A large light-mass component of cosmic rays at 10(17)-10(17.5) electronvolts from radio observations

Autor: Vishambhar Pandey, D. D. Mulcahy, M. A. Garrett, J. van Leeuwen, Tim Hassall, Adam Deller, Harvey Butcher, D. Engels, H. Paas, John Conway, J. E. Enriquez, A. I. F. Stewart, M. Pandey-Pommier, Matthias Steinmetz, Rob Fender, B. Ciardi, M. Pietka, E. Juette, G. van Diepen, P. N. Best, M. C. Toribio, A. Horneffer, Chiara Ferrari, M. P. van Haarlem, S. Duscha, Mark J. Bentum, Stefan J. Wijnholds, Jochen Eislöffel, Sarod Yatawatta, Emanuela Orrú, M. Kuniyoshi, Michael Kramer, Anna Nelles, C. Vogt, R. J. van Weeren, Martin Bell, Maaijke Mevius, John D. Swinbank, P. Maat, Matthias Hoeft, M. J. Norden, Pim Schellart, D. McKay-Bukowski, J. A. Zensus, John McKean, Dominik J. Schwarz, Richard Fallows, Aris Karastergiou, Ph. Zarka, V. I. Kondratiev, T. N. G. Trinh, Stijn Buitink, Heino Falcke, Michael W. Wise, Jörg P. Rachen, Benjamin Stappers, Jason W. T. Hessels, J. Sluman, Gianni Bernardi, Jörg R. Hörandel, I. M. Avruch, James M. Anderson, F. de Gasperin, Frank Breitling, Roberto Pizzo, H. J. A. Röttgering, Satyendra Thoudam, G. Kuper, Olaf Wucknitz, M. Serylak, H. Munk, Wilfred Frieswijk, Ashish Asgekar, Marcus Brüggen, M. Iacobelli, Y. Tang, W. Reich, S. ter Veen, A. W. Gunst, Anna M. M. Scaife, Laura Rossetto, Ralph A. M. J. Wijers, A. G. Polatidis, Rebecca McFadden, Arthur Corstanje, Annalisa Bonafede, Christian Vocks, G. M. Loose, Sera Markoff, Jean-Mathias Grießmeier, Michel Tagger, D. Carbone, R. C. Vermeulen, T. Huege, Olaf Scholten, Oleg Smirnov, Huib Intema, Cyril Tasse, J. W. Broderick, E. de Geus, R. J. Dettmar, George Heald, W. N. Brouw, Gottfried Mann
Přispěvatelé: High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI), Radboud University [Nijmegen], Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), University of Groningen [Groningen], Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Laboratoire Analyse, Géométrie et Applications (LAGA), Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris 13 (UP13)-Institut Galilée-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geoscience, National Center for Atmospheric Research [Boulder] (NCAR), SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [Canberra] (CSIRO), University of Edinburgh, Jacobs University [Bremen], Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), University of Southampton, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute [Groningen], University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA), Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Onsala Space Observatory, Dept. of Radio and Space Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology [Göteborg], Hamburger Sternwarte/Hamburg Observatory, Universität Hamburg (UHH), Medstar Research Institute, Astronomisches Institut der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Ruhr-Universität Bochum [Bochum], Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg (TLS), SETI Institute, Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Département de Géologie, Université de Montréal (UdeM), Leiden Observatory [Leiden], Universiteit Leiden, Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] (CNES), Unité Scientifique de la Station de Nançay (USN), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester [Manchester], Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIFR), Oxford Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory (CAL), Columbia University [New York], Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek (AI PANNEKOEK), University of Oulu, Center for Information Technology CIT, Université de Groningen, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (CRAL), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Radio Astronomy Observatory [Charlottesville] (NRAO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), School of Physics and Astronomy [Southampton], Interactions Son Musique Mouvement, Sciences et Technologies de la Musique et du Son (STMS), Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Leibniz-Institut DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH / Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ), Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder] (LASP), University of Colorado [Boulder], Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11), SKA South Africa, Ska South Africa, Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique, Instrumentation (GEPI), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Finca El Encin, Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA), Argelander-Institut für Astronomie (AlfA), Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Observatoire de Paris - Site de Paris (OP), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, European Project: 227610,EC:FP7:ERC,ERC-2008-AdG,LOFAR-AUGER(2009), European Project: 640130,H2020,ERC-2014-STG,LOFAR(2015), Radboud university [Nijmegen], Institute for Nuclear Physics (IKP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, nstitute for Nuclear Physics (IKP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Galilée-Université Paris 13 (UP13), Universiteit Leiden [Leiden], Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO), University of Oxford [Oxford], École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Research unit Astroparticle Physics, Astronomy, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature, 531(7592), 70-73. Nature Publishing Group
Nature, 531, 7592, pp. 70-73
Nature
Nature, 2016, 531 (7592), pp.70-73. ⟨10.1038/nature16976⟩
Nature, Nature Publishing Group, 2016, 531 (7592), pp.70-73. ⟨10.1038/nature16976⟩
Nature, 531, 70-73
ISSN: 0028-0836
1476-4687
1476-4679
DOI: 10.038/nature16976
Popis: Cosmic rays are the highest-energy particles found in nature. Measurements of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies of 1017–1018 electronvolts are essential to understanding whether they have galactic or extragalactic sources. It has also been proposed that the astrophysical neutrino signal1 comes from accelerators capable of producing cosmic rays of these energies2. Cosmic rays initiate air showers—cascades of secondary particles in the atmosphere—and their masses can be inferred from measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum3 (Xmax; the depth of the air shower when it contains the most particles) or of the composition of shower particles reaching the ground4. Current measurements5 have either high uncertainty, or a low duty cycle and a high energy threshold. Radio detection of cosmic rays6,7,8 is a rapidly developing technique9 for determining Xmax (refs 10, 11) with a duty cycle of, in principle, nearly 100 per cent. The radiation is generated by the separation of relativistic electrons and positrons in the geomagnetic field and a negative charge excess in the shower front6,12. Here we report radio measurements of Xmax with a mean uncertainty of 16 grams per square centimetre for air showers initiated by cosmic rays with energies of 1017–1017.5 electronvolts. This high resolution in Xmax enables us to determine the mass spectrum of the cosmic rays: we find a mixed composition, with a light-mass fraction (protons and helium nuclei) of about 80 per cent. Unless, contrary to current expectations, the extragalactic component of cosmic rays contributes substantially to the total flux below 1017.5 electronvolts, our measurements indicate the existence of an additional galactic component, to account for the light composition that we measured in the 1017–1017.5 electronvolt range.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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