International Postdoctoral Fellows Program: Study of Characteristics of Air-Showers Induced by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays Associated with Astrophysical Point-Sources

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This award is under the International Postdoctoral Fellows Program, which enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twelve months of research at foreign centers of proven excellence. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twelve-month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Steven D. Biller of the University of California, Irvine to work with Professor Alan A. Watson at the University of Leeds. They plan on examining characteristics and detection techniques associated with ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic ray interactions. This study will have direct application to the next generation of cosmic ray detectors being designed to examine UHE radiation in terms of composition, primary energy spectrum, and potential point-sources of astrophysical emission. By doing this project at the University of Leeds, Dr. Biller will have access to the following: (1) data from four different experiments, spanning over seven decades in detected particle energies (i.e. the Haverah Park Array - formerly located at Leeds; GREX - located at Leeds; the Whipple Cerenkov Telescope - located in Arizona; and SPASE - located at the South Pole), (2) two data sets containing reported detections of point-sources (Haverah Park - Cygnus X-3; Whipple - Crab Nebula, Markarian 421, and Hercules X-1; (3) expertise in computer modeling of air-shower interactions (Michael Hillas). The award recommendation provides funds to cover international travel, a stipend for twelve months, in-country travel, an excess baggage allowance and administrative costs to his university.