781 research outputs found
Mock Catalogs for UHECR Studies
We provide realistic mock-catalogs of cosmic rays above 40 EeV, for a pure
proton composition, assuming their sources are a random subset of ordinary
galaxies in a simulated, volume-limited survey, for various choices of source
density: 10^-3.5 Mpc^-3, 10^-4.0 Mpc^-3 and 10^-4.5 Mpc^-3. The spectrum at the
source is taken to be E^-2.3 and the effects of cosmological redshifting as
well as photo-pion and e^+ e^- energy losses are included.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Experimental evaluation of environmental effects on a polymer-coated aluminium structure: a time-series analysis and pattern recognition approach
Temperature variation is an important issue that needs to be considered when trying to develop a reliable
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) strategy. In the case that a data-based approach is chosen for damage
detection, environmental fluctuations could be erroneously regarded as an abnormal condition of the
structure and could mask the presence of damage. One of the objectives of the current work is to examine
a statistical pattern recognition approach for novelty detection under different temperature conditions. A
second important issue that could hinder the reliability of a SHM strategy is any kind of nonlinear
behaviour, not associated with damage, in a system. For the purposes of this paper, the dynamic behaviour
of a polymer-coated aluminium structure with ribs fixed with bolts is examined. The autoregressive
parameters are the damage sensitive features and later, it is performed Principal Component Analysis
(PCA) for robust novelty detection that takes into account the temperature variation
Observing muon decays in water Cherenkov detectors at the Pierre Auger Observatory
Muons decaying in the water volume of a Cherenkov detector of the Pierre
Auger Observatory provide a useful calibration point at low energy. Using the
digitized waveform continuously recorded by the electronics of each tank, we
have devised a simple method to extract the charge spectrum of the Michel
electrons, whose typical signal is about 1/8 of a crossing vertical muon. This
procedure, moreover, allows continuous monitoring of the detector operation and
of its water level. We have checked the procedure with high statistics on a
test tank at the Observatory base and applied with success on the whole array.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceedings of the 29th ICRC Pune, Indi
Kaolinite-based zeolites synthesis and their application in CO2 capture processes
In light of the urgent need of reducing the atmospheric CO2 emissions, the use of low-cost adsorbents, that exhibit a high affinity and CO2 adsorption capacity, is a promising method from the economic and environmental point of view to separate CO2 from the flue gas emitted from large sources of emissions like power-fueled plants. Clay minerals are low-cost raw materials with high availability all over planet and great versatility in the fields of adsorption and catalysis processes. The present study pretends to elucidate the link between the reaction conditions during the synthesis of the zeolite from kaolinite and its CO2 adsorption capacity. For that purpose, the type A zeolite was synthesized via hydrothermal process in alkaline solution using metakaolinite as a starting material. The metakaolinite was obtained by calcination of kaolinite at 600 degrees C and some parameters such as temperature and synthesis time were modified to optimize the synthesis aiming for a high CO2 adsorption capacity adsorbent. Synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), N-2 adsorption-desorption at -196 degrees C and CO2 adsorption at 0 degrees C (up to 10 bars) isotherms and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of solids (NMR). In addition, the adsorption capacity of CO2 was evaluated by means of CO2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at 25 degrees C up to atmospheric pressure. The obtained results indicated that synthesized zeolite 4A can be successfully prepared from natural kaolinite (via metakaolinization) at 100 degrees C for 48 h under alkaline conditions, showing chemical and physical properties similar to that of the commercial 4A zeolite
Upper Bounds on the Neutrino-Nucleon Inelastic Cross Section
Extraterrestrial neutrinos can initiate deeply developing air showers, and
those that traverse the atmosphere unscathed may produce cascades in the ice or
water. Up to now, no such events have been observed. This can be translated
into upper limits on the diffuse neutrino flux. On the other hand, the
observation of cosmic rays with primary energies > 10^{10} GeV suggests that
there is a guaranteed flux of cosmogenic neutrinos, arising from the decay of
charged pions (and their muon daughters) produced in proton interactions with
the cosmic microwave background. In this work, armed with these cosmogenic
neutrinos and the increased exposure of neutrino telescopes we bring up-to-date
model-independent upper bounds on the neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section.
Uncertainties in the cosmogenic neutrino flux are discussed and taken into
account in our analysis. The prospects for improving these bounds with the
Pierre Auger Observatory are also estimated. The unprecedented statistics to be
collected by this experiment in 6 yr of operation will probe the
neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section at the level of Standard Model
predictions.Comment: To be published in JCA
A novel method for the absolute fluorescence yield measurement by AIRFLY
One of the goals of the AIRFLY (AIR FLuorescence Yield) experiment is to
measure the absolute fluorescence yield induced by electrons in air to better
than 10% precision. We introduce a new technique for measurement of the
absolute fluorescence yield of the 337 nm line that has the advantage of
reducing the systematic uncertainty due to the detector calibration. The
principle is to compare the measured fluorescence yield to a well known process
- the Cerenkov emission. Preliminary measurements taken in the BFT (Beam Test
Facility) in Frascati, Italy with 350 MeV electrons are presented. Beam tests
in the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory, USA
with 14 MeV electrons have also shown that this technique can be applied at
lower energies.Comment: presented at the 5th Fluorescence Workshop, El Escorial - Madrid,
Spain, 16 - 20 September 200
TeV Particle Astrophysics II: Summary comments
A unifying theme of this conference was the use of different approaches to
understand astrophysical sources of energetic particles in the TeV range and
above. In this summary I review how gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy and
(to some extent) gravitational wave astronomy provide complementary avenues to
understanding the origin and role of high-energy particles in energetic
astrophysical sources.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; Conference summary talk for "TeV Particle
Astrophysics II" at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 28-31 August 200
Temperature and Humidity Dependence of Air Fluorescence Yield measured by AIRFLY
The fluorescence detection of ultra high energy cosmic rays requires a
detailed knowledge of the fluorescence light emission from nitrogen molecules
over a wide range of atmospheric parameters, corresponding to altitudes typical
of the cosmic ray shower development in the atmosphere. We have studied the
temperature and humidity dependence of the fluorescence light spectrum excited
by MeV electrons in air. Results for the 313.6 nm, 337.1 nm, 353.7 nm and 391.4
nm bands are reported in this paper. We found that the temperature and humidity
dependence of the quenching process changes the fluorescence yield by a
sizeable amount (up to 20%) and its effect must be included for a precise
estimation of the energy of ultra high energy cosmic rays.Comment: presented at the 5th Fluorescence Workshop, El Escorial - Madrid,
Spain, 16 - 20 September 2007, to appear in Nuclear Instruments and Methods
The Particle Physics Reach of High-Energy Neutrino Astronomy
We discuss the prospects for high-energy neutrino astronomy to study particle
physics in the energy regime comparable to and beyond that obtainable at the
current and planned colliders. We describe the various signatures of
high-energy cosmic neutrinos expected in both neutrino telescopes and air
shower experiments and discuss these measurements within the context of
theoretical models with a quantum gravity or string scale near a TeV,
supersymmetry and scenarios with interactions induced by electroweak
instantons. We attempt to access the particle physics reach of these
experiments.Comment: Mini-review article for New Journal of Physics, "Focus on Neutrinos"
issue. 27 pages, 11 figure
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