Study of the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays with the Pierre Auger Observatory

宇宙射线是来自太空的高能亚原子粒子，以接近光速的速度传播。超高能宇宙射线的起源和加速机制目前尚不清楚，这种射线可能来自我们银河系外的极端天体物理现象。皮埃尔·奥格尔天文台是有史以来运行的最大的宇宙线探测器，仪器面积超过3000平方公里。皮埃尔·奥格尔天文台由国际合作在阿根廷的马拉格建造，旨在研究宇宙中最高能量粒子的起源和相互作用。该奖项支持科罗拉多矿业学院的天体粒子小组在俄歇方面的工作，以解决宇宙射线测量能量和成分中的系统不确定性。他们将利用最近完成的对俄歇激光校准系统的升级。他们还将在另一个宇宙射线天文台--犹他州的望远镜阵列--的现场安装并操作俄歇探测器水箱，以交叉校准这两个天文台的探测器。科罗拉多矿业学院小组的工作也在大气科学中得到了更广泛的应用。他们将使用激光校准系统来验证并共享大气气溶胶测量结果。他们将使用俄歇光学探测器来研究在某些雷暴上方约90公里处的电离层发射的光。科罗拉多矿业学院小组将重点研究改进的空气簇射重建方法和系统效应的详细测量，以解决宇宙线数据中尚未解决的差异。俄歇中心激光设备上的拉曼激光雷达将被用作独立的大气校准。安装在望远镜阵列现场的俄歇水切伦科夫表面探测器水箱将用于观测南方天空的俄歇和观测北方天空的望远镜阵列之间的详细交叉校准。对俄歇数据的计划分析包括开发一种新的方法来利用表面探测器重建空气簇射，以及开发一种包括能量和角度不确定性的各向异性扫描方法。

Cosmic rays are highly energetic sub-atomic particles from space that travel at velocities near the speed of light. The origin and acceleration mechanism for ultra-high energy cosmic rays, which likely come from extreme astrophysical phenomena outside our galaxy, are currently unknown. The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest cosmic ray detector ever operated, with an instrumented area of more than 3000 square kilometers. Built in Malargue, Argentina by an international collaboration, the Pierre Auger Observatory was designed to study the origin and interactions of the highest energy particles in the Universe. This award supports the astroparticle group at the Colorado School of Mines in their work on Auger to address systematic uncertainties in the measured energy and composition of cosmic rays. They will utilize a recently completed upgrade to the laser calibration systems at Auger. They are also installing and will operate Auger detector tanks on the site of another cosmic ray observatory, the Telescope Array in Utah, to cross-calibrate the detectors from both observatories. The work of the Colorado School of Mines group also has broader applications to atmospheric sciences. They will use the laser calibration system to validate and then share atmospheric aerosol measurements. They will use the Auger optical detectors to study light emitted in the ionosphere about 90 km above certain thunderstorms. They plan to host a conference on interdisciplinary science with astroparticle detectors.The Colorado School of Mines group will focus on improved air shower reconstruction methods and detailed measurements of systematic effects to address the unresolved discrepancies in cosmic ray data. The Raman LIDAR on the Auger Central Laser Facility will be used as independent atmospheric calibration. The Auger water Cherenkov Surface Detector tanks installed at the Telescope Array site will be used for a detailed cross-calibration between Auger, which views the southern sky, and Telescope Array, which views the northern sky. Planned analysis of the Auger data includes developing a new method to reconstruct air showers with the Surface Detectors, and developing a method for anisotropy scans that include energy and angular uncertainties.