18 research outputs found
Characterization of neutrino signals with radiopulses in dense media through the LPM effect
We discuss the possibilities of detecting radio pulses from high energy
showers in ice, such as those produced by PeV and EeV neutrino interactions. It
is shown that the rich radiation pattern structure in the 100 MHz to few GHz
allows the separation of electromagnetic showers induced by photons or
electrons above 100 PeV from those induced by hadrons. This opens up the
possibility of measuring the energy fraction transmitted to the electron in a
charged current electron neutrino interaction with adequate sampling of the
angular distribution of the signal. The radio technique has the potential to
complement conventional high energy neutrino detectors with flavor information.Comment: 5 pages, 4 ps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
FORTE satellite constraints on ultra-high energy cosmic particle fluxes
The FORTE (Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events) satellite records
bursts of electromagnetic waves arising from near the Earth's surface in the
radio frequency (RF) range of 30 to 300 MHz with a dual polarization antenna.
We investigate the possible RF signature of ultra-high energy cosmic-ray
particles in the form of coherent Cherenkov radiation from cascades in ice. We
calculate the sensitivity of the FORTE satellite to ultra-high energy (UHE)
neutrino fluxes at different energies beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK)
cutoff. Some constraints on supersymmetry model parameters are also estimated
due to the limits that FORTE sets on the UHE neutralino flux. The FORTE
database consists of over 4 million recorded events to date, including in
principle some events associated with UHE neutrinos. We search for candidate
FORTE events in the period from September 1997 to December 1999. The candidate
production mechanism is via coherent VHF radiation from a UHE neutrino shower
in the Greenland ice sheet. We demonstrate a high efficiency for selection
against lightning and anthropogenic backgrounds. A single candidate out of
several thousand raw triggers survives all cuts, and we set limits on the
corresponding particle fluxes assuming this event represents our background
level.Comment: added a table, updated references and Figure 8, this version is
submitted to Phys. Rev.
Coherent Radio Pulses From GEANT Generated Electromagnetic Showers In Ice
Radio Cherenkov radiation is arguably the most efficient mechanism for
detecting showers from ultra-high energy particles of 1 PeV and above. Showers
occuring in Antarctic ice should be detectable at distances up to 1 km. We
report on electromagnetic shower development in ice using a GEANT Monte Carlo
simulation. We have studied energy deposition by shower particles and
determined shower parameters for several different media, finding agreement
with published results where available. We also report on radio pulse emission
from the charged particles in the shower, focusing on coherent emission at the
Cherenkov angle. Previous work has focused on frequencies in the 100 MHz to 1
GHz range. Surprisingly, we find that the coherence regime extends up to tens
of Ghz. This may have substantial impact on future radio-based neutrino
detection experiments as well as any test beam experiment which seeks to
measure coherent Cherenkov radiation from an electromagnetic shower. Our study
is particularly important for the RICE experiment at the South Pole.Comment: 44 pages, 29 figures. Minor changes made, reference added, accepted
for publication in Phys. Rev.
Eigenmodes and growth rates of relativistic current filamentation instability in a collisional plasma
I theoretically found eigenmodes and growth rates of relativistic current
filamentation instability in collisional regimes, deriving a generalized
dispersion relation from self-consistent beam-Maxwell equations. For
symmetrically counterstreaming, fully relativistic electron currents, the
collisional coupling between electrons and ions creates the unstable modes of
growing oscillation and wave, which stand out for long-wavelength
perturbations. In the stronger collisional regime, the growing oscillatory mode
tends to be dominant for all wavelengths. In the collisionless limit, those
modes vanish, while maintaining another purely growing mode that exactly
coincides with a standard relativistic Weibel mode. It is also shown that the
effects of electron-electron collisions and thermal spread lower the growth
rate of the relativistic Weibel instability. The present mechanisms of
filamentation dynamics are essential for transport of homogeneous electron beam
produced by the interaction of high power laser pulses with plasma.Comment: 44 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Relativistic Laser-Matter Interaction and Relativistic Laboratory Astrophysics
The paper is devoted to the prospects of using the laser radiation
interaction with plasmas in the laboratory relativistic astrophysics context.
We discuss the dimensionless parameters characterizing the processes in the
laser and astrophysical plasmas and emphasize a similarity between the laser
and astrophysical plasmas in the ultrarelativistic energy limit. In particular,
we address basic mechanisms of the charged particle acceleration, the
collisionless shock wave and magnetic reconnection and vortex dynamics
properties relevant to the problem of ultrarelativistic particle acceleration.Comment: 58 pages, 19 figure