Performances and long-term stability of the LHAASO-KM2A prototype array

A prototype array for the LHAASO-KM2A, which consists of 42 detector units and fully overlaps the ARGO-YBJ experiment, was set up at the Yangbajing cosmic ray observatory and has been in stable operation since Octoter 2010. The resulting performances of the KM2A electromagnetic particle detector prototypes fully meet the design requirements. Through hybrid observation of cosmic ray showers with the ARGO-YBJ experiment, the performances and long-term stability of the prototype array are tested and the results are consistent with expectation. The cosmic ray moon shadow observed by the prototype array is also presented.     

Online charge calibration of LHAASO-WCDA——a study with the engineering array

LHAASO-WCDA is a large ground-based water Cherenkov detector array planned to be built at ShangriLa, Yunnan Province, China. As a major component of the LHAASO project, the main purpose of LHAASO-WCDA is to survey the northern sky for very-high-energy（above 100 GeV） gamma ray sources and measure the spectrum. To gain full knowledge of the water Cherenkov technique and to investigate the engineering issues, a 9-cell detector array has been built at the Yang-Ba-Jing site, neighboring the ARGO-YBJ experiment. With the array, charge calibration methods for both low and high ranges of the PMT readout are studied, whose result shows that a precision at several percentages can be reached, which can satisfy the requirement of the detector array. During the long term operation, the charge calibration stability and environmental afection are studied; in this paper, the results are discussed. These calibration methods are proposed to be applied in the future LHAASO-WCDA project.     

Radon contribution to single particle counts of the ARGO-YBJ detector

The ARGO-YBJ experiment is an air shower detector for gamma ray astronomy and cosmic ray studies with an energy threshold of ∼500 GeV. Working in “single particle mode”, i.e. counting the single particles hitting the detector at fixed time intervals, ARGO-YBJ can monitor cosmic ray and gamma ray transients at energies of a few GeV.The single particle counting rate is modulated by the atmospheric pressure and temperature, and is affected by the local radioactivity from soil and air. Among the radioactive elements, radon gas is of particular importance since its concentration in air can vary significantly, according to environmental conditions. In this paper we evaluate the contribution of the radon daughter gamma ray emitters to the single particle counting rate measured by ARGO-YBJ. According to our analysis, the radon gas contribution is roughly 1–2%, producing a counting rate modulation of the same order of magnitude of the atmospheric effects.     

Performance of the muon detector A under TIBET Ⅲ array

In order to observe gamma rays in the 100 TeV energy region, the 4500 m² underground muon detector array using water Cherenkov technique is constructed, forming the TIBET Ⅲ+MD hybrid array. Because the showers induced by primary gamma rays contain much fewer muons than those induced by primary hadrons, significant improvement of the gamma ray sensitivity for TIBET Ⅲ+MD array is expected. In this paper, the design and performance of the MD-A detector with large Tyvek bag is reported.     

A future project at tibet： the large high altitude air shower observatory （LHAASO）

Gamma ray source detection above 30 TeV is an encouraging approach for finding galactic cosmic ray sources. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various types of sources above 100 GeV. In order to target those goals, a large air shower particle detector array of 1 km^2 （the LHAASO project） at 4300 m a.s.l, is proposed, By adding two MagicⅡ- type telescopes in the array as proposed, LHAASO will be enhanced in source morphologic investigation power. The proposed array will be utilized also for energy spectrum measurement for individual cosmic ray species above 30 TeV. By re-configuring the wide field of view telescopes into fluorescence light detector array, the aperture of the detector array can be enlarged to cover an energy region above 100 PeV where the second knee is located. Cosmic ray spectrum and composition will be measured in order to transfer an energy scale to ultra high energy cosmic ray experiments.     

A novel method for non-destructive Compton scatter imaging based on the genetic algorithm

Compton scattering tomography is widely used in numerous applications such as biomedical imaging, nondestructive industrial testing and environmental survey, etc. This paper proposes the use of the genetic algorithm (GA), which utilizes bio-inspired mathematical models, to construct an image of the insides of a test object via the scattered photons, from a voxel within the object. A NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and a 185 MBq ¹³⁷Cs gamma ray source were used in the experimental measurements. The obtained results show that the proposed GA based method performs well in constructing images of objects.     

A future project at tibet: the large high altitude air shower observatory (LHAASO)

Gamma ray source detection above 30 TeV is an encouraging approach for finding galactic cosmic ray sources. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various types of sources above 100 GeV. In order to target those goals, a large air shower particle detector array of 1 km~2 (the LHAASO project) at 4300 m a.s.l, is proposed. By adding two MagicII-type telescopes in the array as proposed, LHAASO will be enhanced in source morphologic investigation power. The proposed array will be utilized also for energy spectrum measurement for individual cosmic ray species above 30 TeV. By re-configuring the wide field of view telescopes into fluorescence light detector array, the aperture of the detector array can be enlarged to cover an energy region above 100 PeV where the second knee is located. Cosmic ray spectrum and composition will be measured in order to transfer an energy scale to ultra high energy cosmic ray experiments.     

Impact of measurement approach on the quality of gamma scanning density profile in a tray type lab-scale column

This article presents a study for investigating impact of the measurement approach on the quality of gamma scanning density profile in tray type columns using experimental and computational evaluations. Experimental density profiles from the total and the photopeak count measurements, as two approaches in gamma ray column scanning technique, has been compared with the computational density profile from Monte Carlo simulation results. We used a laboratory distillation column of 51 cm diameter as an illustrative example for this investigation. ¹³⁷Cs was used as a gamma ray source with the activity of 296 MBq (8 mCi), with a NaI(Tl) detector. MCNP4C Monte Carlo code has been used for simulations. The quality of the density profile in the photopeak count approach is relatively within 155–204% better than that of the total count approach for experimental results. The same comparison for simulation results leads to a relative difference within 100–135% for the density profile.     

Sensitivity study of(10,100) GeV gamma-ray bursts with double shower front events from ARGO-YBJ

ARGO-YBJ, located at the Yangbajing Cosmic Ray Observatory(4300 m a.s.l., Tibet, China), is a full coverage air shower array, with an energy threshold of ~300 Ge V for gamma-ray astronomy. Most of the recorded events are single front showers, satisfying the trigger requirement of at least 20 particles detected in a given time window. However, in ~11.5% of the events, two randomly arriving showers may be recorded in the same time window,and the second one, generally smaller, does not need to satisfy the trigger condition. These events are called double shower front events. By using these small showers, well under the trigger threshold, the detector primary energy threshold can be lowered to a few tens of Ge V. In this paper, the angular resolution that can be achieved with these events is evaluated by a full Monte Carlo simulation. The ARGO-YBJ sensitivity in detecting gamma-ray bursts(GRBs) by using double shower front events is also studied for various cutoff energies, time durations, and zenith angles of GRBs in ARGO's field of view.     

Study on the optimization of the water Cherenkov detector array of the LHAASO project for surveying VHE gamma ray sources

It is prpopsed that a water Cherenkov detector array, LHAASO-WCDA, is to be built at Shangri-la, Yunnan Province, China. As one of the major components of the LHAASO project, the main purpose of it is to survey the northern sky for gamma ray sources in the energy range of 100 GeV—30 TeV. In order to design the water Cherenkov array efficiently to economize the budget, a Monte Carlo simulation is carried out. With the help of the simulation, the cost performance of different configurations of the array are obtained and compared with each other, serving as a guide for the more detailed design of the experiment in the next step.     

Methodological Issues of Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Searches at the Yakutsk Array

The method used to perform searches for extensive air showers (EAS) generated by neutral particles, such as high-energy gamma rays and astrophysical neutrinos, and the results of such searches are presented. A comprehensive analysis of relevant data, including those on EAS electrons, muons, and Cherenkov light and their time responses in scintillation and Cherenkov detectors, is performed for this purpose. An upper limit on the gamma-ray flux at the energies of 3 × 10¹⁸, 10¹⁹, and 3 × 10¹⁹ eV is set. A multivariate analysis of EAS properties of neutrino-induced air showers does not reveal neutrino-induced showers.     

Gamma ray and π0 production from hydrogen and complex nuclei by 270–375 MeV gamma rays

Measurements are reported on the differential cross section for secondary gamma ray production on hydrogen and nuclear targets at 90° in the laboratory through the interactions of primary gamma rays in the energy range 270–375 MeV. A difference method using bremsstrahlung beams at different end point energies was employed. The gamma ray detector was a high resolution Nal(Tl) spectrometer and time of flight discrimination was used to reject neutrons. For incident gamma rays in the range 270–375 MeV the first pion nucleon resonance is strongly excited and the observed gamma ray yields are consistent with those expected due to an admixture of coherent and incoherent π⁰ photoproduction in the resonance region. The experiment marks the first successful use of a large Nal(Tl) crystals as a gamma ray spectrometer at a high energy electron linear accelerator, despite the low duty cycle and its accompanying difficulties for such detectors.     

Decay of97Zr to nuclear states of97Nb

The gamma rays emitted in disintegration of⁹⁷Zr have been investigated by Ge(Li) detectors, operated singly and in coincidence. In all, quanta emitted in thirty-five nuclear transitions have been observed. The gamma ray energies and relative intensities have been measured. Beta spectra have been studied with Ge(Li) detector and anthracene counter in coincidence. Nine beta spectra have been identified as to end point and intensity, either by direct measurement or by inference from the gamma ray data. The results of all measurements have been combined to provide a decay scheme for⁹⁷Zr. Nuclear excited states in⁹⁷Nb are indicated at energies of 743, 1,148, 1,251, 1,276, 1,434, 1,548, 1,652, 1,750, 1,765, 1,852, 1,958, 2,056, 2,106, and 2,247 keV. Possible spin-parity assignments have been suggested for some of these states.     

Portable gamma spectrometry with cerium-doped lanthanum bromide scintillators: Suitability assessments for luminescence and electron spin resonance dating applications

Cerium-doped lanthanum bromide (LaBr₃:Ce) crystals offer a range of improved scintillation properties over traditional NaI:Tl crystals for in situ gamma spectrometry. At present, however, it remains unclear whether the internal radioactivity of LaBr₃:Ce detectors compromises their suitability for low-level activity radioisotope measurements of natural sedimentary deposits, such as those required in luminescence and electron spin resonance (ESR) dating. In this study we investigate the suitability of a commercial LaBr₃:Ce detector for measuring individual concentrations of ⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U and ²³²Th using predefined ‘energy windows’ from gamma ray spectra. Performance tests have been undertaken using reference materials with well-constrained radioisotope concentrations (the Oxford calibration blocks) and compared with results obtained for a NaI:Tl detector of the same geometry. These tests reveal that the LaBr₃:Ce detector has a non-negligible intrinsic activity that needs to be accurately quantified prior to measuring any gamma ray spectra in the field. Compared to the NaI:Tl detector, the energy resolution of the LaBr₃:Ce detector is improved by a factor of two, or more, for the main indicator isotope photopeaks in the ⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U and ²³²Th decay series. Signal-to-noise ratios for the LaBr₃:Ce detector show a 25-35% improvement over those of the NaI:Tl detector. In addition, the LaBr₃:Ce detector is characterised by suitable energy linearity over the full spectral range of interest for the ⁴⁰K, ²³⁸U and ²³²Th decay series. Replicate gamma ray measurements made with the LaBr₃:Ce and NaI:Tl detectors for 20 natural sedimentary samples from the Lower Tejo River basin, Portugal, and the Duero River basin, Spain, yield consistent radioisotope concentrations and gamma dose rate estimates. These results are encouraging and suggest that LaBr₃:Ce detectors can provide suitable estimates of individual radioisotope concentrations in low-level activity (0.5-1.5 Gy/ka) environments, providing that their intrinsic activity is adequately measured and subtracted from field spectra. Our comparison also reveals that subtraction of the intrinsic activity from LaBr₃:Ce spectra produces a significant reduction in the precision with which radionuclide concentrations can be determined using the ‘energy windows’ approach. This shortcoming necessitates longer counting times in natural sedimentary environments and overshadows the practical advantages that LaBr₃:Ce detectors might otherwise offer for luminescence and ESR dating applications.     

Interaction of high energy muons in association with EAS,with rock and lead

An investigation on the interaction of high energy muons, associated with EAS and having energies greater than several hundred GeV, has been carried out at Kolar Gold Fields. A visual detector consisting of neon flash tube hodoscope has been used together with a scintillator detector to observe the muons and accompanying showers at the underground level. It has been found that nearly 90% of the showers observed at the underground level are generated in course of pure electromagnetic interactions of the muons with the matter traversed by them. The observed number of the showers is found to be consistent with the expected number calculated using the cross-sections for knock-on, bremsstrahlung and direct pair production processes. Rest of the observed showers do not appear to fit in the pure electromagnetic interaction scheme. Various possible production processes for these events have been discussed. Considering these events to be due to photonuclear interaction of muons in the rock, the observed number leads to a production cross-sectionσ _μ (?25 GeV) ?(1.6±0.75)10^?29 cm²/nucl.     

Estimating the fraction of gamma quanta in the primary cosmic ray flux with energies of ∼1017 eV from the MSU EAS array data

Using data from the MSU EAS array and model calculations, we search for events with abnormally small fractions of muons with energies above 10 GeV in showers with particle numbers of >2 × 10⁷ and zenith angles of <30 degrees. We confirm with good statistical accuracy that the content of gamma quanta in the primary cosmic ray flux can be as high as 2% at energies of ～10¹⁷ eV.     

Very high energy neutrinos

A sky survey with neutrinos may considerably extend our understanding of cosmic phenomena. Due to the low interaction cross section of neutrinos with matter and due to the high cosmic ray background the detector must be very large (of the order of 1 km³) and must be shielded. These new devices consist of a network of photo-tubes which are deployed in the depth of the ocean, of a lake or of the ice of South Pole. The detection of the Cherenkov light emitted by muons produced in muon neutrino interactions with the matter surrounding the detector will allow the reconstruction of the neutrino direction with an angular resolution of the order or lower than one degree. Several projects are underway. Their status will be reviewed in this paper.     

平均能量为2×1015eV的宇宙线入射方向研究

从1982年5月到1983年1月,悉尼大学的小型宇宙线观测阵列记录了多于17,000个能量为6×10¹⁴—5×10¹⁶eV的宇宙线广延大气簇射事例。使用谐波分析和X²检验法,对这些宇宙线的入射方向进行了研究,没有发现有意义的各向不同性。 关键词：     

Gamma rays from thermal neutron capture in gold

The thermal column of the 10 kW University of Maryland pool reactor was used as the neutron source for this nuclear spectroscopy study. A 40 cm³ lithium drifted germanium crystal was the gamma (γ) ray detector used to measure the high energy prompt photon emissions from thermal neutron capture. The energy region was from 2.6–7.0 MeV. New capture gamma ray lines were observed.     

Design and gamma sensitivity measurement of a novel dual-emitter vacuum Compton detector

A novel dual-emitter vacuum Compton detector (D-VCD) with higher gamma ray detecting efficiency is proposed. The emitters are made of Ta--Al clad metal. The gamma ray sensitivity is studied by Monte Carlo simulation using the MCNP code. A comparison between calculations and results measured by using the 1.25~MeV gamma ray of Co-60 is also performed. Experimental sensitivities for two sample D-VCDs with the same materials and structures are 1.92×10^ - 20 and 2.02×10^ - 20~C.cm²/MeV separately, which are consistent with the simulation result of 1.98×10^ - 20~C.cm²/MeV and are 4 times higher than that of VCD with a single Fe emitter. According to the simulation results, in a gamma energy range from 0.5 to 3~MeV, the maximum sensitivity variance for the D-VCD is less than 15%, and less than 5% in a range from 1 to 2~MeV in particular. The novel D-VCD is applicable to the detection of intense pulse gamma rays.