Collaborative International Research on High Resolution Charge Measurements with Direct Cerenkov Light

这项研究将研究在宇宙线空气簇射中观测“直接切伦科夫”光的可能性，以提供对进入的宇宙线的初级电荷的高分辨率测量。这项技术利用了带电的初级宇宙射线与地球大气相互作用时发出的空气切伦科夫光的细节图像。。这项研究的结果可能会带来一种新的能力，可能会揭示高能宇宙射线的起源，也可能会提供新的能力，对改进高能伽马射线天文学的研究，模拟大范围空气骤雨中的核相互作用，以及搜索宇宙线中罕见的奇异电荷状态，如磁单极子和‘夸克物质’。来自现有的两个伽马射线天文台(Hegra和日本七望远镜阵列)的数据可能具有足够的分辨率，开始看到宇宙射线在大气中传播时直接切伦科夫光发射的第一个特征。直接切伦科夫光即使在少数宇宙线空气簇射中被明确识别，也将提供证据，证明这种光可能被用作高能天体物理研究的有用工具。一个可能被解决的关键问题是，是否可以明确地识别直接切伦科夫光。通过使用伽马射线天文台的存档数据，有可能迅速验证这一新的高分辨率测量技术的准确性。这项提议的第二个目标是开发重元素(比铁重的核质量)与大气宇宙线相互作用的模拟，并通过与高分辨率飞眼和Blanca宇宙线观测站的记录数据比较，利用这些模拟来建立这些粒子的可靠通量限制。这项研究将支持开发一种逼真的重核模拟，可以模拟这些粒子在地球大气中的相互作用。由此产生的重核模拟工具将提供给一般社区，以及一个模拟事件的数据库。这项研究为PI进行国际旅行提供支持，以对其Hegra和日本数据库中的数据进行分析，以及一些本科生的研究支持。本科生研究将包括犹他大学的学生，让他们直接参与档案数据的处理和分析，以及重核模拟数据库的开发。学生将参与每周一次的科学讨论，讨论当前物理和天文学的主题，并在大学研讨会和美国物理学会地区性会议上展示他们的工作成果。

This research will examine the possibility of observing `Direct Cherenkov' light in cosmic ray air showers to provide high resolution measurement of the primary charge of the incoming cosmic ray. The technique exploits the details of images of air Cherenkov light emitted by the charged primary cosmic rays as they interact with the Earth's atmosphere. . The results of this research may lead to a new capability which may shed light on the origin of high energy cosmic rays, and may also provide new capabilities with implications for improved research in high energy gamma ray astronomy, simulations of nuclear interactions in extensive air showers, and searches for rare, exotic charge states in cosmic rays such as magnetic monopoles and ``quark matter''.It is possible that data from the two existing Gamma Ray observatories (HEGRA and the Japanese Seven Telescope Array) may have sufficient resolution to begin to see the first signatures of Direct Cherenkov light emission in cosmic rays as they propagate through the atmosphere. The unambiguous identification of Direct Cherenkov light in even a few cosmic ray air showers would provide evidence that this light may be employed as a useful tool in high energy astrophysics studies. A key question that may be resolved is whether Direct Cherenkov light can be unambiguously identified. By using the archival Gamma Ray Observatory data, it may be possible to quickly verify the accuracy of this new high-resolution measurement technique.A second goal of this proposal is to develop simulations of atmospheric cosmic ray interactions by heavy elements (nuclear mass heavier than Iron), and use these simulations to establish reliable flux limits on these particles through comparison with archival data from the High Resolution Fly's Eye and BLANCA cosmic ray observatories. The research will support development of a realistic heavy nuclei simulation that can provide simulation of these particle interactions in the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting heavy nuclei simulation tools will be made available to the general community, as well as a database of simulated events.This research provides support for international travel by the PI to perform the analysis on the data in their HEGRA and Japanese databases as well as some undergraduate student research support. The undergraduate research will include students at the University of Utah by involving them directly in the processing and analysis of the archival data as well as development of the heavy nuclei simulation database. Students will become involved with weekly science discussions of current topics in physics and astronomy as well as present results of their work in University seminars and regional American Physical Society meetings.