant VHE gamma ray emission was detected from any of the four blazars. The GeV gamma-ray spectra of these objects were obtained by analyzing Fermi/LAT archival data. Wide range (radio to VHE gamma-ray bands) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) including CANGAROO-III upper limits, GeV gamma-ray spectra, and archival data, even though they are non-simultaneous, are discussed using a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model in combination with a external Compton (EC) radiation. The HBLs (H 2356-309 and PKS 2155-304) can be explained by a simple SSC model, and PKS 0537-441 and 3C 279 are well modeled by a combination of SSC and EC model. We find a consistency with the blazar sequence in terms of strength of magnetic field and component size.  相似文献   

11.
Neutrino production of radio Cherenkov signals in the Moon is the object of radio telescope observations. Depending on the energy range and detection parameters, the dominant contribution to the neutrino signal may come from interactions of the neutrino on the Moon facing the telescope, rather than neutrinos that have traversed a portion of the Moon. Using the approximate analytic expression of the effective lunar aperture from a recent paper by Gayley, Mutel and Jaeger, we evaluate the background from cosmic ray interactions in the lunar regolith. We also consider the modifications to the effective lunar aperture from generic non-standard model neutrino interactions. A background to neutrino signals are radio Cherenkov signals from cosmic ray interactions. For cosmogenic neutrino fluxes, neutrino signals will be difficult to observe because of low neutrino flux at the high energy end and large cosmic ray background in the lower energy range considered here. We show that lunar radio detection of neutrino interactions is best suited to constrain or measure neutrinos from astrophysical sources and probe non-standard neutrino-nucleon interactions such as microscopic black hole production.  相似文献   

12.
Fermi卫星对GeV能段的河外伽马射线背景(Extragalactic Gamma-ray Background, EGB)进行了较为精确的测量, 极大提高了对高能伽马射线背景的认识, 但是在TeV能段, 使用空间探测器进行观测非常困难, 只能依赖地面伽马射线探测器, 如成像大气切伦科夫望远镜. 目前, 对于TeV能段的河外伽马射线背景的认识还不完善. 使用有低活跃状态能谱的61个TeV源(包含2个星暴星系、6个射电星系以及53个耀变体)的累计流量给出河外TeV伽马射线背景的下限. 结果显示, 低能段(0.5--4.5TeV)流量由两个临近的耀变体Mrk 421和Mrk 501主导, 贡献了大约58%的累计背景流量; 而大于4.5TeV的能段, 由3个已观测到10TeV以上能段流量的极端耀变体H 1426+428、1ES 1959+650以及1ES 0229+200主导. 最后分别探究了星暴星系、射电星系以及耀变体对河外TeV伽马射线背景的贡献, 不同耀变体子类对河外TeV伽马射线背景的贡献以及不同红移区间TeV源对河外伽马射线背景的贡献.  相似文献   

13.
For conventional radiation detectors fabricated from compound semi-conductors, the wide disparity between the transport properties of the electron and holes, means that detector performances are limited by the carrier with the poorest mobility-lifetime product (μτ). Finite drift lengths introduce an energy dependent depth term into the charge collection process, which effectively limit maximum detection volume to tens of mm3 – entirely unsuitable for the detection of gamma-rays. The recent introduction of the coplanar-grid charge-sensing techniques has overcome this problem by essentially discarding the carrier with the poorest transport properties, thus permitting high spectral resolution and high detection efficiency. For example, energy resolutions of 2% full-width half-maximum at 662 keV have been demonstrated with coplanar-grid CdZnTe detectors of volumes up to 2 cm3. Further improvements in detector performance and yield are being pursued through refinements in electrode design and material quality. Because coplanar-grid CdZnTe detectors can operate at room temperature, they are ideally suited for applications requiring portability, small size, or low power consumption such as planetary space missions. Other potential applications include well logging, medical diagnostics, and gamma-ray astronomy. We discuss the feasibility and design of a solid state gamma-ray detector based on CdZnTe and compare its performance to a large volume Ge detector. As will be shown, a significant improvement can be made if T1Br is used as the detection medium.  相似文献   

14.
The observation of the time delay between the soft emission and the high-energy radiation from cosmological gamma ray bursts can be used as an important observational test of multi-dimensional physical theories. The main source of the time delay is the variation of the electromagnetic coupling, due to dimensional reduction, which induces an energy dependence of the speed of light. For photons with energies around 1 TeV, the time delay could range from a few seconds in the case of Kaluza–Klein models to a few days for models with large extra-dimensions. Based on these results we suggest that the detection of the 18-GeV photon ∼4500 s after the keV/MeV burst in GRB 940217 provides a strong evidence for the existence of extra-dimensions. The time delay of photons, if observed by the next generation of high energy detectors, like, for example, the SWIFT and GLAST satellite based detectors, or the VERITAS ground-based TeV gamma-ray instrument, could differentiate between the different models with extra-dimensions.  相似文献   

15.
Identifying the accelerators that produce the Galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays has been a priority mission of several generations of high energy gamma ray and neutrino telescopes; success has been elusive so far. Detecting the gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes associated with cosmic rays reaches a new watershed with the completion of IceCube, the first neutrino detector with sensitivity to the anticipated fluxes, and the construction of CTA, a ground-based gamma ray detector that will map and study candidate sources with unprecedented precision. In this paper, we revisit the prospects for revealing the sources of the cosmic rays by a multiwavelength approach; after reviewing the methods, we discuss supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, active galaxies and GZK neutrinos in some detail.  相似文献   

16.
X-ray transition radiation can be used to measure the Lorentz factor of relativistic particles. At energies approaching γ=E/mc2=105, transition radiation detectors can be optimized by using thick (5–10 mil) foils with large (5–10 mm) spacings. This implies X-ray energies 100 keV and the use of scintillators as the X-ray detectors. Compton scattering of the X-rays out of the particle beam then becomes an important effect. We discuss the design of very high energy detectors, the use of metal radiator foils rather than the standard plastic foils, inorganic scintillators for detecting Compton scattered transition radiation, and the application to the ACCESS cosmic ray experiment.  相似文献   

17.
Remote sensing of atmosphere is conventionally done via a study of extinction/scattering of light from natural (Sun, Moon) or artificial (laser) sources. Cherenkov emission from extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays provides one more natural light source distributed throughout the atmosphere. We show that Cherenkov light carries information on three-dimensional distribution of clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere and on the size distribution and scattering phase function of cloud/aerosol particles. Therefore, it could be used for the atmospheric sounding. The new atmospheric sounding method could be implemented via an adjustment of technique of imaging Cherenkov telescopes. The atmospheric sounding data collected in this way could be used both for atmospheric science and for the improvement of the quality of astronomical gamma-ray observations.  相似文献   

18.
A Monte Carlo study to reconstruct energy and mass of cosmic rays with energies above 300 TeV using ground based measurements of the electromagnetic part of showers initiated in the atmosphere is presented. The shower properties determined with two detector arrays measuring the air Cherenkov light and the particle densities as realized at the HEGRA experiment are processed to determine the energy of the primary particle without the need of any hypothesis concerning its mass. The mass of the primary particle is reconstructed coarsely from the same observables in parallel to the energy determination.  相似文献   

19.
We present a trend analysis of the ISO-SWS detector performance and a study of the space radiation effects on the SWS detectors. In particular, dark currents, dark current noise and detector responses have been checked as a function of time through the mission and as a function of time in arevolution. The results show that these parameters were stable during the mission in all bandsbut for band 3 (Si:As). Dark currents and responses were found to be higherin the first hours following the start of the science window,especially in band 2 (Si:Ga). We have studied the impacts of cosmic rays and radiation belt particles on the SWS detectors, as well as of the only large solar proton event on November 6, 1997,that occurred during the ISO mission (operated during solar minimum).The observed glitch rates in all SWS bands are found to be between 2 and4 times higher than the value predicted by the CREME96 model for the cosmic ray flux in the period considered. The bands that registered the highest glitch rates showed also a correlation with the electron fluxes measured on theGOES 9 spacecraft. From the distribution of glitchheights (voltage jumps in the detector signal), we have derived the deposited energy distributions of the particles hits. Our results lead to the conclusion that secondaryparticles produced in the shield and the detectors contributed at least as much as cosmic rays to the observed glitch rate. The effects on the detectors of the November 6, 1997 event, which caused that all observationsin a revolution were declared failed, are described in detail.  相似文献   

20.
The Chang’E-1(CE-1) spacecraft took a gamma-ray spectrometer (hereafter, CGRS) to detect the element distributions on the lunar surface in a circular, 200 km altitude, polar orbit with approximately 2 h periodicity. CGRS consists of two large CsI(Tl) crystals as the main and anticoincidence detectors. The large CsI crystal of CGRS has a higher detector effective area than other lunar gamma ray spectrometers. For its 1-year mission, gamma ray spectra including many peaks of major elements and trace elements on the lunar surface have been measured by CGRS. Global measurement within 0.55-0.75 MeV is given here to describe the distribution of radioactive composition (e.g., uranium and thorium) on the lunar surface. Although CGRS has a lower energy resolution that cannot separate the uranium peak from others in this energy region, 609 keV uranium gamma ray line dominates the shape of the spectrum in this energy region. Therefore, the radioactive map can indirectly describe the uranium distribution on the lunar surface. The radioactive map shows that the higher radiation is concentrated in the Procellarum KREEP Terrene (PKT) on the nearside with an oval shape. The secondary high-radiation is located in South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. Lunar highlands have lower concentration. The relationship between radiation and topography displays different linear correlations for lunar highlands and SPA basin, which imply the different processes for these two regions.  相似文献   

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