613 research outputs found
A combined analysis technique for the search for fast magnetic monopoles with the MACRO detector
We describe a search method for fast moving ()
magnetic monopoles using simultaneously the scintillator, streamer tube and
track-etch subdetectors of the MACRO apparatus. The first two subdetectors are
used primarily for the identification of candidates while the track-etch one is
used as the final tool for their rejection or confirmation. Using this
technique, a first sample of more than two years of data has been analyzed
without any evidence of a magnetic monopole. We set a 90% CL upper limit to the
local monopole flux of in the
velocity range and for nucleon decay
catalysis cross section smaller than .Comment: 29 pages (12 figures). Accepted by Astroparticle Physic
High Altitude test of RPCs for the ARGO-YBJ experiment
A 50 m**2 RPC carpet was operated at the YangBaJing Cosmic Ray Laboratory
(Tibet) located 4300 m a.s.l. The performance of RPCs in detecting Extensive
Air Showers was studied. Efficiency and time resolution measurements at the
pressure and temperature conditions typical of high mountain laboratories, are
reported.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. Met
Observation of the Shadowing of Cosmic Rays by the Moon using a Deep Underground Detector
Using data collected by the MACRO experiment during the years 1989-1996, we
show evidence for the shadow of the moon in the underground cosmic ray flux
with a significance of 3.6 sigma. This detection of the shadowing effect is the
first by an underground detector. A maximum-likelihood analysis is used to
determine that the angular resolution of the apparatus is 0.9+/-0.3 degrees.
These results demonstrate MACRO's capabilities as a muon telescope by
confirming its absolute pointing ability and quantifying its angular
resolution.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Gamma ray flares from Mrk421 in 2008 observed with the ARGO-YBJ detector
In 2008 the blazar Markarian 421 entered a very active phase and was one of
the brightest sources in the sky at TeV energies, showing frequent flaring
episodes. Using the data of ARGO-YBJ, a full coverage air shower detector
located at Yangbajing (4300 m a.s.l., Tibet, China), we monitored the source at
gamma ray energies E > 0.3 TeV during the whole year. The observed flux was
variable, with the strongest flares in March and June, in correlation with
X-ray enhanced activity. While during specific episodes the TeV flux could be
several times larger than the Crab Nebula one, the average emission from day 41
to 180 was almost twice the Crab level, with an integral flux of (3.6 +-0.6)
10^-11 photons cm^-2 s^-1 for energies E > 1 TeV, and decreased afterwards.
This paper concentrates on the flares occurred in the first half of June.
This period has been deeply studied from optical to 100 MeV gamma rays, and
partially up to TeV energies, since the moonlight hampered the Cherenkov
telescope observations during the most intense part of the emission. Our data
complete these observations, with the detection of a signal with a statistical
significance of 3.8 standard deviations on June 11-13, corresponding to a gamma
ray flux about 6 times larger than the Crab one above 1 TeV. The reconstructed
differential spectrum, corrected for the intergalactic absorption, can be
represented by a power law with an index alpha = -2.1 extending up to several
TeV. The spectrum slope is fully consistent with previous observations
reporting a correlation between the flux and the spectral index, suggesting
that this property is maintained in different epochs and characterizes the
source emission processes.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ
The Observation of Up-going Charged Particles Produced by High Energy Muons in Underground Detectors
An experimental study of the production of up-going charged particles in
inelastic interactions of down-going underground muons is reported, using data
obtained from the MACRO detector at the Gran Sasso Laboratory. In a sample of
12.2 10^6 single muons, corresponding to a detector livetime of 1.55 y, 243
events are observed having an up-going particle associated with a down-going
muon. These events are analysed to determine the range and emission angle
distributions of the up-going particle, corrected for detection and
reconstruction efficiency. Measurements of the muon neutrino flux by
underground detectors are often based on the observation of through-going and
stopping muons produced in interactions in the rock below the
detector. Up-going particles produced by an undetected down-going muon are a
potential background source in these measurements. The implications of this
background for neutrino studies using MACRO are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by Astrop. Physic
Search for massive rare particles with MACRO
Massive rare particles have been searched for in the penetrating cosmic
radiation using the MACRO apparatus at the Gran Sasso National Laboratories.
Liquid scintillators, streamer tubes and nuclear track detectors have been used
to search for magnetic monopoles (MMs).
Based on no observation of such signals, stringent flux limits are
established for MMs as slow as a few 10^(-5)c. The methods based on the
scintillator and on the nuclear track subdetectors were also applied to search
for nuclearites. Preliminary results of the searches for charged Q-balls are
also presented.Comment: 20 pages, 9 EPS figures included with epsfi
Search for Nucleon Decays induced by GUT Magnetic Monopoles with the MACRO Experiment
The interaction of a Grand Unification Magnetic Monopole with a nucleon can
lead to a barion-number violating process in which the nucleon decays into a
lepton and one or more mesons (catalysis of nucleon decay). In this paper we
report an experimental study of the effects of a catalysis process in the MACRO
detector. Using a dedicated analysis we obtain new magnetic monopole (MM) flux
upper limits at the level of for
, based on the search for
catalysis events in the MACRO data. We also analyze the dependence of the MM
flux limit on the catalysis cross section.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 10 figures and 2 Table
Final results of magnetic monopole searches with the MACRO experiment
We present the final results obtained by the MACRO experiment in the search
for GUT magnetic monopoles in the penetrating cosmic radiation, for the range
. Several searches with all the MACRO sub-detectors
(i.e. scintillation counters, limited streamer tubes and nuclear track
detectors) were performed, both in stand alone and combined ways. No candidates
were detected and a 90% Confidence Level (C.L.) upper limit to the local
magnetic monopole flux was set at the level of cm
s sr. This result is the first experimental limit obtained in
direct searches which is well below the Parker bound in the whole range
in which GUT magnetic monopoles are expected.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 9 figures and 2 Table
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