Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Energy Spectrum using Hybrid Analysis with TAx4
ORAL
Abstract
Cosmic rays are subatomic particles of extraterrestrial origin and at the
highest energies, they are not well understood. The variation of the
cosmic ray flux with energy is referred to as the "Energy Spectrum.” The
measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum is important because it
may give a hint of where cosmic rays come from. The Telescope Array
(TA) Cosmic Ray Observatory, located in Millard County Utah, is the
largest cosmic ray detector in the Northern hemisphere. Following
evidence for a hotspot in the arrival directions of the highest energy
cosmic rays, TA underwent the TAx4 upgrade to expand the area of
Surface Detectors (SD) by a factor of 4. The upgrade included new
Fluorescence Detector (FD) stations to view over the expanded SD
arrays. In this work, I will present a preliminary cosmic ray energy
spectrum using hybrid events from TAx4, the hybrid resolutions of the
detector, and data-MC comparisons. I will show this work's preliminary
hybrid energy spectrum is in agreement with previous TA
measurements, which is a key first step towards future composition and
anisotropy studies.
highest energies, they are not well understood. The variation of the
cosmic ray flux with energy is referred to as the "Energy Spectrum.” The
measurement of the cosmic ray energy spectrum is important because it
may give a hint of where cosmic rays come from. The Telescope Array
(TA) Cosmic Ray Observatory, located in Millard County Utah, is the
largest cosmic ray detector in the Northern hemisphere. Following
evidence for a hotspot in the arrival directions of the highest energy
cosmic rays, TA underwent the TAx4 upgrade to expand the area of
Surface Detectors (SD) by a factor of 4. The upgrade included new
Fluorescence Detector (FD) stations to view over the expanded SD
arrays. In this work, I will present a preliminary cosmic ray energy
spectrum using hybrid events from TAx4, the hybrid resolutions of the
detector, and data-MC comparisons. I will show this work's preliminary
hybrid energy spectrum is in agreement with previous TA
measurements, which is a key first step towards future composition and
anisotropy studies.
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Presenters
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Mathew Potts
University of Utah
Authors
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Mathew Potts
University of Utah