The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is a space experiment, currently under development by Japan in collaboration with Italy and the United States, which will measure the flux of cosmic-ray ...electrons (and positrons) up to 20 TeV energy, of gamma rays up to 10 TeV, of nuclei with Z from 1 to 40 up to 1 PeV energy, and will detect gamma-ray bursts in the 7 keV to 20 MeV energy range during a 5 year mission. These measurements are essential to investigate possible nearby astrophysical sources of high energy electrons, study the details of galactic particle propagation and search for dark matter signatures. The main detector of CALET, the Calorimeter, consists of a module to identify the particle charge, followed by a thin imaging calorimeter (3 radiation lengths) with tungsten plates interleaving scintillating fibre planes, and a thick energy measuring calorimeter (27 radiation lengths) composed of lead tungstate logs. The Calorimeter has the depth, imaging capabilities and energy resolution necessary for excellent separation between hadrons, electrons and gamma rays. The instrument is currently being prepared for launch (expected in 2015) to the International Space Station ISS, for installation on the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposure Facility (JEM-EF).
► Secondary beta-decaying isotopes as “cosmic clocks” for Galactic cosmic-ray propagation. ► Application of the FDIRC technique to the identification of cosmic-ray isotopes. ► Enhanced ...photostatistics for nuclei of charge
Z compared to particles with
Z
=
1.
Measurements of the relative abundance of cosmic isotopes and of the energy dependence of their fluxes may clarify our present understanding on the confinement time of charged cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Experimental studies of these
propagation clocks have been carried out by balloon and space missions at energies of a few 100
MeV/amu by means of detection techniques based on multiple d
E/d
x sampling, coupled with a measurement of the energy released in a thick absorber. At larger energies, the isotopic separation of light nuclei (as, for instance,
9Be/
10Be) can be achieved by combining a precise measurement of the particle’s rigidity with an high resolution determination of its velocity, via the observation of the Cherenkov effect in a radiator.
In this paper, we propose the introduction – for the first time in a space experiment – of the DIRC technique (Detection of Internal Reflected Cherenkov light) for the identification of cosmic-ray isotopes. This type of detector has been successfully used in electron–positron colliders for particle identification and in particular for
π–K separation. While for particles with unit charge the light yield is a limiting factor, in the case of a nucleus of charge
Z the larger photostatistics (due to the
Z
2 dependence of Cherenkov light emission) is the key to reach an adequate angular resolution to provide a mass discrimination for isotopes of astrophysical interest. We report on the early development phase of a DIRC prototype with a focussing scheme (FDIRC) to collect the Cherenkov light onto a detector plane instrumented with a Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) array.
Future space experiments dedicated to the observation of high-energy gamma and cosmic rays will increasingly rely on a highly performing calorimetry apparatus, and their physics performance will be ...primarily determined by the geometrical dimensions and the energy resolution of the calorimeter deployed. Thus it is extremely important to optimize its geometrical acceptance, the granularity, and its absorption depth for the measurement of the particle energy with respect to the total mass of the apparatus which is the most important constraint for a space launch. The proposed design tries to satisfy these criteria while staying within a total mass budget of about 1.6 tons. Calocube is a homogeneous calorimeter instrumented with Cesium iodide (CsI) crystals, whose geometry is cubic and isotropic, so as to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance; granularity is obtained by filling the cubic volume with small cubic CsI crystals. The total radiation length in any direction is more than adequate for optimal electromagnetic particle identification and energy measurement, whilst the interaction length is at least suficient to allow a precise reconstruction of hadronic showers. Optimal values for the size of the crystals and spacing among them have been studied. The design forms the basis of a three-year R&D activity which has been approved and financed by INFN. An overall description of the system, as well as results from preliminary tests on particle beams will be described.
A precise measurement of the proton flux in primary cosmic rays with rigidity (momentum/charge) from 1 GV to 1.8 TV is presented based on 300 million events. Knowledge of the rigidity dependence of ...the proton flux is important in understanding the origin, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays. We present the detailed variation with rigidity of the flux spectral index for the first time. The spectral index progressively hardens at high rigidities.
In this paper, we present the analysis and results of a direct measurement of the cosmic-ray proton spectrum with the CALET instrument onboard the International Space Station, including the detailed ...assessment of systematic uncertainties. The observation period used in this analysis is from October 13, 2015 to August 31, 2018 (1054 days). We have achieved the very wide energy range necessary to carry out measurements of the spectrum from 50 GeV to 10 TeV covering, for the first time in space, with a single instrument the whole energy interval previously investigated in most cases in separate subranges by magnetic spectrometers (BESS-TeV, PAMELA, and AMS-02) and calorimetric instruments (ATIC, CREAM, and NUCLEON). The observed spectrum is consistent with AMS-02 but extends to nearly an order of magnitude higher energy, showing a very smooth transition of the power-law spectral index from -2.81±0.03 (50-500 GeV) neglecting solar modulation effects (or -2.87±0.06 including solar modulation effects in the lower energy region) to -2.56±0.04 (1-10 TeV), thereby confirming the existence of spectral hardening and providing evidence of a deviation from a single power law by more than 3σ.
Extended results on the cosmic-ray electron + positron spectrum from 11 GeV to 4.8 TeV are presented based on observations with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) on the International Space ...Station utilizing the data up to November 2017. The analysis uses the full detector acceptance at high energies, approximately doubling the statistics compared to the previous result. CALET is an all-calorimetric instrument with a total thickness of 30 X_{0} at normal incidence and fine imaging capability, designed to achieve large proton rejection and excellent energy resolution well into the TeV energy region. The observed energy spectrum in the region below 1 TeV shows good agreement with Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) data. In the energy region below ∼300 GeV, CALET's spectral index is found to be consistent with the AMS-02, Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), and Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), while from 300 to 600 GeV the spectrum is significantly softer than the spectra from the latter two experiments. The absolute flux of CALET is consistent with other experiments at around a few tens of GeV. However, it is lower than those of DAMPE and Fermi-LAT with the difference increasing up to several hundred GeV. The observed energy spectrum above ∼1 TeV suggests a flux suppression consistent within the errors with the results of DAMPE, while CALET does not observe any significant evidence for a narrow spectral feature in the energy region around 1.4 TeV. Our measured all-electron flux, including statistical errors and a detailed breakdown of the systematic errors, is tabulated in the Supplemental Material in order to allow more refined spectral analyses based on our data.
► Kinematical energy estimators for direct measurements of charged VHE cosmic-ray. ► Cosmic-ray energy resolution using the kinematical method. ► Required exposure vs. energy resolution for direct ...proton flux measurements at the PeV scale.
At an energy scale of 10
15–10
16
eV, a direct measurement of the energy carried by charged cosmic radiation is a real challenge for balloon-borne and space based instruments. As a consequence of the very small fluxes, a large collecting power is required which is difficult to accommodate with weight-limited instruments equipped with calorimeters. A different approach has been proposed that might allow for a sizeable reduction of the instrument mass. It is based on a kinematical technique, whereby the energy of the cosmic-ray is estimated on the basis of the measured angular distribution of the secondaries resulting from its interaction in a target. In this paper, we review the basic principles of the method and study the properties of different energy estimators by means of a full simulation of the interaction of the incident particle in a conceptual instrument. We also discuss the intrinsic limitations of the method and investigate its possible application to direct measurements of the cosmic-ray spectrum in the region of the ‘knee’.
In the last decades, interest has grown in the development of detectors that can accurately measure energy and track of low-energy (1–100 keV) charged particles. In this paper we present our effort ...to construct a resistive MICROMEGAS detector with a wide amplification gap (192μm), to achieve high gain with a low discharge probability, even when operating with a low-pressure gas down to 50mbar. The detector response (gain, energy resolution, relative primary charge collection efficiency) to X-rays from a 55Fe source was measured under different operating conditions of amplification and drift fields, gas pressure and gas mixture composition. The results obtained and their temporal stability demonstrate that the detector can be used for the measurement of low-energy radiation with good energy resolution.
A precision measurement by AMS of the positron fraction in primary cosmic rays in the energy range from 0.5 to 500 GeV based on 10.9 million positron and electron events is presented. This ...measurement extends the energy range of our previous observation and increases its precision. The new results show, for the first time, that above ∼200 GeV the positron fraction no longer exhibits an increase with energy.
Precision measurements by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station of the primary cosmic-ray electron flux in the range 0.5 to 700 GeV and the positron flux in the range 0.5 ...to 500 GeV are presented. The electron flux and the positron flux each require a description beyond a single power-law spectrum. Both the electron flux and the positron flux change their behavior at ∼30 GeV but the fluxes are significantly different in their magnitude and energy dependence. Between 20 and 200 GeV the positron spectral index is significantly harder than the electron spectral index. The determination of the differing behavior of the spectral indices versus energy is a new observation and provides important information on the origins of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons.
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