1,849 research outputs found
On a possible photon origin of the most-energetic AGASA events
In this work the ultra high energy cosmic ray events recorded by the AGASA
experiment are analysed. With detailed simulations of the extensive air showers
initiated by photons, the probabilities are determined of the photonic origin
of the 6 AGASA events for which the muon densities were measured and the
reconstructed energies exceeded 10^20 eV. On this basis a new, preliminary
upper limit on the photon fraction in cosmic rays above 10^20 eV is derived and
compared to the predictions of exemplary top-down cosmic-ray origin models.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables; presented at XIII ISVHECRI, Pylos,
Greec
Primary Particle Type of the Most Energetic Fly's Eye Air Shower
The longitudinal profile of the most energetic cosmic-ray air shower measured
so far, the event recorded by the Fly's Eye detector with a reconstructed
primary energy of about 320 EeV, is compared to simulated shower profiles. The
calculations are performed with the CORSIKA code and include primary photons
and different hadron primaries. For primary photons, preshower formation in the
geomagnetic field is additionally treated in detail. For primary hadrons, the
hadronic interaction models QGSJET01 and SIBYLL2.1 have been employed. The
predicted longitudinal profiles are compared to the observation. A method for
testing the hypothesis of a specific primary particle type against the measured
profile is described which naturally takes shower fluctuations into account.
The Fly's Eye event is compatible with any assumption of a hadron primary
between proton and iron nuclei in both interaction models, although differences
between QGSJET01 and SIBYLL2.1 in the predicted profiles of lighter nuclei
exist. The primary photon profiles differ from the data on a level of ~1.5
sigma. Although not favoured by the observation, the primary photon hypothesis
can not be rejected for this particular event.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures; v2 matches version accepted by Astroparticle
Physic
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
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
The politics of international redistribution: Explaining public support for fiscal transfers in the EU
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.As a consequence of the Eurozone crisis and the creation of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the prospect of a transfer union has become a particularly contested aspect of European integration. How should one understand the public backlash against fiscal transfers? And, what explains voter preferences for international transfers more generally? Using data from the 2014 European Elections Study (EES), this article describes the first cross-national analysis of voters’ preferences on international transfers. The analysis reveals a strong association between voters’ non-economic cultural orientations (i.e., their cosmopolitanism) and their position on transfers. At the same time, it is found that voters’ economic left-right orientations are crucial for a fuller understanding of the public conflict over transfers. This counters previous research that finds economic left-right orientations to be of little explanatory value. This study demonstrates that the association between economic left-right orientations and preferences for international transfers is conditional on a person's social class. Among citizens in a high-income class an economically left-leaning position is associated with support for transfers, whereas it is associated with opposition to transfers among citizens in a low-income class
Hungarian International Development Cooperation: Context, Stakeholders and Performance
This paper explores the domestic and international context of Hungary's emerging international development policy. Specifically, it looks at three factors that may influence how this policy operates: membership in the European Union (EU) and potential ‘Europeanization’, Hungary's wider foreign policy strategy, and the influence of domestic stakeholders. In order to uncover how these factors affect the country's international development policy, semi-structured interviews were carried out with the main stakeholders. The main conclusions are: (1) While accession to the EU did play a crucial role in restarting Hungary's international development policy, the integration has had little effect since then; (2) international development policy seems to serve mainly Hungary's regional strategic foreign policy and economic interests, and not its global development goals; and (3) although all the domestic development stakeholders are rather weak, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) still seems to play a dominating role. Convergence with European requirements and best practices is, therefore, clearly hindered by foreign policy interests and also by the weakness of non- governmental stakeholders
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