Measurement of 0.25-3.2 GeV antiprotons in the cosmic radiation

The balloon-borne Isotope Matter-Antimatter Experiment (IMAX) was flown from Lynn Lake, Manitoba, Canada on 16–17 July 1992. Using velocity and magnetic rigidity to determine mass, we have directly measured the abundances of cosmic ray antiprotons and protons in the energy range from 0.25 to 3.2 GeV. Both the absolute flux of antiprotons and the antiproton/proton ratio are consistent with recent theoretical work in which antiprotons are produced as secondary products of cosmic ray interactions with the interstellar medium. This consistency implies a lower limit to the antiproton lifetime of ∼10 to the 7th yr

Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Antiproton to Proton Abundance Ratio between 4 and 50 GeV

We present a new measurement of the antiproton to proton abundance ratio, pbar/p, in the cosmic radiation. The HEAT-pbar instrument, a balloon borne magnet spectrometer with precise rigidity and multiple energy loss measurement capability, was flown successfully in Spring 2000, at an average atmospheric depth of 7.2 g/cm^2. A total of 71 antiprotons were identified above the vertical geomagnetic cut-off rigidity of 4.2 GV. The highest measured proton energy was 81 GeV. We find that the pbar/p abundance ratio agrees with that expected from a purely secondary origin of antiprotons produced by primary protons with a standard soft energy spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in PR

Electron diffusion and advection during nonlinear interactions with whistler‐mode waves

Radiation belt codes evolve electron dynamics due to resonant wave‐particle interactions. It is not known how to best incorporate electron dynamics in the case of a wave power spectrum that varies considerably on a ‘sub‐grid' timescale shorter than the computational time‐step of the radiation belt model ΔtRBM, particularly if the wave amplitude reaches high values. Timescales associated with the growth rate of thermal instabilities are very short, and are typically much shorter than ΔtRBM. We use a kinetic code to study electron interactions with whistler‐mode waves in the presence of a thermally anisotropic background. For ‘low' values of anisotropy, instabilities are not triggered and we observe similar results to those obtained in Allanson et al. (2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JA027949), for which the diffusion roughly matched the quasilinear theory over short timescales. For ‘high' levels of anisotropy, wave growth via instability is triggered. Dynamics are not well described by the quasilinear theory when calculated using the average wave power. Strong electron diffusion and advection occurs during the growth phase ( ≈ 100ms). These dynamics ‘saturate' as the wave power saturates at ≈ 1nT, and the advective motions dominate over the diffusive processes. The growth phase facilitates significant advection in pitch angle space via successive resonant interactions with waves of different frequencies. We suggest that this rapid advective transport during the wave growth phase may have a role to play in the electron microburst mechanism. This motivates future work on macroscopic effects of short‐timescale nonlinear processes in radiation belt modelling

Circulation of Heavy Ions and Their Dynamical Effects in the Magnetosphere: Recent Observations and Models

International audienceKnowledge of the ion composition in the near-Earths magnetosphere and plasma sheet is essential for the understanding of magnetospheric processes and instabilities. The presence of heavy ions of ionospheric origin in the magnetosphere, in particular oxygen (O ), influences the plasma sheet bulk properties, current sheet (CS) thickness and its structure. It affects reconnection rates and the formation of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. This has profound consequences for the global magnetospheric dynamics, including geomagnetic storms and substorm-like events. The formation and demise of the ring current and the radiation belts are also dependent on the presence of heavy ions. In this review we cover recent advances in observations and models of the circulation of heavy ions in the magnetosphere, considering sources, transport, acceleration, bulk properties, and the influence on the magnetospheric dynamics. We identify important open questions and promising avenues for future research

R&D proposal to DRDC: fast EM calorimeter with excellent photon angular resolution and energy resolution using scintillating noble liquids

Recent test beam data have shown fast and large signals for LKr, mixed with >1% LXe. Excellent uniformity in LKr and LXe was achieved over a 37 cm long cell. CsI cathode works well inside LKr/LXe with O(1%) resolution at 5 MeV. Precision calibration in-situ has been demonstrated. Scintillating LKr/LXe detectors are sufficiently radiation hard for LHC environment. These new developments simplify the construction of prototype LKr calorimeter, to demonstrate the superior e/gamma energy resolution and the determination of photon direction using longitudinal and transverse segmentations, which are vital for the detection of the multi-photon states. The constant term in the energy resolution is small, the electronics noise is negligible due to the large signal size. The overall pion/electron suppression is expected to be better than 10-4