62 research outputs found
Tunka-Rex: energy reconstruction with a single antenna station (ARENA 2016)
The Tunka-Radio extension (Tunka-Rex) is a radio detector for air showers in
Siberia. From 2012 to 2014, Tunka-Rex operated exclusively together with its
host experiment, the air-Cherenkov array Tunka-133, which provided trigger,
data acquisition, and an independent air-shower reconstruction. It was shown
that the air-shower energy can be reconstructed by Tunka-Rex with a precision
of 15\% for events with signal in at least 3 antennas, using the radio
amplitude at a distance of 120\,m from the shower axis as an energy estimator.
Using the reconstruction from the host experiment Tunka-133 for the air-shower
geometry (shower core and direction), the energy estimator can in principle
already be obtained with measurements from a single antenna, close to the
reference distance. We present a method for event selection and energy
reconstruction, requiring only one antenna, and achieving a precision of about
20\%. This method increases the effective detector area and lowers thresholds
for zenith angle and energy, resulting in three times more events than in the
standard reconstruction
Towards a cosmic-ray mass-composition study at Tunka Radio Extension (ARENA 2016)
The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is a radio detector at the TAIGA
facility located in Siberia nearby the southern tip of Lake Baikal. Tunka-Rex
measures air-showers induced by high-energy cosmic rays, in particular, the
lateral distribution of the radio pulses. The depth of the air-shower maximum,
which statistically depends on the mass of the primary particle, is determined
from the slope of the lateral distribution function (LDF). Using a
model-independent approach, we have studied possible features of the
one-dimensional slope method and tried to find improvements for the
reconstruction of primary mass. To study the systematic uncertainties given by
different primary particles, we have performed simulations using the CONEX and
CoREAS software packages of the recently released CORSIKA v7.5 including the
modern high-energy hadronic models QGSJet-II.04 and EPOS-LHC. The simulations
have shown that the largest systematic uncertainty in the energy deposit is due
to the unknown primary particle. Finally, we studied the relation between the
polarization and the asymmetry of the LDF.Comment: ARENA proceedings, 4 pages, updated reference
Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of a purified polysaccharide from yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis)
This study investigated the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties of a purified yerba mate polysaccharide.
The yerba mate polysaccharide showed a prominent antioxidant activity as evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPHâą)-radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 1.25 ± 0.10 mg/mL), 3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-
sulphonic acid (ABTSâą+)-radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 0.41 ± 0.05 mg/mL), and hydroxyl scavenging activity
(IC50= 3.36 ± 0.31 mg/mL). The antioxidant activity evaluated as the ferric ion reduction power (FRAP)
and oxygen radical absorbance radical assay (ORAC), expressed as trolox equivalents,were 20.84±1.61 ΌMTE/-
mg and 556.30± 12.83 ΌM TE/mg, respectively. The purified yerbamate polysaccharide presented high antimicrobial
activity against several bacterial and fungal strains; however, no cytotoxicity against all four tumor human
cell lines assessed.The authors thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientĂfico
e TecnolĂłgico (CNPq, Proc. 3079/2015-8) for funding this study.
Author V.G. Correa thanks Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento do Pessoal
do Ensino Superior (CAPES) for the financial support provided for their
post-graduate studies in Universidade Estadual de MaringĂĄ. R.C.G.
CorrĂȘa thanks CAPES Foundation,Ministry of Education, Brazil (process
number 88881.120010/2016â01) for funding her postdoctoral internship
in Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. A. Bracht, R.A. Peralta and
R.M. Peralta are research grant recipients of CNPq.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Latest results of the Tunka Radio Extension (ISVHECRI2016)
The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is an antenna array consisting of 63
antennas at the location of the TAIGA facility (Tunka Advanced Instrument for
cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy) in Eastern Siberia, nearby Lake Baikal.
Tunka-Rex is triggered by the air-Cherenkov array Tunka-133 during clear and
moonless winter nights and by the scintillator array Tunka-Grande during the
remaining time. Tunka-Rex measures the radio emission from the same air-showers
as Tunka-133 and Tunka-Grande, but with a higher threshold of about 100 PeV.
During the first stages of its operation, Tunka-Rex has proven, that sparse
radio arrays can measure air-showers with an energy resolution of better than
15\% and the depth of the shower maximum with a resolution of better than 40
g/cm\textsuperscript{2}. To improve and interpret our measurements as well as
to study systematic uncertainties due to interaction models, we perform radio
simulations with CORSIKA and CoREAS. In this overview we present the setup of
Tunka-Rex, discuss the achieved results and the prospects of mass-composition
studies with radio arrays.Comment: proceedings of ISVHECRI2016 conferenc
Tunka-Rex: Status, Plans, and Recent Results
Tunka-Rex, the Tunka Radio extension at the TAIGA facility (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy) in Siberia, has recently been expanded to a total number of 63 SALLA antennas, most of them distributed on an area of one square kilometer. In the first years of operation, Tunka-Rex was solely triggered by the co-located air-Cherenkov array Tunka-133. The correlation of the measurements by both detectors has provided direct experimental proof that radio arrays can measure the position of the shower maximum. The precision achieved so far is 40 g/cm2, and several methodical improvements are under study. Moreover, the cross-comparison of Tunka-Rex and Tunka-133 shows that the energy reconstruction of Tunka-Rex is precise to 15 %, with a total accuracy of 20 % including the absolute energy scale. By using exactly the same calibration source for Tunka-Rex and LOPES, the energy scale of their host experiments, Tunka-133 and KASCADE-Grande, respectively, can be compared even more accurately with a remaining uncertainty of about 10 %. The main goal of Tunka-Rex for the next years is a study of the cosmic-ray mass composition in the energy range above 100 PeV: For this purpose, Tunka-Rex now is triggered also during daytime by the particle detector array Tunka-Grande featuring surface and underground scintillators for electron and muon detection
Towards a cosmic-ray mass-composition study at Tunka Radio Extension
The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is a radio detector at the TAIGA facility located in Siberia nearby the southern tip of Lake Baikal. Tunka-Rex measures air-showers induced by high-energy cosmic rays, in particular, the lateral distribution of the radio pulses. The depth of the air-shower maximum, statistically depends on the mass of the primary particle, is determined from the slope of the lateral distribution function (LDF). Using a model-independent approach, we have studied possible features of the one-dimensional slope method and tried to find improvements for the reconstruction of primary mass. To study the systematic uncertainties given by different primary particles, we have performed simulations using the CONEX and CoREAS software packages of the recently released CORSIKA v7.5 including the modern high-energy hadronic models QGSJet-II.04 and EPOS-LHC. The simulations have shown that the largest systematic uncertainty in the energy deposit is due to the unknown primary particle. Finally, we studied the relation between the polarization and the asymmetry of the LDF
The Roadmap to the POEMMA mission
The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) is designed to observe ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and cosmic neutrinos from space with sensitivity over the full celestial sky. Developed as a NASA Astrophysics Probe-class mission, POEMMA consists of two identical telescopes orbiting the Earth in a loose formation designed to observe extensive air showers (EAS) via air fluorescence and Cherenkov emissions. UHECRs and UHE neutrinos above 20 EeV are observed with the stereo fluorescence technique, while tau neutrinos above 20 PeV are observed via the optical Cherenkov signals produced by up-going EAS generated by the decay of Earth-emerging tau-leptons. The POEMMA satellites are designed to quickly re-orientate to follow up transient cosmic neutrino candidate sources and obtain unparalleled neutrino flux sensitivity. Both observation techniques and the instrument design are being validated by current and upcoming missions, such as Mini-EUSO and EUSO-SPB as part of the JEM-EUSO program, and the Terzina instrument onboard the NUSES SmallSat mission. We discuss the POEMMA science performance and the current roadmap to the POEMMA mission
Prospects for Cross-correlations of UHECR Events with Astrophysical Sources with Upcoming Space-based Experiments
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are the messengers of the most extreme physics in the cosmos; however, efforts to identify their origins have thus far been thwarted by the fact that they donât point back to their sources. Using statistical studies cross-correlating UHECR arrival directions with astrophysical catalogs, the ground-based Pierre Auger Observatory has reported hints of a correlation with nearby starburst galaxies, as well as lower-significance correlations with other classes of astrophysical sources. Space-based UHECR experiments, such as POEMMA and ZAP, will monitor large interaction volumes on the Earth or the Moon. Within a few years of mission operation time, both missions will achieve unprecedented exposures at energies above 40 EeV across the entire sky. We present studies of the cross-correlation between UHECR event arrival directions and astrophysical catalogs as motivated by expectations for the detector performance for POEMMA and ZAP. We find that both POEMMA and ZAP will achieve 5Ï discovery reach for many plausible astrophysical scenarios
EUSO-SPB1 mission and science
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 1 (EUSO-SPB1) was launched in 2017 April from Wanaka, New Zealand. The plan of this mission of opportunity on a NASA super pressure balloon test flight was to circle the southern hemisphere. The primary scientific goal was to make the first observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray extensive air showers (EASs) by looking down on the atmosphere with an ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence telescope from suborbital altitude (33 km). After 12 days and 4 h aloft, the flight was terminated prematurely in the Pacific Ocean. Before the flight, the instrument was tested extensively in the West Desert of Utah, USA, with UV point sources and lasers. The test results indicated that the instrument had sensitivity to EASs of âȘ 3 EeV. Simulations of the telescope system, telescope on time, and realized flight trajectory predicted an observation of about 1 event assuming clear sky conditions. The effects of high clouds were estimated to reduce this value by approximately a factor of 2. A manual search and a machine-learning-based search did not find any EAS signals in these data. Here we review the EUSO-SPB1 instrument and flight and the EAS search
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