The energy spectrum of cosmic rays in the range 3×1017–4×1018 eV as measured with the Haverah Park array

Ave, M.; Knapp, J.; Lloyd‐Evans, J.; Marchesini, M.; Watson, Alan

doi:10.1016/s0927-6505(02)00188-3

Cited by 70 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The deviation from GZK depends on the set of data used as a basis for power law extrapolation from lower energies. An additional input for this analysis was the recent claim [144] that there may be technical [141], Haverah Park [142], HiRes [139], and SUGAR [46]. problems with the Yakutsk data collection.…”

Section: Propagation Of Crs In a Magnetized Neighborhood Of The Galaxymentioning

confidence: 99%

Astrophysical origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

2004

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In the first part of this review we discuss the basic observational features at the end of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. We also present there the main characteristics of each of the experiments involved in the detection of these particles. We then briefly discuss the status of the chemical composition and the distribution of arrival directions of cosmic rays. After that, we examine the energy losses during propagation, introducing the Greisen-Zaptsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff, and discuss the level of confidence with which each experiment have detected particles beyond the GZK energy limit. In the second part of the review, we discuss astrophysical environments able to accelerate particles up to such high energies, including active galactic nuclei, large scale galactic wind termination shocks, relativistic jets and hot-spots of Fanaroff-Riley radiogalaxies, pulsars, magnetars, quasar remnants, starbursts, colliding galaxies, and gamma ray burst fireballs. In the third part of the review we provide a brief summary of scenarios which try to explain the super-GZK events with the help of new physics beyond the standard model. In the last section, we give an overview on neutrino telescopes and existing limits on the energy spectrum and discuss some of the prospects for a new (multi-particle) astronomy. Finally, we outline how extraterrestrial neutrino fluxes can be used to probe new physics beyond the electroweak scale. Solicited Review Article Prepared for Reports on Progress in Physics 1 PREFACEReviewing cosmic ray physics is a risky business. Theoretical models continue to appear at an amazing rate, both in the astrophysical and more exotic domains. We warn the reader: we do not (nor we could) intend to make an homogeneous coverage of all the ideas of our fellow colleagues. Reading differently focused reviews on the issue (quoted here along the way) is, in our view, the best approach to such a wide topic of research.2 Contents

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Section: Propagation Of Crs In a Magnetized Neighborhood Of The Galaxymentioning

confidence: 99%

Astrophysical origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

2004

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“…The dashed line indicates the contribution from the X-decay, with initial state of 5 quarks + 5 squarks and mX = 2 × 10 12 GeV. The upper end of the spectrum as seen by different experiments (AGASA [29], HiRes [31], Fly's Eye [32] SUGAR [33], and Haverah Park [34]) is also shown for comparison.…”

Section: Event Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing minimal supergravity via the Extreme Universe Space Observatory

2004

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An analysis is carried out within mSUGRA of the estimated number of events originating from upward moving ultra-high energy neutralinos passing through Earth's crust that could be detected by the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO). The analysis exploits a recently proposed technique that differentiates ultra-high energy neutralinos from ultra-high energy neutrinos using their different absorption lengths in the Earth's crust. It is shown that for the part of the parameter space, where the neutralino is mostly a Bino and with squark mass ∼ 1 TeV, EUSO could see ultrahigh energy neutralino events within mSUGRA models with essentially no background. In the energy range 10 9 GeV < Eχ < 10 11 GeV the unprecedented aperture of EUSO makes the telescope sensitive, after 3 yr of observation, to neutralino fluxes as low as dΦ/dEχ > 1.1 × 10 −6 (Eχ/GeV) −1.3 GeV −1 cm −2 yr −1 sr −1 , at the 95% CL. Such a hard spectrum is characteristic of supermassive particles' N -body hadronic decay. The case in which the flux of ultra-high energy neutralinos is produced via decay of metastable heavy (mX = 2 × 10 12 GeV) particles with uniform distribution throughout the universe, and primary decay mode into 5 quarks + 5 squarks, is analyzed in detail. The normalization of the ratio of the relics' density to their lifetime has been fixed so that the baryon flux produced in the supermassive particle decays contributes to about 1/3 of the events reported by the AGASA Collaboration below 10 11 GeV, and hence the associated GeV γ-ray flux is in complete agreement with EGRET data. For this particular case, EUSO will collect between 4 and 5 neutralino events (with 0.3 of background) in ≈ 3 yr of running. NASA's planned mission, the Orbiting Wide-angle Light-collectors (OWL), is also briefly discussed in this context.

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“…They introduce large and difficult to quantify systematic uncertainties on many cosmic ray analyses. This is a well known problem for the primary energy spectrum as derived from Monte Carlo calibrated surface detector data [1][2][3][4][5][6], as well as for the determination of the primary mass composition of high energy cosmic rays [5,[7][8][9][10][11]. The model-dependence of the interpretation of air shower data is mainly related to the differing predictions of the number of muons in air showers and the depth of the shower maximum [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton-Air Cross Section and Extensive Air Showers

Ulrich

Engel

Müller

et al. 2009

Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements

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Hadronic cross sections at ultra-high energy have a significant impact on the development of extensive air shower cascades. Therefore the interpretation of air shower data depends critically on hadronic interaction models that extrapolate the cross section from accelerator measurements to the highest cosmic ray energies. We discuss how extreme scenarios of cross section extrapolations can affect the interpretation of air shower data. We find that the theoretical uncertainty of the extrapolated proton-air cross section at ultra-high energies is much larger than suggested by the existing spread of available Monte Carlo model predictions. The impact on the depth of the shower maximum is demonstrated.

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The energy spectrum of cosmic rays in the range 3×1017–4×1018 eV as measured with the Haverah Park array

Cited by 70 publications

References 14 publications

Astrophysical origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

Astrophysical origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays

Probing minimal supergravity via the Extreme Universe Space Observatory

Proton-Air Cross Section and Extensive Air Showers

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