The shape of the radio wavefront of extensive air showers as measured with LOFAR

Extensive air showers, induced by high energy cosmic rays impinging on the Earth’s atmosphere, produce radio emission that is measured with the LOFAR radio telescope. As the emission comes from a finite distance of a few kilometers, the incident wavefront is non-planar. A spherical, conical or hyperbolic shape of the wavefront has been proposed, but measurements of individual air showers have been inconclusive so far. For a selected high-quality sample of 161 measured extensive air showers, we have reconstructed the wavefront by measuring pulse arrival times to sub-nanosecond precision in 200 to 350 individual antennas. For each measured air shower, we have fitted a conical, spherical, and hyperboloid shape to the arrival times. The fit quality and a likelihood analysis show that a hyperboloid is the best parameterization. Using a non-planar wavefront shape gives an improved angular resolution, when reconstructing the shower arrival direction. Furthermore, a dependence of the wavefront shape on the shower geometry can be seen. This suggests that it will be possible to use a wavefront shape analysis to get an additional handle on the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum, which is sensitive to the mass of the primary particle.     

The Cherenkov Telescope Array potential for the study of young supernova remnants

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are among the most important targets for γ-ray observatories. Being prominent non-thermal sources, they are very likely responsible for the acceleration of the bulk of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs). To firmly establish the SNR paradigm for the origin of cosmic rays, it should be confirmed that protons are indeed accelerated in, and released from, SNRs with the appropriate flux and spectrum. This can be done by detailed theoretical models which account for microphysics of acceleration and various radiation processes of hadrons and leptons. The current generation of Cherenkov telescopes has insufficient sensitivity to constrain theoretical models. A new facility, the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), will have superior capabilities and may finally resolve this long standing issue of high-energy astrophysics. We want to assess the capabilities of CTA to reveal the physics of various types of SNRs in the initial 2000 years of their evolution. During this time, the efficiency to accelerate cosmic rays is highest. We perform time-dependent simulations of the hydrodynamics, the magnetic fields, the cosmic-ray acceleration, and the non-thermal emission for type Ia, Ic and IIP SNRs. We calculate the CTA response to the γ-ray emission from these SNRs for various ages and distances, and we perform a realistic analysis of the simulated data. We derive distance limits for the detectability and resolvability of these SNR types at several ages. We test the ability of CTA to reconstruct their morphological and spectral parameters as a function of their distance. Finally, we estimate how well CTA data will constrain the theoretical models.     

Study of dispersion of mass distribution of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using a surface array of muon and electromagnetic detectors

We consider a hypothetical observatory of ultra-high energy cosmic rays consisting of two surface detector arrays that measure independently electromagnetic and muon signals induced by air showers. Using the constant intensity cut method, sets of events ordered according to each of both signal sizes are compared giving the number of matched events. Based on its dependence on the zenith angle, a parameter sensitive to the dispersion of the distribution of the logarithmic mass of cosmic rays is introduced. The results obtained using two post-LHC models of hadronic interactions are very similar and indicate a weak dependence on details of these interactions.     

TeV γ-ray fluxes from the long campaigns on Mrk 421 as constraints on the emission of TeV–PeV neutrinos and UHECRs

Long TeV γ-ray campaigns have been carried out to study the spectrum, variability and duty cycle of the BL Lac object Markarian 421. These campaigns have given some evidence of the presence of protons in the jet: (i) Its spectral energy distribution which shows two main peaks; one at low energies (∼1 keV) and the other at high energies (hundreds of GeV), has been described by using synchrotron proton blazar model. (ii) The study of the variability at GeV γ-rays and X-rays has indicated no significant correlation. (iii) TeV γ-ray detections without activity in X-rays, called “orphan flares” have been observed in this object.Recently, The Telescope Array Collaboration reported the arrival of 72 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with some of them possibly related to the direction of Markarian 421. The IceCube Collaboration reported the detection of 37 extraterrestrial neutrinos in the TeV–PeV energy range collected during three consecutive years. In particular, no neutrino track events were associated with this source. In this paper, we consider the proton–photon interactions to correlate the TeV γ-ray fluxes reported by long campaigns with the neutrino and ultra-high-energy cosmic ray observations around this blazar. Considering the results reported by The IceCube and Telescope Array Collaborations, we found that only from ∼25% to 70% of TeV fluxes described with a power law function with exponential cutoff can come from the proton–photon interactions.     

Chasing the highest energy cosmic rays: From 1948 to the present

After a brief review of the discovery of extensive air showers, I summarise the remarkable advances made in the decade 1948–1958. During this period many of the techniques of instrumentation and analysis that are used today were introduced. I then discuss current data with emphasis on recent work on the measurement of the mass composition between 10¹⁵ and 10¹⁷ eV and above 10¹⁸ eV, and on the energy spectrum at the highest energies.     

Cosmic rays in the heliosphere: Observations

This contribution to the 100th commemoration of the discovery of cosmic rays (6–8 August, 2012 in Bad Saarow, Germany) is about observations of those cosmic rays that are sensitive to the structure and the dynamics of the heliosphere. This places them in the energy range of 10⁷–10¹⁰ eV. For higher energies the heliosphere becomes transparent; below this energy range the particles become strictly locked into the solar wind. Rather than give a strict chronological development, the paper is divided into distinct topics. It starts with the Pioneer/Voyager missions to the outer edges of the heliosphere, because the most recent observations indicate that a distinct boundary of the heliosphere might have been reached at the time of the meeting. Thereafter, the Ulysses mission is described as a unique one because it is still the only spacecraft that has explored the heliosphere at very high latitudes. Next, anomalous cosmic rays, discovered in 1972–1974, constitute a separate component that is ideally suited to study the acceleration and transport of energetic particles in the heliosphere. At this point the history and development of ground-based observations is discussed, with its unique contribution to supply a stable, long-term record. The last topic is about solar energetic particles with energies up to ∼10¹⁰ eV.     

Cosmic rays and changes in atmospheric infra-red transmission

Recent work by Aplin and Lockwood (2013) [1] was interpreted by them as showing that there is a multiplying ratio of order 10¹² for the infra-red energy absorbed in the ionization produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere to the energy content of the cosmic rays themselves. We argue here that the interpretation of the result in terms of infra-red absorption by ionization is incorrect and that the result is therefore most likely due to a technical artefact.     

A pair production telescope for medium-energy gamma-ray polarimetry

We describe the science motivation and development of a pair production telescope for medium-energy (∼5–200 MeV) gamma-ray polarimetry. Our instrument concept, the Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT), takes advantage of the Three-Dimensional Track Imager, a low-density gaseous time projection chamber, to achieve angular resolution within a factor of two of the pair production kinematics limit (∼0.6° at 70 MeV), continuum sensitivity comparable with the Fermi-LAT front detector (<3 × 10⁻⁶ MeV cm⁻² s⁻¹ at 70 MeV), and minimum detectable polarization less than 10% for a 10 mCrab source in 10⁶ s.