scholarly journals Millicharged particles from the heavens: single- and multiple-scattering signatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Argüelles ◽  
Kevin J. Kelly ◽  
Víctor M. Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Scattering ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Energy Deposition ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Search Strategies ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Particle Detection ◽  
Small Energy ◽  
Neutrino Detectors ◽  
Elementary Particle Physics

Abstract For nearly a century, studying cosmic-ray air showers has driven progress in our understanding of elementary particle physics. In this work, we revisit the production of millicharged particles in these atmospheric showers and provide new constraints for XENON1T and Super-Kamiokande and new sensitivity estimates of current and future detectors, such as JUNO. We discuss distinct search strategies, specifically studies of single-energy-deposition events, where one electron in the detector receives a relatively large energy transfer, as well as multiple-scattering events consisting of (at least) two relatively small energy depositions. We demonstrate that these atmospheric search strategies — especially the multiple-scattering signature — provide significant room for improvement beyond existing searches, in a way that is complementary to anthropogenic, beam-based searches for MeV-GeV millicharged particles. Finally, we also discuss the implementation of a Monte Carlo simulation for millicharged particle detection in large-volume neutrino detectors, such as IceCube.

scholarly journals The imperceptible, but zealous genius. To 150 aniversary of Charls Vilson.

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-636
Author(s):  
R. N. Shcherbakov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Ernest Rutherford ◽  
Elementary Particle Physics ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nobel Prize Laureate ◽  
English Physicist

In the early part of the 20th century, the prominent English physicist and Nobel prize laureate Charles Wilson created a device that Ernest Rutherford, a prominent English physicist, described as the "most original and beautiful instrument in the history of science". This device, known as the Wilson camera, was instrumental in facilitating significant discoveries in nucleus, cosmic ray, and elementary particle physics. This article describes milestones in Charles Wilson’s life and describes his remarkable invention and its influence on the evolution of physical investigations in different countries, including the Soviet Union.

scholarly journals Production and Interaction of High Energy Neutrinos in Close X-ray Binaries

1987 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 552-552
Author(s):  
A. K. Harding ◽  
J. J. Barnard ◽  
F. W. Stecker ◽  
T. K. Gaisser
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Energy Deposition ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Companion Star ◽  
Production Spectrum ◽  
Neutrino Absorption

Reports of air showers with E > 1015 eV from Cygnus X-3, LMC X-4, Vela X-1 and Hercules X-1 have been interpreted as requiring production of neutral secondaries by cosmic rays accelerated by the compact partner in these systems. If neutral pions are the source of photons that produce the observed air showers, then charged pions must also be produced, and they will give rise to neutrinos. We consider limits that may be placed on binary systems like Cygnus X-3 in which a neutron star is a strong source of ultra-high energy (UHE) particles that produce photons, neutrinos and other secondary particles in the companion star through nuclear interactions. The highest energy neutrinos (> 1 TeV), which have the largest interaction cross sections, are absorbed deep in the companion. From a detailed numerical calculation of the hadronic cascade induced in the atmosphere of the companion star, we estimate the neutrino production spectrum from an isotropic flux of monoenergetic 1017 eV protons and we estimate the resulting neutrino absorption in the stellar core. In the case of Cyg X-3 and LMC X-4, the cosmic-ray luminosities required to produce the observed gamma rays would result in energy deposition from neutrino absorption exceeding the intrinsic stellar luminosity of the companion. Over a timescale of 104−105 yr, the star would absorb its own binding energy and be disrupted. On shorter timescales, the energy deposition will cause significant expansion of the star, perhaps leading to quenching of high-energy signals from the source. From these results, we conclude that systems requiring intense UHE proton fluxes are either very young or the companion star is not the site of observed gamma-ray production. Alternatively, if the gamma-ray source is highly variable, the proton flux requirements would be lower, providing some relaxation of the above constraints.[See Gaisser et al. 1986, Ap. J. (Oct. 15), in press].

THE HIGHEST ENERGY COSMIC RAYS, GAMMA-RAYS AND NEUTRINOS: FACTS, FANCY AND RESOLUTION

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 3432-3445 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCIS HALZEN
Keyword(s):  
Cosmic Rays ◽  
Gamma Rays ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Know How ◽  
Elementary Particle Physics ◽  
Air Shower ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
Fertile Ground

Although cosmic rays were discovered 90 years ago, we do not know how and where they are accelerated. There is compelling evidence that the highest energy cosmic rays are extra-galactic — they cannot be contained by our galaxy's magnetic field anyway because their gyroradius exceeds its dimensions. Elementary elementary-particle physics dictates a universal upper limit on their energy of 5 × 1019 eV, the so-called Greisen-Kuzmin-Zatsepin cutoff; however, particles in excess of this energy have been observed, adding one more puzzle to the cosmic ray mystery. Mystery is nonetheless fertile ground for progress: we will review the facts and mention some very speculative interpretations. There is indeed a realistic hope that the oldest problem in astronomy will be resolved soon by ambitious experimentation: air shower arrays of 104 km2 area, arrays of air Cerenkov detectors and kilometer-scale neutrino observatories.

scholarly journals SEARCH FOR ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY PHOTONS USING AIR SHOWERS

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 749-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARKUS RISSE ◽  
PIOTR HOMOLA
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Pierre Auger Observatory ◽  
Ultra High Energy ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Fundamental Physics ◽  
Air Shower ◽  
The Universe

The observation of photons with energies above 1018 eV would open a new window in cosmic-ray research, with possible impact on astrophysics, particle physics, cosmology and fundamental physics. Current and planned air shower experiments, particularly the Pierre Auger Observatory, offer an unprecedented opportunity to search for such photons and to complement efforts of multimessenger observations of the universe. We summarize motivation, achievements, and prospects of the search for ultra-high energy photons.

Measurements of interactions of cosmic-ray neutrinos

1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. S350-S351 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Reines ◽  
W. R. Kropp ◽  
H. S. Gurr ◽  
J. Lathrop ◽  
M. F. Crouch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scintillation Detector ◽  
Energy Deposition ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Detector Array ◽  
Small Energy ◽  
Neutrino Interactions ◽  
Massive Rock ◽  
Deep Underground

Measurements deep underground with a 165-m2 scintillation detector array give a number of events attributable to neutrino interactions in a massive rock target surrounding the detector. A large fraction of the events show unexpectedly small energy deposition in the detectors, and a number of events too complex to understand in detail are also observed. Therefore, until more detailed measurements can be made with an improved array now being installed, the rate can be stated only to lie between the limits 2.0 ± 0.5 × 10−13 and 4.5 ± 0.7 × 10−13 cm−2 s−1 sr−1.

scholarly journals Testing cosmic ray composition models with very large-volume neutrino telescopes

2020 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Fusco ◽  
F. Versari
Keyword(s):  
Large Volume ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Indirect Measurements ◽  
Neutrino Telescopes ◽  
Interaction Processes ◽  
Nuclear Species ◽  
Cosmic Ray Flux

AbstractThe composition in terms of nuclear species of the primary cosmic ray flux is largely uncertain in the knee region and above, where only indirect measurements are available. The predicted fluxes of high-energy leptons from cosmic ray air showers are influenced by this uncertainty. Different models have been proposed. Similarly, these uncertainties affect the measurement of lepton fluxes in very large-volume neutrino telescopes. Uncertainties in the cosmic ray interaction processes, mainly deriving from the limited amount of experimental data covering the particle physics at play, could also produce similar differences in the observable lepton fluxes and are affected as well by large uncertainties. In this paper we analyse how considering different models for the primary cosmic ray composition affects the expected rates in the current generation of very large-volume neutrino telescopes (ANTARES and IceCube). This is tested comparing two possible models of cosmic ray composition, but the same procedure can be expanded to different possible combinations of cosmic ray abundances. We observe that a certain degree of discrimination between composition fits can be already achieved with the current IceCube data sample, even though in a model-dependent way. The expected improvements in the energy reconstruction achievable with the next-generation neutrino telescopes is be expected to make these instruments more sensitive to the differences between models.

scholarly journals YANG–MILLS DUALITY AND THE GENERATION PUZZLE

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 163-177
Author(s):  
HONG-MO CHAN
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Yang Mills ◽  
Horizontal Symmetry ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Magnetic Symmetry ◽  
Mixing Patterns

The fermion generation puzzle has survived into this century as one of the great mysteries in particle physics. We consider here a possible solution within the Standard Model framework based on a non-Abelian generalization of electric–magnetic duality. First, by constructing in loop space a non-Abelian generalization of the Abelian dual transform (Hodge *), one finds that a "magnetic" symmetry exists also in classical Yang–Mills theory dual to the original ("electric") gauge symmetry. Secondly, from a result of 't Hooft's, one obtains that for confined color SU(3), the dual symmetry [Formula: see text] is spontaneously broken and can play the role of the "horizontal symmetry" for generations. Thirdly, such an identification not only offers an explanation why there should be three and apparently only three generations of fermions with the remarkable mass and mixing patterns seen in experiment, but allows even a calculation of the relevant parameters giving very sensible results. Other testible predictions follow ranging from rare hadron decays to cosmic ray air showers.

scholarly journals Radio universality and template-based pulse synthesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 03006
Author(s):  
David Butler ◽  
Tim Huege ◽  
Olaf Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Radio Emission ◽  
Analytical Modeling ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Air Showers ◽  
Particle Detection ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Air Shower ◽  
The One ◽  
Number Of Particles

When discussing radio emission from cosmic ray air showers we commonly make a number of assumptions regardingthe production and propagation physics. Incorporating all of these it should be possible to construct a forward model to predict the radio signal produced by an air shower from simple parameters, an application and generalisation of shower universality to radio emission. In terms of particle detection shower universality focuses on the one-dimensional longitudinal profile, counting only the number of particles. This appears insufficient in the context of radio emission, the particle cascade develops on the scale of traversed atmospheric depth while electromagnetic radiation scales with the geometric trajectories of the sources. Further a real shower extends several radio wavelengths in the lateral directionwhile analyses often assume a point source on the shower axis. Our simulation studies show an unanticipated complexity in the radio output responsible for around 10% variation in the signals. We are still in the process of identifying the relevant quantities and improving our analytical modeling accordingly.

scholarly journals High-energy Neutrino Astronomy: From AMANDA to IceCube

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Francis Halzen
Keyword(s):  
Particle Physics ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Neutrino Detectors ◽  
First Results ◽  
Cosmic Neutrino ◽  
Observational Fact ◽  
Neutrino Astronomy ◽  
Particle Nature ◽  
Neutrino Fluxes

AbstractKilometer-scale neutrino detectors such as IceCube are discovery instruments covering nuclear and particle physics, cosmology and astronomy. Examples of their multidisciplinary missions include the search for the particle nature of dark matter and for additional small dimensions of space. In the end, their conceptual design is very much anchored to the observational fact that Nature accelerates protons and photons to energies in excess of 1020 and 1013 eV, respectively. The cosmic ray connection sets the scale of cosmic neutrino fluxes. In this context, we discuss the first results of the completed AMANDA detector and the reach of its extension, IceCube.

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