Charged Cosmic Ray Particles Research Articles

Effect of the uncertainty in the hadronic interaction models on the estimation of the sensitivity of the Cherenkov telescope array

Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) are ground-based indirect detectors for cosmic gamma rays with energies above tens of GeV. The major backgrounds for gamma-ray observations in IACTs are cosmic-ray charged particles. The capability to reject these backgrounds is the most important factor determining the gamma-ray sensitivity of IACT systems. Monte Carlo simulations are used to estimate the residual background rates and sensitivity of the systems during the design and construction phase. Uncertainties in the modeling of high-energy hadronic interactions of cosmic rays with nuclei in the air propagate into the estimates of residual background rates and subsequently into the estimated instrument sensitivity. We investigate the influence of the difference in the current hadronic interaction models on the estimated gamma-ray sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array using four interaction models (QGSJET-II-03, QGSJET-II-04, EPOS-LHC, and SIBYLL2.3c) implemented in the air shower simulation tool CORSIKA. Variations in background rates of up to a factor 2 with respect to QGSJET-II-03 are observed between the models, mainly due to differences in the π 0 production spectrum. These lead to ∼30% differences in the estimated gamma-ray sensitivity in the 1–30 TeV region, assuming a 50 h observation of a gamma-ray point-like source. The presented results also show that IACTs have a significant capability in the verification of hadronic interaction models.

The Possible Relationship between the Atmospheric Electric Field and High Energy Charged Particles and the COVID-19 Cases in the Central Arabian Peninsula

Background: Since the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, several studies have been carried out to investigate its spread, with a wide range of factors to understand the influence of the factors that contribute to its spread and to reduce the ongoing threat of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this study, the relationships between the Earth’s electric field and cosmic ray charged particles of different energy ranges and the daily confirmed COVID-19 infections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have been investigated using non-parametric statistical tests. The data covered the period between 3 April 2020 and 1st August 2021 and were obtained from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) CARPET detector, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The electric fields data were obtained from electric field monitor (EFM) deployed on the rooftop of the KACST laboratory. The data of the daily COVID-19 cases were obtained from the official webpage of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH). Results: The results revealed that that the number of COVID-19 cases is correlated with cosmic ray charged particles and anti-correlated with the Earth’s electric field. Conclusion: While the exact mechanism explaining the influence of Earth’s electric field and cosmic rays variations on the reported number of COVID-19 cases is not yet established, the results presented in this study can add additional knowledge to our understanding of the effects of additional factors on influenza activities.

Precision measurements of cosmic ray electron and positron spectra above 50 MeV with the PAMELA magnetic spectrometer

The PAMELA experiment with magnetic spectrometer operated almost ten years on board of the Resurs DK1 satellite. The satellite was launched on 15 June 2006 on polar orbit with an inclination of 70° and an altitude of 350–610 km. The spectrometer continuously measured charged cosmic ray particles in wide energy range from about 50 MeV up to several TeV. In this work the spectra of electrons and positrons averaged over one year were obtained from July of 2006 until January 2016, i.e. from the end of 23th and at the beginning of 24th solar cycle including the period of interplanetary magnetic field polarity reversal. These precise long duration time-dependent measurements of the electron and positron spectra are important to estimate possible contributions of exotic cosmic ray sources such as dark matter annihilation or decay.

Cosmic gamma-ray spectrometer with tagged charged particles of Galactic Cosmic Rays

A new concept is proposed for the study of the elemental composition of planetary surfaces on landed missions through the coincident detection of gamma rays induced by Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) charged particles and the detection of the incident charged particle that produces the gamma ray. Charged particle detection is used to tag all instances of GCR interaction in a selected volume of the subsurface that results in the emission of secondary gamma rays. Using the criteria of a tagged GCR particle and coincident gamma ray detection, one may measure gamma ray spectra produced in a selected subsurface volume by GCR induced spallation and inelastic scattering of fast neutrons. The proposed new technique minimizes the contribution of gamma radiation from other regions of the subsurface and spacecraft structural components that may add background to the measured gamma-ray spectrum from the selected soil volume.

Maximum Proton Trapping Energy in the Earth Radiation Belt

During the PAMELA satellite experiment started in 2006 onboard the Resurs-DK1 spacecraft (350–600 km, an inclination of 70°), cosmic ray charged particle fluxes in low near-Earth orbits were measured to the beginning of 2016. The data obtained during the experiment on high-energy proton (0.1–10 GeV) fluxes in the radiation belt made it possible to measure maximum proton trapping energies in various solar activity phases. The measurement results showed that the maximum proton trapping energy at L shells of 1.16–1.22 in the periods of both solar activity minimum (2009) and maximum (2014) was ∼2 GeV.

Antiproton flux and properties of elementary particle fluxes in primary cosmic rays measured with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

Precision measurements by AMS of the antiproton flux and the antiproton-to-proton flux ratio in primary cosmic rays in the absolute rigidity range from 1 to 525 GV is presented, together with the fluxes and flux ratios of charged elementary particles in cosmic rays up to 1 TV. In the absolute rigidity range 60–500 GV, the antiproton p¯, proton p and positron e+ fluxes are found to have nearly identical rigidity dependence and the electron e- flux exhibits different rigidity dependence. From 60GV to 500 GV, the p¯/p,p¯/e+ and p/e+ flux ratios are rigidity independent. These AMS measurements continue to reveal important properties of cosmic ray elementary particle fluxes and provide invaluable input towards understanding the origin of many observed unexpected phenomena.

On the origin of the TeV gamma-ray emission from Cygnus X-3

Cygnus X-3 binary system is a famous object studied over the wide range of electromagnetic spectrum. Early detections of ultra-high energy gamma-rays from Cygnus X-3 by Kiel, Havera Park and then by Akeno triggered the construction of several large air shower detectors. Also, Cygnus X-3 has been proposed to be one of the most powerful sources of charged cosmic ray particles in the Galaxy. The results of twenty-year observations of the Cyg X-3 binary at energies 800 GeV - 85 TeV are presented with images, spectra during periods of flaring activity and at low flux periods. The correlation of TeV flux increases with flaring activity at the lower energy range of X-ray and radio emission from the relativistic jets of Cygnus X-3 is found as well as 4.8-hour orbital modulation of TeV γ-ray intensity. Detected modulation of TeV γ-ray emission with orbit and important characteristics of Cyg X-3 such as the high luminosity of the companion star and the close orbit leads to an efficient generation of γ-ray emission through inverse Compton scattering in this object. The different type variability of very high-energy γ-emission and correlation of radiation activity in the wide energy range can provide essential information on the mechanism of particle production up to very high energies.

Very High Energy Emission from the Binary System Cyg X-3

Cyg X-3 is actively studied in the entire range of the electromagnetic spectrum from the radio band to ultrahigh energies. Based on the detection of ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray emission, it has been suggested that Cyg X-3 could be one of the most powerful sources of charged cosmic-ray particles in the Galaxy. We present the results of long-term observations of the Cygnus Х-3 region at energies 800 GeV–100 TeV by the SHALON mirror Cherenkov telescope. In 1995 the SHALON observations revealed a new Galactic source of very high energy gamma-ray emission coincident in its coordinates with the microquasar Cyg X-3. To reliably identify the detected source with Cyg X-3, an analysis has been performed and an orbital period of 4.8 h has been found, which is a signature of Cyg X-3. A series of flares in Cyg X-3 at energies >800 GeV and their correlation with the activity in the X-ray and radio bands have been observed. The results obtained in a wide energy range for Cyg X-3, including those during the periods of relativistic jet events, are needed to find the connection and to understand the different components of an accreting binary system.

Particle acceleration in binaries

Cygnus X-3 massive binary system is one of the powerful sources of radio and X-ray emission consisting of an accreting compact object, probably a black hole, with a Wolf-Rayet star companion. Based on the detections of ultra high energy gamma-rays by Kiel and Havera Park, Cygnus X-3 has been proposed to be one of the most powerful sources of charged cosmic ray particles in the Galaxy. The results of long-term observations of the Cyg X-3 binary at energies 800 GeV–85 TeV detected by SHALON in 1995 are presented with images, integral spectra and spectral energy distribution. The identification of source with Cygnus X-3 detected by SHALON was secured by the detection of its 4.8 hour orbital period in TeV gamma-rays. During the whole observation period of Cyg X-3 with SHALON significant flux increases were detected at energies above 0.8 TeV. These TeV flux increases are correlated with flaring activity at a lower energy range of X-ray and/or at observations of Fermi LAT as well as with radio emission from the relativistic jets of Cygnus X-3. The variability of very high-energy gamma-radiation and correlation of radiation activity in the wide energy range can provide essential information on particle mechanism production up to very high energies. Whereas, modulation of very high energy emission connected to the orbital motion of the binary system, provides an understanding of the emission processes, nature and location of particle acceleration.

Surfatron accelerator in the local interstellar cloud

Taking into account results of numerous experiments, the variability of the energy spectra of cosmic rays (protons and helium nuclei) in the energy range of 10 GeV to ~107 GeV is explained on the basis of a hypothesis of the existence of two variable sources close to the Sun. The first (soft) surfatron source (with a size of ~100 AU) is located at the periphery of the heliosphere. The second (hard) surfatron source (with a size of ~1 pc) is situated in the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) at a distance of <1 pc. The constant background is described by a power-law spectrum with a slope of ~2.75. The variable heliospheric surfatron source is described by a power-law spectrum with a variable amplitude, slope, and cutoff energy, the maximum cutoff energy being in the range of E СН/Z < 1000 GeV. The variable surfatron source in the LIC is described by a power-law spectrum with a variable amplitude, slope, and cut-off energy, the maximum cut-off energy being E СL/Z ≤ 3 × 106 GeV. The proposed model is used to approximate data from several experiments performed at close times. The energy of each cosmic-ray component is calculated. The possibility of surfatron acceleration of Fe nuclei (Z = 26) in the LIC up to an energy of E CL ~ 1017 eV and electron and positrons to the “knee” in the energy spectrum is predicted. By numerically solving a system of nonlinear equations describing the interaction between an electromagnetic wave and a charged particle with an energy of up to E/Z ~ 3 × 106 GeV, the possibility of trapping, confinement, and acceleration of charged cosmic-ray particles by a quasi-longitudinal plasma wave is demonstrated.

The analysis of VERITAS muon images using convolutional neural networks

AbstractImaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) are sensitive to rare gamma-ray photons, buried in the background of charged cosmic-ray (CR) particles, the flux of which is several orders of magnitude greater. The ability to separate gamma rays from CR particles is important, as it is directly related to the sensitivity of the instrument. This gamma-ray/CR-particle classification problem in IACT data analysis can be treated with the rapidly-advancing machine learning algorithms, which have the potential to outperform the traditional box-cut methods on image parameters. We present preliminary results of a precise classification of a small set of muon events using a convolutional neural networks model with the raw images as input features. We also show the possibility of using the convolutional neural networks model for regression problems, such as the radius and brightness measurement of muon events, which can be used to calibrate the throughput efficiency of IACTs.

Antiproton Flux, Antiproton-to-Proton Flux Ratio, and Properties of Elementary Particle Fluxes in Primary Cosmic Rays Measured with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station.

A precision measurement by AMS of the antiproton flux and the antiproton-to-proton flux ratio in primary cosmic rays in the absolute rigidity range from 1 to 450GV is presented based on 3.49×10^{5} antiproton events and 2.42×10^{9} proton events. The fluxes and flux ratios of charged elementary particles in cosmic rays are also presented. In the absolute rigidity range ∼60 to ∼500 GV, the antiproton p[over ¯], proton p, and positron e^{+} fluxes are found to have nearly identical rigidity dependence and the electron e^{-} flux exhibits a different rigidity dependence. Below 60GV, the (p[over ¯]/p), (p[over ¯]/e^{+}), and (p/e^{+}) flux ratios each reaches a maximum. From ∼60 to ∼500 GV, the (p[over ¯]/p), (p[over ¯]/e^{+}), and (p/e^{+}) flux ratios show no rigidity dependence. These are new observations of the properties of elementary particles in the cosmos.

Study on angular variation of cosmic ray secondary particles with atmospheric depth using CORSIKA code

The distribution of the secondary cosmic ray charged particles in the atmosphere as a function of zenith angle of the primary particle depends on various factors such as atmospheric depth, latitude and longitude of the place of observation and possibly other atmospheric conditions. This work is focussed on the investigation of atmospheric attenuation of an Extensive Air Shower using the zenith angle distribution of the secondary charged particles, at different atmospheric depths for pure primary compositions (gamma, proton and iron nucleus) and mixed compositions employing the Monte Carlo Simulation code CORSIKA (versions 6.990 and 7.3500) in the energy range 10 TeV–1 PeV. The secondary charged particles in different zenith angle bins are fitted with a differential distribution dN sp /dθ = A(X)sinθcos n(X)θ, where the power index n(X) is a function of atmospheric depth X. For a given zenith angle θ, the frequency of the showers with secondary charged particle intensity higher than a threshold is also fitted with a relation F(θ,X0) = F(0,X0)exp[−X0(secθ − 1)/λ], where X0 is the vertical atmospheric depth and λ is the attenuation length. Further, the angular distribution parameter n(X) and attenuation co-efficients (λ) from our simulation result for different primaries are compared with available experimental data.

Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation when cosmic rays pass through the relic photon gas and when fast charged particles traverse an optical laser beam

Using a new [9, 10] quantum theory of Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation (VCR) based on Abraham’s theory, we show that a threshold VCR effect can be excited by the relic photon gas when relativistic charged cosmic-ray particles with γ ≥ γth ≈ 1.9 × 1010 (where γ–2 = 1–v2/c2, v is the particle speed, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum) pass through it. This is compatible with the well-known GZK cutoff [7, 8] at γ ≈ 1011. We have obtained the condition γ > γth ≈ 2.1 × 102 for the appearance of VCR when a sufficiently fast charged particle (an electron, a proton, or a nucleus) passes through intense laser radiation. This condition ensures that VCR can be observed experimentally (e.g., on the Large Hadron Collider) without invoking any additional conditions required from the currently existing estimate of γth > 8.8 × 104 [13] based on the now universally accepted quantum theory of VCR, which follows from Minkowski’s theory (and which gives an estimate of γ > 1021 when excited by the relic photon gas).

Optical optimization for anti-coincidence detectors of a Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope

The anti-coincidence detectors of Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) are designed to suppress the X-ray background induced by incident charged cosmic-ray particles. The main components of anti-coincidence detectors are thin flat plastic scintillators. In this work we apply the TracePro program to study the light transfer features in the scintillators, and we propose several optimized reflector configurations to significantly improve the light transfer efficiency. The simulation results are verified by measurements of the detector prototypes. We chose a particular optimized reflector configuration.

Modeling the Galactic Magnetic Field and its Application in verifying a Pulsar Origin of Very High Energy Cosmic Rays

Deflection of Cosmic Ray charged particles under the influence of magnetic fields (Galactic and Extragalactic) causes a nearly isotropic distribution of their observed fluxes especially in lower energy ranges. Anyhow, as very high energy cosmic rays experience less deflections in their paths, they may point out the direction of their sources within a few degrees. We used a Galactic magnetic field model to study the possible Galactic sources of these cosmic rays. The propagation of cosmic rays in this Galactic magnetic field is simulated to estimate average deflection angles into their straight-line paths from their sources. Pulsars with suitable characteristics are selected and deflection regions around them are defined. Compared with the observational data (i.e. detected directions of observed CRs), the possibility of a Galactic origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays is examined. We defined deflection angles in terms of energies for sources in a distance d into center and anti-center directions. The probability of observing cosmic rays of di?erent energies from the direction of a source in a distance d is studied and the possibility of a pulsar origin of very high energy cosmic rays due to some recent models, is discussed.

Atmospheric dependence of the stopping cosmic ray muon rate at ground level

The rate of low energy (≲ 150 MeV) cosmic ray muons was measured at ground level as a function of several atmospheric parameters. Stopped muons were detected in a plastic scintillator block and correlations were determined using a linear regression model. A strong anti-correlation between fractional changes in the ground-level pressure and the stopping muon rate of −3.0 ± 0.5 was found, and also a −4.1 ± 0.5 anti-correlation with the fractional change in atmospheric height at 10 kPa pressure. A weak positive correlation with the 10 kPa temperature was also found, but it was shown not to be statistically significant in our data set. The same analysis was applied to the total rate of all charged cosmic ray particles detected with the same apparatus, and good agreement with previous work was seen. The pressure and height correlation parameters for stopping muons are larger than for the total rate of all charged particles by factors of about 1.6 and 3.7, respectively.

Exploring the extreme universe with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope

The Fermi orbiter, mapping the entire gamma-ray sky every three hours, monitors the cosmos for high-energy phenomena both fleeting and enduring.

Stand-alone low energy measurements of light nuclei from PAMELA Time-of-Flight system

The PAMELA experiment, built to detect charged particles in Cosmic Rays, is in orbit since June 2006. The Time-of-Flight system, composed by 24 scintillation counters arranged in three double view planes, is a key element of the apparatus: it generates the general trigger, provides measurements of the velocity of the particles entering the detector and allows rejection of albedo particles. It also operates identification of light nuclei up to Oxygen by means of measurements of the ionizing energy loss of the particles inside the scintillation counters. The procedure applied to obtain the atomic number and the kinetic energy per nucleon of a traversing nucleus starting from measurements of, respectively, energy loss and velocity of the nucleus itself will be described in this work. As an application, a completely stand-alone measurement from ToF of the B/C ratio below few GeV will be shown.

The PERDaix detector

The PERDaix (Proton Electron Radiation Detector Aix-la-Chapelle) detector is designed to measure charged particles in cosmic rays. It can distinguish particle species up to 5GV rigidity. PERDaix was flown on the BEXUS-11 balloon on 23rd November 2010.The detector has the dimensions of 246×400×859mm3, a geometrical acceptance of 32cm2sr, a low weight of 40kg and a low power consumption of 60W. The spectrometer consists of a time-of-flight system, a scintillating fiber tracking detector, a permanent magnet and a transition radiation detector. Silicon photomultipliers are used as photodetectors in the time-of-flight and the tracker system.