H. S. Ahn

An excess of cosmic ray electrons at energies of 300-800 GeV

Galactic cosmic rays consist of protons, electrons and ions, most of which are believed to be accelerated to relativistic speeds in supernova remnants. All components of the cosmic rays show an intensity that decreases as a power law with increasing energy (for example as E-2.7). Electrons in particular lose energy rapidly through synchrotron and inverse Compton processes, resulting in a relatively short lifetime (about 105 years) and a rapidly falling intensity, which raises the possibility of seeing the contribution from individual nearby sources (less than one kiloparsec away). Here we report an excess of galactic cosmic-ray electrons at energies of ∼300–800 GeV, which indicates a nearby source of energetic electrons. Such a source could be an unseen astrophysical object (such as a pulsar or micro-quasar) that accelerates electrons to those energies, or the electrons could arise from the annihilation of dark matter particles (such as a Kaluza–Klein particle with a mass of about 620 GeV).

DISCREPANT HARDENING OBSERVED IN COSMIC-RAY ELEMENTAL SPECTRA

The balloon-borne Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment launched five times from Antarctica has achieved a cumulative flight duration of about 156 days above 99.5% of the atmosphere. The instrument is configured with complementary and redundant particle detectors designed to extend direct measurements of cosmic-ray composition to the highest energies practical with balloon flights. All elements from protons to iron nuclei are separated with excellent charge resolution. Here, we report results from the first two flights of ~70 days, which indicate hardening of the elemental spectra above ~200 GeV/nucleon and a spectral difference between the two most abundant species, protons and helium nuclei. These results challenge the view that cosmic-ray spectra are simple power laws below the so-called knee at ~1015 eV. This discrepant hardening may result from a relatively nearby source, or it could represent spectral concavity caused by interactions of cosmic rays with the accelerating shock. Other possible explanations should also be investigated.

Cosmic-ray Proton and Helium Spectra from the First CREAM Flight

Cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra have been measured with the balloon-borne Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment flown for 42 days in Antarctica in the 2004–2005 austral summer season. High-energy cosmic-ray data were collected at an average altitude of �38.5 km with an average atmospheric overburden of �3.9 g cm −2 . Individual elements are clearly separated with a charge resolution of �0.15 e (in charge units) and �0.2 e for protons and helium nuclei, respectively. The measured spectra at the top of the atmosphere are represented by power laws with a spectral index of 2.66 ± 0.02 for protons from 2.5 TeV to 250 TeV and –2.58 ± 0.02 for helium nuclei from 630 GeV nucleon −1 to 63 TeV nucleon −1 . They are harder than previous measurements

Energy spectra of abundant nuclei of primary cosmic rays from the data of ATIC-2 experiment: Final results

The final results of processing the data from the balloon-born experiment ATIC-2 (Antarctica, 2002–2003) for the energy spectra of protons and He, C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe nuclei, the spectrum of all particles, and the mean logarithm of atomic weight of primary cosmic rays as a function of energy are presented. The final results are based on improvement of the methods used earlier, in particular, considerably increased resolution of the charge spectrum. The preliminary conclusions on the significant difference in the spectra of protons and helium nuclei (the proton spectrum is steeper) and the non-power character of the spectra of protons and heavier nuclei (flattening of carbon spectrum at energies above 10 TeV) are confirmed. A complex structure of the energy dependence of the mean logarithm of atomic weight is found.

ENERGY SPECTRA OF COSMIC-RAY NUCLEI AT HIGH ENERGIES

We present new measurements of the energy spectra of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei from the second flight of the balloon-borne experiment Cosmic-Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM). The instrument included different particle detectors to provide redundant charge identification and measure the energy of CRs up to several hundred TeV. The measured individual energy spectra of C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe are presented up to ~1014 eV. The spectral shape looks nearly the same for these primary elements and it can be fitted to an E –2.66 ± 0.04 power law in energy. Moreover, a new measurement of the absolute intensity of nitrogen in the 100-800 GeV/n energy range with smaller errors than previous observations, clearly indicates a hardening of the spectrum at high energy. The relative abundance of N/O at the top of the atmosphere is measured to be 0.080 ± 0.025 (stat.)±0.025 (sys.) at ~800 GeV/n, in good agreement with a recent result from the first CREAM flight.

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.

MEASUREMENTS OF THE RELATIVE ABUNDANCES OF HIGH-ENERGY COSMIC-RAY NUCLEI IN THE TeV/NUCLEON REGION

We present measurements of the relative abundances of cosmic-ray nuclei in the energy range of 500-3980 GeV/nucleon from the second flight of the Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass balloon-borne experiment. Particle energy was determined using a sampling tungsten/scintillating-fiber calorimeter, while particle charge was identified precisely with a dual-layer silicon charge detector installed for this flight. The resulting element ratios C/O, N/O, Ne/O, Mg/O, Si/O, and Fe/O at the top of atmosphere are 0.919 ? 0.123stat ? 0.030syst, 0.076 ? 0.019stat ? 0.013syst, 0.115 ? 0.031stat ? 0.004syst, 0.153 ? 0.039stat ? 0.005syst, 0.180 ? 0.045stat ? 0.006syst, and 0.139?? 0.043stat ? 0.005syst, respectively, which agree with measurements at lower energies. The source abundance of N/O is found to be 0.054 ? 0.013stat ? 0.009syst+0.010esc ?0.017. The cosmic-ray source abundances are compared to local Galactic (LG) abundances as a function of first ionization potential and as a function of condensation temperature. At high energies the trend that the cosmic-ray source abundances at large ionization potential or low condensation temperature are suppressed compared to their LG abundances continues. Therefore, the injection mechanism must be the same at TeV/nucleon energies as at the lower energies measured by HEAO-3, CRN, and TRACER. Furthermore, the cosmic-ray source abundances are compared to a mixture of 80% solar system abundances and 20% massive stellar outflow (MSO) as a function of atomic mass. The good agreement with TIGER measurements at lower energies confirms the existence of a substantial fraction of MSO material required in the ~TeV per nucleon region.

Cosmic-ray energetics and mass (CREAM) balloon experiment

Abstract The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) mission will investigate ultra high energy (1012 to > 5 × 1014 eV) cosmic rays over the elemental range from protons to iron. The measurements will be made with an instrument that consists of a sampling tungsten/scintillator calorimeter preceded by a graphite target with scintillator layers for trigger and track-reconstruction purposes, a transition radiation detector (TRD) for observing heavy nuclei, and a segmented timing-based particle-charge detector. A key feature of the instrument is its ability to obtain simultaneous measurements of the energy and charge of a subset of nuclei by the complementary calorimeter and TRD techniques, thereby allowing in-flight inter-calibration of their energy scales. The energy extent will depend on a series of ULDB flights of identical instruments: three flights will reach 5 × 1014 eV. The different flights can be carried out at essentially any latitude, including the polar regions of either hemisphere. CREAM will be ready for flight one year after the TIGER (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) ULDB demonstration flight, which is currently scheduled for launch in December 2001.

Possible structure in the cosmic ray electron spectrum measured by the ATIC-2 and ATIC-4 experiments

A strong excess in a form of a wide peak in the energy range of 300-800 GeV was discovered in the first measurements of the electron spectrum in the energy range from 20 GeV to 3 TeV by the balloon-borne experiment ATIC (J. Chang et al. Nature, 2008). The experimental data processing and analysis of the electron spectrum with different criteria for selection of electrons, completely independent of the results reported in (J. Chang et al. Nature, 2008) is employed in the present paper. The new independent analysis generally confirms the results of (J. Chang et al. Nature, 2008), but shows that the spectrum in the region of the excess is represented by a number of narrow peaks. The measured spectrum is compared to the spectrum of (J. Chang et al. Nature, 2008) and to the spectrum of the Fermi/LAT experiment.

Performance of a Dual Layer Silicon Charge Detector During CREAM Balloon Flight

The balloon-borne cosmic-ray experiment CREAM (Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass) has completed two flights in Antarctica, with a combined duration of 70 days. One of the detectors in the payload is the SCD (silicon charge detector) that measures the charge of high energy cosmic rays. The SCD was assembled with silicon sensors. A sensor is a 4 × 4 array of DC-coupled PIN diode pixels with the total active area of 21 × 16 mm2. The SCD used during the first flight (December 2004-January 2005) was a single layer device, then upgraded to a dual layer device for the second flight (December 2005-January 2006), covering the total sensitive area of 779 × 795 mm2. Flight data demonstrated that adding a second layer improved SCD performance, showing excellent particle charge resolution. With a total dissipation of 136 W for the dual layer system, special care was needed in designing thermal paths to keep the detector temperature within its operational range. As a consequence, flight temperatures of the SCD, even at diurnal maximum were kept below 38°C. The SCD mechanical structure was designed to minimize the possibility of damage to the sensors and electronics from the impacts of parachute deployment and landing. The detector was recovered successfully following the flight and is being refurbished for the next flight in 2007. Details of construction, operation, and performance are presented for the dual-layered SCD flown for the second CREAM flight.