Menjo, H. et al, Faus-Golfe, A., & Velasco, J. (2011). Monte Carlo study of forward pi(0) production spectra to be measured by the LHCf experiment for the purpose of benchmarking hadron interaction models at 10(17) eV. Astropart Phys., 34(7), 513–520.
Abstract: The LHCf experiment aims to improve knowledge of forward neutral particle production spectra at the LHC energy which is relevant for the interpretation of air shower development of high energy cosmic rays. Two detectors, each composed of a pair of sampling and imaging calorimeters, have been installed at the forward region of IP1 to measure pi(0) energy spectra above 600 GeV. In this paper, we present a Monte Carlo study of the pi(0) measurements to be performed with one of the LHCf detectors for proton-proton collisions at root s = 14 TeV. In approximately 40 min of operation at luminosity 0.8 x 10(29) cm(-2) s(-1) during the beam commissioning phase of LHC, about 1.5 x 10(4) pi(0) events are expected to be obtained at two transverse positions of the detector. The backgrounds from interactions of secondary particles with beam pipes and interactions of beam particles with residual gas in the beam pipes are expected to be less than 0.1% of the signal from pi(0)s. We also discuss the capability of LHCf measurements to discriminate between the various hadron interaction models that are used for simulation of high energy air showers, such as DPMJET3.03, QGSJETII-03, SIBYLL2.1 and EPOS1.99.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2011). The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Astropart Phys., 34(6), 368–381.
Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The “hybrid” detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2012). Search for signatures of magnetically-induced alignment in the arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory. Astropart Phys., 35(6), 354–361.
Abstract: We present the results of an analysis of data recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory in which we search for groups of directionally-aligned events (or 'multiplets') which exhibit a correlation between arrival direction and the inverse of the energy. These signatures are expected from sets of events coming from the same source after having been deflected by intervening coherent magnetic fields. The observation of several events from the same source would open the possibility to accurately reconstruct the position of the source and also measure the integral of the component of the magnetic field orthogonal to the trajectory of the cosmic rays. We describe the largest multiplets found and compute the probability that they appeared by chance from an isotropic distribution. We find no statistically significant evidence for the presence of multiplets arising from magnetic deflections in the present data.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2010). Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter. Astropart Phys., 34(5), 314–326.
Abstract: Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, 6 x 10(19) eV. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than 3.1 degrees from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the Veron-Cetty and Veron 12th catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is (38(-6)(+7))%, compared with 21% expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of (69-(+11)(13))%. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2011). The Lateral Trigger Probability function for the Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray showers detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory. Astropart Phys., 35(5), 266–276.
Abstract: In this paper we introduce the concept of Lateral Trigger Probability (LTP) function, i.e., the probability for an Extensive Air Shower (EAS) to trigger an individual detector of a ground based array as a function of distance to the shower axis, taking into account energy, mass and direction of the primary cosmic ray. We apply this concept to the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory consisting of a 1.5 km spaced grid of about 1600 water Cherenkov stations. Using Monte Carlo simulations of ultra-high energy showers the LTP functions are derived for energies in the range between 10(17) and 10(19) eV and zenith angles up to 65 degrees. A parametrization combining a step function with an exponential is found to reproduce them very well in the considered range of energies and zenith angles. The LTP functions can also be obtained from data
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