Expected energy spectrum of cosmic ray protons and helium below4 PeV measured by LHAASO

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory(LHAASO) is a composite cosmic ray observatory consisting of three detector arrays: kilometer square array(KM2 A), which includes the electromagnetic detector array and muon detector array, water Cherenkov detector array(WCDA) and wide field-of-view Cherenkov telescope array(WFCTA). One of the main scientific objectives of LHAASO is to precisely measure the cosmic rays energy spectrum of individual components from 10~(14) eV to 10~(18) eV. The hybrid observation will be employed by the LHAASO experiment, in which the lateral and longitudinal distributions of extensive air shower can be observed simultaneously. Thus, many kinds of parameters can be used for primary nuclei identification. In this paper, high purity cosmic ray simulation samples of the light nuclei component are obtained using multi-variable analysis. The apertures of 1/4 LHAASO array for pure proton and mixed proton and helium(HHe) samples are 900 m~2 Sr and1800 m~2 Sr, respectively. Prospect of obtaining proton and HHe spectra from 100 TeV to 4 PeV is discussed.     

Induction mechanism of cosmic ray production and kinks in the cosmic ray spectrum

Two kinks are observed in the energy spectrum of galactic cosmic rays. It is shown that the entire spectrum can be described, to a good approximation, by a single formula obtained on the basis of the hypothesis that the particles are produced and accelerated in plasma pinches by an induction mechanism under the assumption that three hierarchical groups of currents are present—interstellar, galactic, and metagalactic. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 4, 225–230 (25 August 1996)     

Detection of cosmic ray events by LEP experiments

Accelerator experiments located at LEP collider have been used also to detect cosmic ray events. Various results obtained by Cosmo-ALEPH, DELPHI and L3+C collaborations are described). Emphasis is put on comparisons of various measurements with Monte-Carlo simulations based on current models of primary hadron-hadron interactions. Analysis of muon momentum spectrum by Cosmo-ALEPH is presented and the link of these measurements to various tests of hadron-hadron interactions models is explained using L3+C data. Cosmo-ALEPH studies of coincident events between distant scintillator stations is briey described. The analyses of multi-muon bundles are explained in more details for all three experiments Cosmo-ALEPH, DELPHI and L3+C. Other topics like source searches by L3+C, ALEPH and DELPHI, L3+C results on anti-proton/proton flux, solar are study, etc. demonstrate large variety of cosmic ray studies at LEP.     

Interpretations of the cosmic ray secondary-to-primary ratios measured by DAMPE

Precise measurements of the boron-to-carbon and boron-to-oxygen ratios by DAMPE show clear hardenings around 100 GeV/n, which provide important implications on the production, propagation, and interaction of Galactic cosmic rays. In this work we investigate a number of models proposed in literature in light of the DAMPE findings. These models can roughly be classified into two classes, driven by propagation effects or by source ones. Among these models discussed, we find that the re-acceleration of cosmic rays, during their propagation, by random magnetohydrodynamic waves may not reproduce sufficient hardenings of B/C and B/O, and an additional spectral break of the diffusion coefficient is required. The other models can properly explain the hardenings of the ratios. However, depending on simplifications assumed, the models differ in their quality in reproducing the data in a wide energy range. The models with significant re-acceleration effect will under-predict low-energy antiprotons but over-predict low-energy positrons, and the models with secondary production at sources over-predict high-energy antiprotons. For all models high-energy positron excess exists.     

Cosmic ray spectrum measured by the PRISMA-32 setup

The results of measurements of the spectrum of extensive air showers (EASs) by the number of neutrons detected by the PRISMA-32 setup are presented. The neutron component is formed during the interaction of high-energy shower hadrons with nuclei of atmospheric and Earth’s surface atoms. The PRISMA-32 setup consists of 32 en-detectors and operates in the continuous mode for about 5 years.     

The energy spectrum of neutrons produced by cosmic ray muons in LVD

The energy spectrum of neutrons produced by cosmic ray muons in the underground detector LVD (3650 m.w.e.) is obtained for the energy range of 30–450 MeV. The spectrum is derived using the energy release spectrum of neutron interaction products in 1.5 m³ scintillation counters.     

Elemental energy spectra of cosmic rays from the data of the ATIC-2 experiment

This paper reports on the results of measurements performed in the course of the ATIC-2 balloon experiment (2002–2003) for the energy spectra of particles (such as protons; He, C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe nuclei; and some groups of nuclei) and the all-particle energy spectrum in primary cosmic rays at energies ranging from 50 GeV to 200 TeV. The conclusion is drawn that the energy spectra of protons and helium nuclei differ substantially (the spectrum of protons is steeper) and that the shape of the energy spectra of protons and heavy nuclei cannot be described by a power function.     

Significance of the second dip in the ultra-high energy cosmic ray spectrum

A new feature in the spectrum of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) has been announced in the paper by Berezinsky, Gazizov and Kachelrieβ. The ratio of the solution of the exact transport equation to its solution in the continuous energy loss limit shows intriguing features which, according to the Authors, are related to the very nature of the energy loss processes of UHECR: the very sharp second dip predicted at 6.3 × 10¹⁹ eV can be used as an energy calibration point and also as the UHECR mass indicator for big future cosmic ray experiments. In the present paper we would like to advocate that this statement is an overinterpretation. The second dip is a result of an inappropriate approximation used, and thus it cannot help to understand the nature of UHECR in any way.      

The cosmic ray boron and carbon isotopic composition measured in nuclear emulsions

A study is made of the isotopic composition of primary cosmic ray boron and carbon in the energy interval 135–390 MeV/n. The quotients¹¹B/(¹⁰B +¹¹B) = 0.61 ±0.12 and¹³C/(¹²C +¹³C) = 0.06 ±0.04, valid at the top of the atmosphere, are obtained from photometric measurements on tracks found in an Ilford G5 emulsion stack exposed to the radiation.     

How to solve the problem of the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum

It is shown that recent experimental data in the region of the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum are somewhat contradictory and new approaches are needed to solve the so-called knee problem. The RRISMA project that we propose is based on the simple idea of giving priority to detecting and studying hadrons as the major EAS component. Special detectors are therefore developed. The experiment should be conducted high in the mountains (the higher the better), where the number of hadrons is higher. We therefore proposed combining PRISMA and the LHAASO (Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory) now under construction in Tibet 4300 m above sea level.     

Rigidity spectrum and cosmic ray anisotropy during sporadic events in July 2000

A spectrographic global survey is performed to study the rigidity spectrum and anisotropy of galactic cosmic rays using spacecraft data and data obtained via ground-based observations of cosmic rays (CRs) by a worldwide network of stations during the GLE of July 14, 2000, and the strong magnetic storm related to the coronal mass ejection (CME) accompanying the solar flare. The CR rigidity spectrum observed over the range of 1 to ～20 GV during this period is shown to be described not only by the power function of particle rigidity; the distribution of CRs in the earthward direction varies over time and depends on their energy.     

Evidence for the production of new particles in cosmic ray experiments deep underground

In the cosmic ray experiments deep underground in the Kolar Gold Mines, a special class of events has been observed, at present 6 in number, characterised by several, (in general 3), charged particles arising from a vertex, either in air or in the thin material of the detectors, with large opening angles; the vertex is at a distance of around 70–100 cms from the rock wall. The most plausible interpretation of these events is that they are due to the decay of new, massive and long-lived particles produced in neutrino collisions inside rock, or through hitherto unknown processes.     

Cosmic ray electron spectrum due to the dispersion of injection spectrum

The cosmic-ray total electron spectrum(electrons plus positrons) has been measured precisely up to Te V energies,with more interesting features found.Exhaustive analyses of the electron spectrum strongly support a spectral hardening above 100 GeV,rather than a featureless single power-law,which is confirmed by the most recent observations.Meanwhile,the measurements of the DAMPE satellite have verified the presence of a knee-like structure around 1 TeV in the electron spectrum,resembling the cosmic-ray knee.In this paper,we establish a physical model in which the observed electron spectrum is composed of a superposition of CR sources with various spectral indices and high-energy cutoffs.The dispersion of the power index is assumed to be Gaussian,while the cutoff energy Ec follows a power-law distribution.These simple ideas can account naturally for both the hundred-GeV excess and the TeV spectral break.     

New physics, the cosmic ray spectrum knee, and pp cross section measurements

We explore the possibility that a new-physics interaction can provide an explanation for the knee just above 10⁶ GeV in the cosmic ray spectrum. We model the new-physics modifications to the total proton–proton cross section with an incoherent term that allows for missing energy above the scale of new physics. We add the constraint that the new physics must also be consistent with published pp cross section measurements, using cosmic ray observations, an order of magnitude and more above the knee. We find that the rise in cross section required at energies above the knee is radical. The increase in cross section suggests that it may be more appropriate to treat the scattering process in the black disc limit at such high energies. In this case there may be no clean separation between the standard model and new-physics contributions to the total cross section. We model the missing energy in this limit and find a good fit to the Tibet III cosmic ray flux data. We comment on testing the new-physics proposal for the cosmic ray knee at the Large Hadron Collider.     

Fine structure of the exciton spectrum in GaSe

New optical spectra near the fundamental edge of GaSe have been measured at low temperatures. The observed fine structure is explained in terms of transitions to excitonic groundstates and excited states, in terms of phonon replica of exciton ground states and in terms of excitons bound to intrinsic point defects.     

The GZK horizon and constraints on the cosmic ray source spectrum from observations in the GZK regime

We discuss the GZK horizon of protons and present a method to constrain the injection spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) from supposedly identified extragalactic sources. This method can be applied even when only one or two events per source are observed and is based on the analysis of the probability for a given source to populate different energy bins, depending on the actual cosmic ray injection spectral index. In particular, we show that for a typical source density of 4 × 10⁻⁵ Mpc⁻³, a data set of 100 events above 6 × 10¹⁹ eV allows one in 97% of all cases to distinguish a source spectrum dN/dE ∝ E ^−1.1 from one with E ^–2.7 at 95% confidence level. The article is published in the original.     

The GZK horizon and constraints on the cosmic ray source spectrum from observations in the GZK regime

JETP Letters - We discuss the GZK horizon of protons and present a method to constrain the injection spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) from supposedly identified extragalactic...     

Fine and hyperfine structure in the atomic spectrum of niobium

A parametric analysis of the fine and the magnetic dipole hyperfine structure for the three configurations of odd parity 4d³5s5p, 4d⁴5p and 4d²5s²5p was performed. Effective one-electron parameters were determined and theoretical predictions are given for the magnetic dipole hyperfine structure constants A for the levels of these three configurations. Additionally, 12 new energy levels could be found, four of odd and eight of even parity, by re-analysing data for experimental wavelengths of Nb.