Search for primary photons at tens of PeV with the Pierre Auger Observatory
Cargando...
Compartir
Fecha
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
et al.; Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR) Univeristy of Tokyo; International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP); JPS; Nagoya Convention and Visitors Bureau; Nagoya University
Resumen
Descripción
The observation of primary photons with energies around 1016 eV would be particularly interesting after the discovery of Galactic gamma-ray sources with spectra extending into the PeV range. Since photons are connected to the acceleration of charged particles, searches for photons enhance the multi-messenger understanding of cosmic-ray sources as well as of transient astrophysical phenomena, while offering wealthy connections to neutrino astronomy and dark matter. Additionally, diffuse photon fluxes are expected from cosmic-ray interactions with Galactic matter and background radiation fields. Previously, the energy domain between 1 PeV and 200 PeV was only explored from the Northern Hemisphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest astroparticle experiment in operation and, thanks to its location, has a sizable exposure to the Southern sky, including the Galactic center region. In this contribution, we present the first search for photons from the Southern hemisphere between 50 and 200 PeV exploiting the Auger data acquired during ∼ 4 yr of operation. We describe the method to discriminate photons against the dominating hadronic background; it is based on the measurements of air showers taken with the low-energy extension of the Pierre Auger Observatory composed by 19 water-Cherenkov detectors spanning ∼ 2 km2 and an Underground Muon Detector. The search for a diffuse flux of photons is presented and its results are interpreted according to theoretical model predictions. This study extends the range of Auger photon searches to almost four decades in energy. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons.
Palabras clave
Cerenkov counters, Cosmic ray detectors, Cosmic ray measurement, Dark Matter, Electron sources, Negative ions, Photons, Positive ions, Astrophysical phenomena, Cosmic ray sources, Dark matter, Diffuse photons, Energy, Gamma ray sources, Neutrino astronomy, Pierre Auger observatory, Primary photons, Spectra's, Cosmic rays
