Results from and prospects for the Auger Engineering Radio Array

A.M Van Den Berg,K.-H Kampert,M Fukushima,R Engel,B Pattison

doi:10.1051/epjconf/20135308006

Abstract

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is one of the low-energy enhancements of the Pierre Auger Observatory. AERA is based on experience obtained with the LOPES and CODALEMA experiments in Europe and aims to study in the MHz region the details of the emission mechanism of radio signals from extensive air showers. The data from AERA will be used to assess the sensitivity of MHz radiation to the mass composition of cosmic rays. Because of its energy threshold at 2 × 10 17 eV the dip region in the cosmic-ray flux spectrum can be studied in detail. We present first results of AERA and of its prototypes and we provide an outlook towards the future.

Highlights

A generation of ground-based cosmic-ray observatories is required to address fundamental questions in astroparticle physics at extreme energies
We present first results of Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) and of its prototypes and we provide an outlook towards the future
In the last ten years substantial progress has been made in the understanding of radio emission from extensive air showers

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The question to be addressed in the VHF band (30–300 MHz) is not whether extensive air showers emit radiation At this moment the main question to answer is: can we use radio signals to determine the primary energy, the arrival direction, and the mass of cosmic rays with accuracies which are equal to or better than those obtained by other techniques? Experiment and theory are being connected through software tools where end-to-end simulations and data analysis can be performed within the same software package [8] All these activities fit into the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) project, which started in 2009 and which is based on work within the Collaboration using various prototypes at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory [9, 10]. Within this EASIER project [11] the radio receivers are being integrated with the existing stations of the SD and are mounted on the triangular grid of the SD with its baseline pitch of 1.5 km

STUDIES OF THE EMISSION MECHANISM

GOING TO EXTREME ENERGIES

COMPOSITION STUDIES

Findings

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION