Understanding the production of
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Al is important in nuclear physics, astrophysics (stellar nucleosynthesis), earth sciences and other fields. In previous years, we attempted to measure the
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Si(d,
...α
)
26
Al reaction cross section at low energies. AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) at the LEMA (Laboratorio Nacional de Espectrometrometría de Masas con Aceleradores) facility at IFUNAM (Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) was used to measure the concentration of the produced
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Al in a mixture of Al/Si targets after irradiation with a deuteron beam. Those measurements showed that many improvements had to be made to our protocols in order to reach our goal. In this paper, the continuation of those studies is reported. We take advantage of the recently acquired expertise in the radio-chemistry process to separate aluminum from silicon. Deuteron beams with energies between 3.4 and 4.8 MeV were used to irradiate 5
×
5
×
0.3 mm
3
silicon slabs. Considering that the Coulomb barrier for touching spheres is around 4.7 MeV, our experiment explores an energy interval near the barrier, on the lower energy side. Here reaction cross sections are much larger than those expected at lower energies, toward the Gamow window, an energy range appropriate to develop and test the project’s strategy before tackling the lower energies (most relevant for astrophysics) where the cross sections drop exponentially.
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is an array of large water Cherenkov detectors sensitive to gamma rays and hadronic cosmic rays in the energy band between 100GeV and 100 TeV. The ...observatory will be used to measure high-energy protons and cosmic rays via detection of the energetic secondary particles reaching the ground when one of these particles interacts in the atmosphere above the detector. HAWC is under construction at a site 4100 meters above sea level on the northern slope of the volcano Sierra Negra, which is located in central Mexico at 19°N latitude. It is scheduled for completion in 2014. In this paper we estimate the sensitivity of the HAWC instrument to point-like and extended sources of gamma rays. The source fluxes are modeled using both unbroken power laws and power laws with exponential cutoffs. HAWC, in one year, is sensitive to point sources with integral power-law spectra as low as 5×10-13cm-2sec-1 above 2 TeV (approximately 50 mCrab) over 5 sr of the sky. This is a conservative estimate based on simple event parameters and is expected to improve as the data analysis techniques are refined. We discuss known TeV sources and the scientific contributions that HAWC can make to our understanding of particle acceleration in these sources.
► HAWC gamma ray observatory is described. ► Two different DAQs allow HAWC to detect gamma ray bursts. ► HAWC sensitivity to gamma ray bursts is simulated. ► HAWC will be able to detect gamma ray ...bursts if HE emission reaches 30–60GeV. ► The joint use of the two DAQs allows to constrain the HE emission by GRBs.
We present the sensitivity of HAWC to gamma ray bursts (GRBs). HAWC is a very high-energy gamma-ray observatory currently under construction in Mexico at an altitude of 4100m. It will observe atmospheric air showers via the water Cherenkov method. HAWC will consist of 300 large water tanks instrumented with 4 photomultipliers each. HAWC has two data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The main DAQ system reads out coincident signals in the tanks and reconstructs the direction and energy of individual atmospheric showers. The scaler DAQ counts the hits in each photomultiplier tube (PMT) in the detector and searches for a statistical excess over the noise of all PMTs. We show that HAWC has a realistic opportunity to observe the high-energy power law components of GRBs that extend at least up to 30GeV, as it has been observed by Fermi LAT. The two DAQ systems have an energy threshold that is low enough to observe events similar to GRB 090510 and GRB 090902b with the characteristics observed by Fermi LAT. HAWC will provide information about the high-energy spectra of GRBs which in turn could help to understanding about e-pair attenuation in GRB jets, extragalactic background light absorption, as well as establishing the highest energy to which GRBs accelerate particles.
Optical and ageing studies of aerogel samples for RICH applications in space Martínez-Dávalos, A.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; Menchaca-Rocha, A.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
11/2005, Letnik:
553, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Optical and ageing properties of hydrophobic silica aerogel have been measured. The optical observations include the determination of the index of refraction of individual aerogel samples, and ...transmittance measurements. Concerning ageing, we investigate possible explanations for an appreciable decrease on the light yield observed in the aerogel tiles used in the AMS-01 Cherenkov detector, flown on board of the NASA Discovery Shuttle. Measurements were carried out simulating the vacuum and thermal cycle to which the aerogel was subject. These tests indicate that this material is very sensitive to residual contaminants that might be present during the vacuum pumping and/or gas admission process.
The Crab Nebula is the brightest TeV gamma-ray source in the sky and has been used for the past 25 years as a reference source in TeV astronomy, for calibration and verification of new TeV ...instruments. The High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), completed in early 2015, has been used to observe the Crab Nebula at high significance across nearly the full spectrum of energies to which HAWC is sensitive. HAWC is unique for its wide field of view, nearly 2 sr at any instant, and its high-energy reach, up to 100 TeV. HAWC’s sensitivity improves with the gamma-ray energy. Above ∼1 TeV the sensitivity is driven by the best background rejection and angular resolution ever achieved for a wide-field ground array. We present a time-integrated analysis of the Crab using 507 live days of HAWC data from 2014 November to 2016 June. The spectrum of the Crab is fit to a function of the form ϕ(E)=ϕ{sub 0}(E/E{sub 0}){sup −α−β⋅ln(E/E{sub 0})}. The data is well fitted with values of α = 2.63 ± 0.03, β = 0.15 ± 0.03, and log{sub 10}(ϕ{sub 0} cm{sup 2} s TeV)=−12.60±0.02 when E {sub 0} is fixed at 7 TeV and the fit applies between 1 and 37 TeV. Study of the systematic errors in this HAWC measurement is discussed and estimated to be ±50% in the photon flux between 1 and 37 TeV. Confirmation of the Crab flux serves to establish the HAWC instrument’s sensitivity for surveys of the sky. The HAWC all-sky survey will be the deepest survey of the northern sky ever conducted in the multi-TeV band.
We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with data from the newly completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV ...telescope currently in operation, with a one-year survey sensitivity of ∼5%–10% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. With an instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90% duty cycle, it continuously surveys and monitors the sky for gamma-ray energies between hundreds of GeV and tens of TeV. HAWC is located in Mexico, at a latitude of 19° N, and was completed in 2015 March. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the first source search performed with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507 days of data, it represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an expected number of false detections of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these sources, 19 are new sources that are not associated with previously known TeV sources (association criteria: <0.°5 away). The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum measurement, and uncertainties, is reported, then each source is briefly discussed. Of the 2HWC associated sources, 10 are reported in TeVCat as PWN or SNR: 2 as blazars and the remaining eight as unidentified.
We present a search for very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Northern Fermi Bubble region using data collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov gamma-ray observatory. The size of the ...data set is 290 days. No significant excess is observed in the Northern Fermi Bubble region, so upper limits above 1 TeV are calculated. The upper limits are between 3×10{sup −7} GeV cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} sr{sup −1} and 4×10{sup −8} GeV cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} sr{sup −1}. The upper limits disfavor a proton injection spectrum that extends beyond 100 TeV without being suppressed. They also disfavor a hadronic injection spectrum derived from neutrino measurements.
We present results from daily monitoring of gamma-rays in the energy range from ∼0.5 to ∼100 TeV with the first 17 months of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. Its wide ...field of view of 2 steradians and duty cycle of >95% are unique features compared to other TeV observatories that allow us to observe every source that transits over HAWC for up to ∼6 hr each sidereal day. This regular sampling yields unprecedented light curves from unbiased measurements that are independent of seasons or weather conditions. For the Crab Nebula as a reference source, we find no variability in the TeV band. Our main focus is the study of the TeV blazars Markarian (Mrk) 421 and Mrk 501. A spectral fit for Mrk 421 yields a power-law index Γ=2.21±0.14{sub stat}±0.20{sub sys} and an exponential cut-off E{sub 0}=5.4±1.1{sub stat}±1.0{sub sys} TeV. For Mrk 501, we find an index Γ=1.60±0.30{sub stat}±0.20{sub sys} and exponential cut-off E{sub 0}=5.7±1.6{sub stat}±1.0{sub sys} TeV. The light curves for both sources show clear variability and a Bayesian analysis is applied to identify changes between flux states. The highest per-transit fluxes observed from Mrk 421 exceed the Crab Nebula flux by a factor of approximately five. For Mrk 501, several transits show fluxes in excess of three times the Crab Nebula flux. In a comparison to lower energy gamma-ray and X-ray monitoring data with comparable sampling, we cannot identify clear counterparts for the most significant flaring features observed by HAWC.
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