Global Description of EUSO-Balloon Instrument

For the JEM-EUSO CollaborationThe EUSO-Balloon is a pathfinder of the JEM-EUSO mission, designed to be installed on-board the International Space Station before the end of this decade. The EUSO-Balloon instrument, conceived as a scaleddown version of the main mission, is currently developed as a payload of a stratospheric balloon operated by CNES, and will, most likely, be launched during the CNES flight campaign in 2014. Several key elements of JEM-EUSO have been implemented in the EUSO-Balloon. The instrument consists of an UV telescope, made of three Fresnel lenses, designed to focus the signal of the UV tracks, generated by highly energetic cosmic rays propagating in the earth's atmosphere, onto a finely pixelized UV camera. In this contribution, we review the main stages of the signal processing of the EUSO-Balloon instrument: the photodetection, the analog electronics, the trigger stages, which select events while rejecting random background, the acquisition system performing data storage and the monitoring, which allows the instrument control during operation

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201

Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to author list and references in v

Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different energy ranges above $2.5\times 10^{17}$ eV with the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% $C.L.$ for EeV energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era—A review

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review, prepared within the COST Action CA18108 “Quantum gravity phenomenology in the multi-messenger approach”, is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers.publishedVersio

Depth Of Maximum Of Air-shower Profiles At The Pierre Auger Observatory. I. Measurements At Energies Above 1017.8ev

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Whole-genome characterization and resistance-associated substitutions in a new HCV genotype 1 subtype

Càrrega feta de Scopus d'articles UAB 2019 (Gold, hybrid o Bronze) procedents de l'Observatori d'Accés Obert (càrrega maig 2020). Compte! Cal comprovar la versió permesa per l'editor en els bronze.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare grant name "Plan Estratégico Nacional contra la Hepatitis C". This study was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III grants, PI15/00856, PI15/00829 and PI16/00337, and cofinanced by CIBERehd (Consorcio Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas), which is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial-CDTI from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business, grant number, IDI-20151125.Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a highly variable infectious agent, classified into 8 genotypes and 86 subtypes. Our laboratory has implemented an in-house developed high-resolution HCV subtyping method based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) for error-free classification of the virus using phylogenetic analysis and analysis of genetic distances in sequences from patient samples compared to reference sequences. During routine diagnostic, a sample from an Equatorial Guinea patient could not be classified into any of the existing subtypes. The whole genome was analyzed to confirm that the new isolate could be classified as a new HCV subtype. In addition, naturally occurring resistance-associated substitutions (RAS) were analyzed by NGS. Whole-genome analysis based on p-distances suggests that the sample belongs to a new HCV genotype 1 subtype. Several RAS in the NS3 (S122T, D168E and I170V) and NS5A protein (Q(1b)24K, R(1b)30Q and Y93L+Y93F) were found, which could limit the use of some inhibitors for treating this subtype. RAS studies of new subtypes are of great interest for tailoring treatment, as no data on treatment efficacy are reported. In our case, the patient has not yet been treated, and the RAS report will be used to design the most effective treatmen

Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era—A review

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review, prepared within the COST Action CA18108 “Quantum gravity phenomenology in the multi-messenger approach”, is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers

Correlation of the Highest-energy Cosmic Rays with the Positions of Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei.

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory provide evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of the cosmic rays with the highest energies, which are correlated with the positions of relatively nearby active galactic nuclei (AGN) \cite{science}. The correlation has maximum significance for cosmic rays with energy greater than ~ 6x10^{19}$ eV and AGN at a distance less than ~ 75 Mpc. We have confirmed the anisotropy at a confidence level of more than 99% through a test with parameters specified {\em a priori}, using an independent data set. The observed correlation is compatible with the hypothesis that cosmic rays with the highest energies originate from extra-galactic sources close enough so that their flux is not significantly attenuated by interaction with the cosmic background radiation (the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min effect). The angular scale of the correlation observed is a few degrees, which suggests a predominantly light composition unless the magnetic fields are very weak outside the thin disk of our galaxy. Our present data do not identify AGN as the sources of cosmic rays unambiguously, and other candidate sources which are distributed as nearby AGN are not ruled out. We discuss the prospect of unequivocal identification of individual sources of the highest-energy cosmic rays within a few years of continued operation of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Astropart. phys. Now match the published versio

Search for signatures of magnetically-induced alignment in the arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

International audienceWe present the results of an analysis of data recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory in which we search for groups of directionally-aligned events (or 'multiplets') which exhibit a correlation between arrival direction and the inverse of the energy. These signatures are expected from sets of events coming from the same source after having been deflected by intervening coherent magnetic fields. The observation of several events from the same source would open the possibility to accurately reconstruct the position of the source and also measure the integral of the component of the magnetic field orthogonal to the trajectory of the cosmic rays. We describe the largest multiplets found and compute the probability that they appeared by chance from an isotropic distribution. We find no statistically significant evidence for the presence of multiplets arising from magnetic deflections in the present data