We present a summary of the measurements of mass sensitive parameters at the highest cosmic ray energies done by several experiments. The X sub(max) distribution as a function of energy has been ...measured with fluorescence telescopes by the HiRes, TA and Auger experiments and with Cherenkov light detectors by Yakutsk. The left angle bracketX sub(max)right angle bracket or the average mass ( left angle bracketInAright angle bracket ) has been also inferred using ground detectors, such as muon and water Cherenkov detectors. We discuss the different data analyses elaborated by each collaboration in order to extract the relevant Information. Special attention is given to the different approaches used in the analysis of the data measured by fluorescence detectors in order to take into account detector biases. We present a careful analysis of the stability and performance of each analysis. The results of the different experiments will be compared
The Telescope Array (TA) experiment is the largest Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) hybrid detector which consists of three stations of Fluorescence Detectors (FDs) and 507 Surface Detectors ...(SDs). The coincidence events which observed both by FD and SD is referred as hybrid event. The geometry and energy of each extensive air shower observed by hybrid mode are reconstructed with much more accurate resolution than monocular reconstruction alone. The hybrid event candidates were searched for by comparison of the trigger times between FD and SD in the good weather days from May 2008 to September 2010. By this search, we found 1306 hybrid events for BR, 1051 events for LR and 905 events for MD. In this paper, the performance of the hybrid technique and the energy spectra measured by using hybrid events are presented.
We have searched for intermediate-scale anisotropy in the arrival directions of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with energies above 57 EeV in the northern sky using data collected over a 5 yr period by ...the surface detector of the Telescope Array experiment. We report on a cluster of events that we call the hotspot, found by oversampling using 20degrees radius circles. The hotspot has a Li-Ma statistical significance of 5.1sigma, and is centered at R.A. = 146degrees.7, decl. = 43degrees.2. The position of the hotspot is about 19degrees off of the supergalactic plane. The probability of a cluster of events of 5.1sigma significance, appearing by chance in an isotropic cosmic-ray sky, is estimated to be 3.7 x 10 super(-4) (3.4sigma).
Increased event statistics will be required to definitively answer the question of the origin(s) of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). Using current technologies however, achieving the necessary ...statistics may be financially and practically impossible. We describe the status and plans of the TARA project, an effort to detect Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays by their forward scattered or "bistatic" radar signature. Bistatic radar holds promise as a new remote sensing technique for UHECR, without the duty cycle limitations of nitrogen fluorescence detectors. Such a technique could prove key in advancing the study of UHECR beyond the constraints of the current generation of cosmic ray observatories. TARA consists of a low-VHF television transmitter illuminating the air above the Telescope Array (TA), and a set of radio receivers on the far side of TA approximately 50 km distant from the transmitter. We have collected radar data since April 2011 using a 2 kW transmitter at 54.1 MHz. Recently, we received permission to increase our broadcast power to 40 kW and our effective radiated power (ERP) to 6 MW. On the receiver end, we are employing software-defined radio receivers and developing real-time trigger algorithms based on the expected air shower radar echo. In addition to presenting an overview of the project status and future plans, we will present the most recent results of searches for coincidences between radar echoes and Telescope Array air shower events.
The Telescope Array (TA) collaboration has measured the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with primary energies above 1.6 x 10 super(18) eV. This measurement is based upon ...four years of observation by the surface detector component of TA. The spectrum shows a dip at an energy of 4.6 x 10 super(18) eV and a steepening at 5.4 x 10 super(19) eV which is consistent with the expectation from the GZK cutoff. We present the results of a technique, new to the analysis of UHECR surface detector data, that involves generating a complete simulation of UHECRs striking the TA surface detector. The procedure starts with shower simulations using the CORSIKA Monte Carlo program where we have solved the problems caused by use of the "thinning" approximation. This simulation method allows us to make an accurate calculation of the acceptance of the detector for the energies concerned.
The disruption of binary stars by the tidal field of the black hole in the Galactic center can produce the hypervelocity stars observed in the halo. We use numerical models to simulate the full ...spectrum of observable velocities of stars ejected into the halo by this binary disruption process. Our models include a range of parameters for binaries with 3-4 M sub( )primaries, consideration of radial orbits of the ejected stars through an approximate mass distribution for the Galaxy, and the impact of stellar lifetimes. We calculate the spectrum of ejection velocities and reproduce previous results for the mean ejection velocity at the Galactic center. The model predicts that the full population of ejected stars includes both the hypervelocity stars with velocities large enough to escape from the Galaxy and a comparable number of ejected, but bound, stars of the same stellar type. The predicted median speeds of the population of ejected stars as a function of distance in the halo are consistent with current observations. Combining the model with the data also shows that interesting constraints on the properties of binaries in the Galactic center and on the mass distribution in the Galaxy can be obtained even with modest samples of ejected stars.
We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event ...sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E > 57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure (LSS) of the universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E > 10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis.
We search for correlations between the positions of extragalactic objects and the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with primary energy E > or =, slanted 40 EeV as observed ...by the surface detector array of the Telescope Array (TA) experiment during the first 40 months of operation. We examine several public astronomical object catalogs, including the Veron-Cetty and Veron catalog of active galactic nuclei. We count the number of TA events correlated with objects in each catalog as a function of three parameters: the maximum angular separation between a TA event and an object, the minimum energy of the events, and the maximum redshift of the objects. We determine the combination of these parameters that maximizes the correlations, and we calculate the probability of having the same levels of correlations from an isotropic distribution of UHECR arrival directions. No statistically significant correlations are found when penalties for scanning over the above parameters and for searching in several catalogs are taken into account.
ABSTRACT We report on the search for steady point-like sources of neutral particles around 1018 eV between 2008 and 2013 May with the scintillator SD of the Telescope Array experiment. We found ...overall no significant point-like excess above 0.5 EeV in the northern sky. Subsequently, we also searched for coincidence with the Fermi bright Galactic sources. No significant coincidence was found within the statistical uncertainty. Hence, we set an upper limit on the neutron flux that corresponds to an averaged flux of 0.07 km−2 yr−1 for EeV in the northern sky at the 95% confidence level. This is the most stringent flux upper limit in a northern sky survey assuming point-like sources. The upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the neutron flux from Cygnus X-3 is also set to 0.2 km−2 yr−1 for EeV. This is an order of magnitude lower than previous flux measurements.
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