The High-energy Particle Detector (HEPD) on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01)-launched on 2018 February 2-is a light and compact payload suitable for measuring electrons ...(3-100 MeV), protons (30-250 MeV), and light nuclei (up to a few hundreds of MeV). The Sun-synchronous orbit and large acceptance allow HEPD to measure cosmic-ray particles near the 65° latitude limit for a fair amount of time per day. In this work, three semiannual galactic hydrogen energy spectra between ∼40 and 250 MeV are presented, including a comparison with theoretical spectra from HelMod, a 2D Monte Carlo model developed to simulate the solar modulation of cosmic rays throughout the heliosphere. To our knowledge, these are the first hydrogen energy spectra below 250 MeV measured at 1 au between 2018 and 2020.
The China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) aims to monitor electromagnetic, particle, and plasma perturbations in the iono-magnetosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belts originated by ...electromagnetic sources external and internal to the geomagnetic cavity, cosmic rays, and solar events. In particular, the objective of the space mission is to investigate lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms (including the effects of lightning, earthquakes, volcanoes, and artificial electromagnetic emissions) that induce perturbations of the top side of the ionosphere and lower boundary of the radiation belts. To this purpose, the mission has been conceived to take advantage of a multi-instrument payload comprising nine detectors for the measurement of electromagnetic field components, plasma parameters, and energetic particles, as well as X-ray flux. The Italian team participating in the CSES mission has built one of these devices, the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD), for high-precision observations of electrons, protons, and light nuclei. During its trip along the orbit, and thanks to the large set of detectors operated on board, CSES completely monitors the Earth, acting as an excellent instrument for space weather. The satellite was launched on 2018 February 2, with an expected life span of 5 yr. This article describes the CSES mission with a particular focus on the HEPD apparatus and its in-flight performance.
GAPS: A balloon-borne cosmic-ray antimatter experiment Osteria, G.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/2020, Letnik:
958
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Theories beyond the Standard Model predict dark matter candidates that could provide a significant enhancement of the antideuteron and antiproton flux, in particular at low energies. The General ...Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment is the first antimatter search experiment designed specifically for low-energy cosmic ray antideuterons and antiprotons. GAPS identifies antideuterons and antiprotons using a technique based on exotic atoms. This novel detection technique allows GAPS to have unprecedented sensitivity in the low energy range (< 0.25 GeV/n) for antiprotons and antideuterons. The apparatus consists of 10 planes of lithium-drifted Si (Si(Li)) detectors, surrounded on all sides by a plastic scintillator time-of-flight. GAPS is designed to carry out its science program using long-duration balloon flights in Antarctica and is currently scheduled by NASA for its first flight in late 2020. This presentation will describe the design, status, and discovery potential of the GAPS scientific program.
•Dark Matter search by measuring low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei.•Low-energy antiproton and antihelium searches.•Lithium Drifted Silicon Tracker.•Long Duration Antarctic Balloon Flight mission.•Super Pressure Balloon technology.
The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an Antarctic balloon experiment designed for low-energy (0.1–0.3 GeV/n) cosmic antinuclei as signatures of dark matter annihilation or decay. GAPS is ...optimized to detect low-energy antideuterons, as well as to provide unprecedented sensitivity to low-energy antiprotons and antihelium nuclei. The novel GAPS antiparticle detection technique, based on the formation, decay, and annihilation of exotic atoms, provides greater identification power for these low-energy antinuclei than previous magnetic spectrometer experiments. This work reports the sensitivity of GAPS to detect antihelium-3 nuclei, based on full instrument simulation, event reconstruction, and realistic atmospheric influence simulations. The report of antihelium nuclei candidate events by AMS-02 has generated considerable interest in antihelium nuclei as probes of dark matter and other beyond the Standard Model theories. GAPS is in a unique position to detect or set upper limits on the cosmic antihelium nuclei flux in an energy range that is essentially free of astrophysical background. In three 35-day long-duration balloon flights, GAPS will be sensitive to an antihelium flux on the level of 1.3−1.2+4.5·10−6 m-2sr-1s-1(GeV/n)-1 (95% confidence level) in the energy range of 0.11–0.3 GeV/n, opening a new window on rare cosmic physics.
The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an upcoming balloon mission to measure low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei during at least three ∼35-day Antarctic flights. With its large geometric ...acceptance and novel exotic atom-based particle identification, GAPS will detect ∼500 cosmic antiprotons per flight and produce a precision cosmic antiproton spectrum in the kinetic energy range of ∼0.07−0.21GeV/n at the top of the atmosphere. With these high statistics extending to lower energies than any previous experiment, and with complementary sources of experimental uncertainty compared to traditional magnetic spectrometers, the GAPS antiproton measurement will be sensitive to dark matter, primordial black holes, and cosmic ray propagation. The antiproton measurement will also validate the GAPS antinucleus identification technique for the antideuteron and antihelium rare-event searches. This analysis demonstrates the GAPS sensitivity to cosmic-ray antiprotons using a full instrument simulation and event reconstruction, and including solar and atmospheric effects.
Abstract
We present a study of the solar-cycle variations of >80 MeV proton flux intensities in the lower edge of the inner radiation belt, based on the measurements of the Payload for Antimatter ...Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) mission. The analyzed data sample covers an ∼8 yr interval from 2006 July to 2014 September, thus spanning from the decaying phase of the 23rd solar cycle to the maximum of the 24th cycle. We explored the intensity temporal variations as a function of drift shell and proton energy, also providing an explicit investigation of the solar modulation effects at different equatorial pitch angles. PAMELA observations offer new important constraints for the modeling of low-altitude particle radiation environment at the highest trapping energies.
The EUSO-SPB2 mission Scotti, V.; Osteria, G.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
04/2020, Letnik:
958
Journal Article
Recenzirano
EUSO-SPB2 is a second generation Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) on a Super-Pressure Balloon (SPB). The mission broadens the scientific objectives of the JEM-EUSO program and constitutes ...the first step toward the study of neutrino signals from the high atmosphere and space.
The EUSO-SPB2 science payload will be equipped with two detectors designed for a long duration mission. One is a fluorescence telescope developed to detect Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays via the UV fluorescence emission of the particle showers generated in the atmosphere. The other telescope will measure Cherenkov light emission from showers of lower energy cosmic rays to study and measure the background contribution for detecting cosmogenic neutrinos. These specific techniques and detection methods are performed in light of the realization of the Probe of Extreme Multi Messenger Astronomy (POEMMA), a space mission, currently under NASA-funded conceptual design studies. The EUSO-SPB2 mission has been approved by NASA and foreseen to be launched in 2022.
In this paper we will give a description of the payload, including details on the detection techniques and the telescopes design.
Boron Isotopes in the PAMELA Experiment Bogomolov, E. A.; Vasilyev, G. I.; Menn, W. ...
Physics of atomic nuclei,
2024, Letnik:
87, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this work, a new analysis of the isotopic composition of boron nuclei (B) in galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) in the range of rigidities of 1–5 GV (nuclear energies 0.1–1.5 GeV/nucleon) was carried out ...using data from the PAMELA space experiment 2006–2014 on the rigidity of detected nuclei and their velocity (time-of-flight analysis and ionization losses in the instrument’s multilayer calorimeter). The new results of the PAMELA experiment expand the energy range of previous measurements, are consistent with the few existing data, and indicate deviations of the B isotope ratios from the GALPROP simulation data for the GCR, similar to the deviations for the Li and Be isotopes in the PAMELA data, which can be interpreted as evidence of observation against the background of the GCR of the contribution of several local sources from explosions of nearby (hundreds of parsecs) supernovae.
Protons detected by the PAMELA experiment in the period 2006-2014 have been analyzed in the energy range between 0.40 and 50 GV to explore possible periodicities besides the well known solar ...undecennial modulation. An unexpected clear and regular feature has been found at rigidities below 15 GV, with a quasi-periodicity of ∼450 days. A possible Jovian origin of this periodicity has been investigated in different ways. The results seem to favor a small but not negligible contribution to cosmic rays from the Jovian magnetosphere, even if other explanations cannot be excluded.
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