Relativistic waves raised by explosions in space as sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays

The paper discusses the possibility of particle acceleration up to high energies in relativistic waves generated by various explosive processes in the interstellar medium. We propose to use the surfatron mechanism of acceleration (surfing) of charged particles trapped in the front of relativistic waves as a generator of high-energy cosmic rays (CRs). Conditions under which surfing in the waves under consideration can be made are studied thoroughly. Ultra-high-energy CRs (up to 10²⁰ eV) are shown to be obtained due to the surfing in relativistic plane and spherical waves. Surfing is supposed to take place in nonlinear Langmuir waves excited by powerful electromagnetic radiation or relativistic beams of charged particles, as well as in strong shock waves generated by relativistic jets or spherical formations that expand fast (fireballs).     

Preliminary results from the second flight of CREAM

Launched from McMurdo (Antarctica) in December 2005, the balloon experiment CREAM (cosmic ray energetics and mass) collected about 15 million triggers during its second flight of 28 days. Redundant charge identification, by two pixelated silicon arrays and a time resolved pulse shaping technique from a scintillator system, allowed a clear signature of the primary nuclei. The energy was measured with a tungsten/SciFi calorimeter preceded by a graphite target. Preliminary results from the analysis of the data of the second flight are presented.     

Early history of cosmic rays and solar wind – Some personal remembrances

The early history of solar wind was replete with prejudices and strong opposition to Parker’s formulation. It was only after conclusive evidence from satellite data was obtained that the idea of solar wind was accepted. Some personal experiences of mine during my stay at the University of Chicago in 1953–1954, including the encounter of Dr. Simpson with Dr. Biermann and the inconclusive discussion between them about a possible perpetual solar outflow of particles are presented and further developments when Parker came to Chicago in 1956 and formulated his idea of solar wind, as narrated to me later by Dr. Simpson, are described.     

宇宙噪声的电离层闪烁

本文给出了薄相屏近似条件下的电离层闪烁Fourier功率谱和Bessel功率谱与电离层不均匀结构电子密度涨落空间谱之间的关系。对窄波瓣天线Riometer获得的宇宙噪声资料进行了分析,结果表明:宇宙噪声资料包含着电离层不均匀结构的信息。Riometer观测结果也可用于电离层闪烁问题的研究。     

Status of MAGIC and recent results

Ground-based γ-ray astronomy is part of a new field of fundamental research of Astroparticle Physics, that recently made spectacular discoveries mostly thanks to Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). The MAGIC telescope is a IACT located at La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. Composed of two telescopes with 17 m diameter each, MAGIC is equipped with the largest optical reflectors in the world, and it has the lowest threshold energy (25 GeV). MAGIC started operations in 2004 in the single-detector configuration, and in 2009 as a stereo detector. Since then, it has discovered many new sources and classes of sources, both galactic and extragalactic. Here some highlights from the most recent results are presented.     

The ground-based large-area wide-angle γ-ray and cosmic-ray experiment HiSCORE

The question of the origin of cosmic rays and other questions of astroparticle and particle physics can be addressed with indirect air-shower observations above 10 TeV primary energy. We propose to explore the cosmic ray and γ-ray sky (accelerator sky) in the energy range from 10 TeV to 1 EeV with the new ground-based large-area wide angle (ΔΩ ∼ 0.85 sterad) air-shower detector HiSCORE (Hundred^∗i Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer). The HiSCORE detector is based on non-imaging air-shower Cherenkov light-front sampling using an array of light-collecting stations. A full detector simulation and basic reconstruction algorithms have been used to assess the performance of HiSCORE. First prototype studies for different hardware components of the detector array have been carried out. The resulting sensitivity of HiSCORE to γ-rays will be comparable to CTA at 50 TeV and will extend the sensitive energy range for γ-rays up to the PeV regime. HiSCORE will also be sensitive to charged cosmic rays between 100 TeV and 1 EeV.     

Statistical analysis of the Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) detected on Mt. Aragats

Starting from 2008 experimental facilities of the Aragats Space Environmental Center (ASEC) routinely measure time series of secondary cosmic ray fluxes. At these years of the minimum of solar activity we analyze the new high-energy phenomena in the terrestrial atmosphere. Namely, Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) and Extensive Cloud Showers (ECSs). Several new particle detectors were designed and fabricated having lower energy threshold to detect particle fluxes from the thunderclouds; some of them have possibility to distinguish charged and neutral fluxes. During 2008–2012 years ASEC detectors located at Aragats, Nor Amberd and Yerevan were detected ∼300 TGE enhancements. Amplitude of majority of them is less than 5%; however, 13 TGEs have amplitude exceeding 20%. The maximal value of observed enhancement was 271% (September 19, 2009). The paper summarizes five-years study of the TGEs on Aragats. The statistical analysis revealing the month and day-of-time distributions of TGE events, as well as the amplitude and event duration diagrams are presented.     

利用地面宇宙线强度变化预报地磁暴方法初步研究

分析了Nagoya宇宙线闪烁体望远镜探测数据的变化特点,定性地探讨了CME可能引起的地面宇宙线的变化特征,通过实例证实了地面宇宙线通量的异常波动是地磁暴发生的重要先兆特征,并且将8 h内宇宙线通量与该时间段内平均通量的偏差D8(t)参数应用到宇宙线数据分析中.通过数据分析与讨论,认为D8(t)参数达到一定阈值是地磁暴的重要先兆特征,但不是充分条件,虚假信号仍占多数;D8(t)参数与太阳质子事件探测结果相结合,对于大地磁暴的预报有较好的效果.     

Eccentric dipole approximation of the geomagnetic field: Application to cosmic ray computations

A comparison of the full IGRF model of the geomagnetic field with two simplified models, the truncated IGRF and the eccentric dipole model, is performed. The simplified models were found to provide a reasonable approximation for the large scale geomagnetic field distribution. In the application of the simplified geomagnetic models to the shielding of cosmic rays in the magnetosphere as quantified via the geomagnetic cut-off rigidity, the eccentric dipole and the truncated IGRF provide a good large scale view. The use of the simplified model does not introduce any additional systematic errors at the global scale but may be a source of moderate uncertainty at the regional scale in the tropical Atlantic region. This study quantitatively validates the use of such simplified geomagnetic models when describing the shielding of cosmic rays in the magnetosphere.     

Evolution of magnetic fields and cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants

Observations show that the magnetic field in young supernova remnants (SNRs) is significantly stronger than can be expected from the compression of the circumstellar medium (CSM) by a factor of four expected for strong blast waves. Additionally, the polarization is mainly radial, which is also contrary to expectation from compression of the CSM magnetic field. Cosmic rays (CRs) may help to explain these two observed features. They can increase the compression ratio to factors well over those of regular strong shocks by adding a relativistic plasma component to the pressure, and by draining the shock of energy when CRs escape from the region. The higher compression ratio will also allow for the contact discontinuity, which is subject to the Rayleigh–Taylor (R–T) instability, to reach much further out to the forward shock. This could create a preferred radial polarization of the magnetic field. With an Adaptive Mesh Refinement MHD code (AMRVAC), we simulate the evolution of SNRs with three different configurations of the initial CSM magnetic field, and look at two different equations of state in order to look at the possible influence of a CR plasma component. The spectrum of CRs can be simulated using test particles, of which we also show some preliminary results that agree well with available analytical solutions.     

Development of a thin section device for space exploration: Rock cutting mechanism

We have developed a rock cutting mechanism for in situ planetary exploration based on abrasive diamond impregnated wire. Performance characteristics of the rock cutter, including cutting rate on several rock types, cutting surface lifetime, and cut rock surface finish are presented. The rock cutter was developed as part of a broader effort to develop an in situ automated rock thin section (IS-ARTS) instrument. The objective of IS-ARTS was to develop an instrument capable of producing petrographic rock thin sections on a planetary science spacecraft. The rock cutting mechanism may also be useful to other planetary science missions with in situ instruments in which sub-sampling and rock surface preparation are necessary.     

Launch and commissioning of the PAMELA experiment on board the Resurs-DK1 satellite

PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range (protons: 80 MeV–700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV–400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV–190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV–270 GeV) and search for antimatter (with a precision of the order of 10⁻⁸). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15th 2006 in a 350 × 600 km orbit with an inclination of 70°. The detector consists of a permanent magnet spectrometer core to provide rigidity and charge sign information, a Time-of-Flight system for velocity and charge information, a silicon–tungsten calorimeter and a neutron detector for lepton/hadron identification. An anticounter system is used off-line to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In self-trigger mode the calorimeter, the neutron detector and a shower tail catcher are capable of an independent measure of the lepton (e⁺ + e⁻) component up to 2 TeV. In this work we focus on the first months of operations of the experiment during the commissioning phase.     

低平流层温度对银河系宇宙线强度变化的响应

选用芬兰中子堆监测站从lop年7月至1989年3月的宇宙线强度月平均曲线数据,和在相对应期间我国境内海拉尔等4个高空气象观测站的30hPa和100hPa等位势高度上常规气温观测月平均资料,经统计分析,取得初步结果：低平流层气温与银河系宇宙线辐射强度之间呈现负相关的特性;与银河系宇宙线辐射强度峰区和谷区相对应会在低平流层中引起幅值为2-3℃的温度变化;不同纬度观测站所得观测数据表明,上述增温幅值随纬度降低而减少。     

Planetary penetrators: Their origins,history and future

Penetrators, which emplace scientific instrumentation by high-speed impact into a planetary surface, have been advocated as an alternative to soft-landers for some four decades. However, such vehicles have yet to fly successfully. This paper reviews in detail, the origins of penetrators in the military arena, and the various planetary penetrator mission concepts that have been proposed, built and flown. From the very limited data available, penetrator developments alone (without delivery to the planet) have required ∼$30M: extensive analytical instrumentation may easily double this. Because the success of emplacement and operation depends inevitably on uncontrollable aspects of the target environment, unattractive failure probabilities for individual vehicles must be tolerated that are higher than the typical ‘3-sigma’ (99.5%) values typical for spacecraft. The two pathways to programmatic success, neither of which are likely in an austere financial environment, are a lucky flight as a ‘piggyback’ mission or technology demonstration, or with a substantial and unprecedented investment to launch a scientific (e.g. seismic) network mission with a large number of vehicles such that a number of terrain-induced failures can be tolerated.