1,815 research outputs found
Electromagnetic showers in a strong magnetic field
We present the results concerning the main shower characteristics in a strong
magnetic field obtained through shower simulation. The processes of magnetic
bremsstrahlung and pair production were taken into account for values of the
parameter . We compare our simulation results with a recently
developed cascade theory in a strong magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 9 eps figures, LaTex2e, Iopart.cls, Iopart12.clo,
Iopams.st
Characteristics of geomagnetic cascading of ultra-high energy photons at the southern and northern sites of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Cosmic-ray photons above 10^19 eV can convert in the geomagnetic field and
initiate a preshower, i.e. a particle cascade before entering the atmosphere.
We compare the preshower characteristics at the southern and northern sites of
the Pierre Auger Observatory. In addition to a shift of the preshower patterns
on the sky due to the different pointing of the local magnetic field vectors,
the fact that the northern Auger site is closer to the geomagnetic pole results
in a different energy dependence of the preshower effect: photon conversion can
start at smaller energies, but large conversion probabilitites (>90%) are
reached for the whole sky at higher energies compared to the southern Auger
site. We show how the complementary preshower features at the two sites can be
used to search for ultra-high energy photons among cosmic rays. In particular,
the different preshower characteristics at the northern Auger site may provide
an elegant and unambiguous confirmation if a photon signal is detected at the
southern site.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, minor changes, conclusions unchanged, Appendix
A replaced, accepted by Astroparticle Physic
The nature of the highest energy cosmic rays
Ultra high energy gamma rays produce electron--positron pairs in interactions
on the geomagnetic field. The pair electrons suffer magnetic bremsstrahlung and
the energy of the primary gamma ray is shared by a bunch of lower energy
secondaries. These processes reflect the structure of the geomagnetic field and
cause experimentally observable effects. The study of these effects with future
giant air shower arrays can identify the nature of the highest energy cosmic
rays as either gamma-rays or nuclei.Comment: 15 pages of RevTeX plus 6 postscript figures, tarred, gzipped and
uuencoded. Subm. to Physical Review
Simulation of Ultra-High Energy Photon Propagation in the Geomagnetic Field
The identification of primary photons or specifying stringent limits on the
photon flux is of major importance for understanding the origin of ultra-high
energy (UHE) cosmic rays. We present a new Monte Carlo program allowing
detailed studies of conversion and cascading of UHE photons in the geomagnetic
field. The program named PRESHOWER can be used both as an independent tool or
together with a shower simulation code. With the stand-alone version of the
code it is possible to investigate various properties of the particle cascade
induced by UHE photons interacting in the Earth's magnetic field before
entering the Earth's atmosphere. Combining this program with an extensive air
shower simulation code such as CORSIKA offers the possibility of investigating
signatures of photon-initiated showers. In particular, features can be studied
that help to discern such showers from the ones induced by hadrons. As an
illustration, calculations for the conditions of the southern part of the
Pierre Auger Observatory are presented.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures, added references in introduction, corrected
energy in row 1 of Table 3, extended caption of Table
Lorentz invariance violation in top-down scenarios of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray creation
The violation of Lorentz invariance (LI) has been invoked in a number of ways
to explain issues dealing with ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHECR) production
and propagation. These treatments, however, have mostly been limited to
examples in the proton-neutron system and photon-electron system. In this paper
we show how a broader violation of Lorentz invariance would allow for a series
of previously forbidden decays to occur, and how that could lead to UHECR
primaries being heavy baryonic states or Higgs bosons.Comment: Replaced with heavily revised (see new Abstract) version accepted by
Phys. Rev. D. 6 page
Ultra-High Energy Gamma Rays in Geomagnetic Field and Atmosphere
The nature and origin of ultra-high energy (UHE: reffering to > 10^19 eV)
cosmic rays are great mysteries in modern astrophysics. The current theories
for their explanation include the so-called "top-down" decay scenarios whose
main signature is a large ratio of UHE gamma rays to protons. Important step in
determining the primary composition at ultra-high energies is the study of air
shower development. UHE gamma ray induced showers are affected by the
Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect and the geomagnetic cascading process.
In this work extensive simulations have been carried out to study the
characteristics of air showers from UHE gamma rays. At energies above several
times 10^19 eV the shower is affected by geomagnetic cascading rather than by
the LPM effect. The properties of the longitudinal development such as average
depth of the shower maximum or its fluctuations depend strongly on both primary
energy and incident direction. This feature may provide a possible evidence of
the UHE gamma ray presence by fluorescence detectors.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
Ultrahigh Energy Gamma Ray Cascading in the Geomag- netic Field and Its Development in the Atmosphere
Abstract Extensive simulations of the longitudinal development of air showers from ultrahigh (UHE) energy gamma rays have been carried out. The shower development is affected by the geomagnetic cascading before entering the atmosphere and by the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect in the atmosphere. AIRES code as well as our original code have been used for cascade simulations in the atmosphere. The analysis of the results shows that the longitudinal development of the showers depend strongly on both primary energy and incident direction. This feature may provide reliable conclusions about the photon fraction in the UHE ( > 5 × 10 19 eV) cosmic ray flux
Lorentz Invariance Violation and the QED Formation Length
It was recently suggested that possible small volations of Lorentz invariance
could explain the existence of UHECR beyond the GZK cutoff and the observations
of multi-TeV gamma-rays from Mkn 501. Our analysis of Lorentz-violating
kinematics shows that in addition to the modified threshold conditions solving
cosmic ray puzzles we should expect a strong suppression of electromagnetic
processes like bremsstrahlung and pair creation. This leads to drastic effects
in electron-photon cascade development in the atmosphere and in detectors.Comment: 9 pages, some new comments and references adde
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