Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2006 APS April Meeting
Saturday–Tuesday, April 22–25, 2006; Dallas, TX
Session H3: Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays: Experiment and Theory |
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Sponsoring Units: DPF DAP Chair: Sean Carroll, University of Chicago Room: Hyatt Regency Dallas Landmark C |
Sunday, April 23, 2006 8:30AM - 9:06AM |
H3.00001: Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays: Recent Results From Auger and HiRes Invited Speaker: Cosmic ray particles were discovered almost one hundred years ago, but still very little is known about the origin of the most energetic particles, above and around $10^{18}$\,eV. The existence of particles at these energies, the highest energies observed in the Universe, continues to challenge our imagination: where do they come from, how are they accelerated, and how can they travel astronomical distances without substantial loss of energy? We are currently in an exciting new era in cosmic ray physics, with instruments now producing data of unprecedented quality and quantity to tackle the many open questions. Over the last 5 years, the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) air fluorescence stereo detector has accumulated data characterized by excellent angular resolution. The world's largest detector for cosmic radiation, the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, is nearing completion, and first results have already been published. In this talk, I will review recent results from the Auger and HiRes experiments on the energy spectrum, composition, and arrival directions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 23, 2006 9:06AM - 9:42AM |
H3.00002: When Particle Physics Confronts Cosmic Ray Data Invited Speaker: The origin of the highest energy particles ever to be observed is still a mystery. They are messengers of an extreme universe and they test the limits of physical laws. The largest cosmic ray experiments are starting to probe the extremely high-energy region where pointing to cosmic ray sources is feasible and a long awaited Greisen-Zatsepin- Kuzmin feature in the spectrum is expected. Past experiments have claimed opposing results. The mystery of ultra-high energy cosmic rays will be reviewed in light of the first results from the Pierre Auger Observatory. Auger is under construction, yet first results have already challenged previous views of the physics of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 23, 2006 9:42AM - 10:18AM |
H3.00003: Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Neutrinos Invited Speaker: Astrophysical processes appear to produce particles with energies of at least $10^{19-20}$~eV. Yet extra-galactic astronomy appears to be limited for photons with energies above $10^{14}$~eV due to absorption. Neutrino astronomy offers the possibility to perform extra-galactic astronomy to these energies and beyond without an absorption cutoff. In addition, the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos of cosmic origin with local matter may reveal exotic new physics processes that are unavailable to modern accelerators. UHE neutrino telescopes based on optical detection techniques that are currently operating and under construction will soon have apertures on the scale of 10~km$^{3}$-sr with excellent thresholds. Radio and acoustic detection techniques have been demonstrated in laboratory experiments and are being used to instrument apertures from 10 to to $10,000$ km$^{3}$-sr for neutrinos with energies above $10^{16}$~eV. Neutrino telescopes based on radio detection include the RICE detectors placed on the Amanda strings at the South Pole. The GLUE antennas pointed at the Moon have set limits on the neutrino intensity at higher energies. The best sensitivity at the highest energies comes from the FORTE satellite which looked for interactions in Greenland ice. The upcoming ANITA long-duration balloon flights over Antarctica will be sensitive to neutrinos produced by the interactions of cosmic rays with the cosmic microwave background radiation. Using the acoustic technique, the SAUND collaboration recently performed a UHE neutrino search using hydrophones in the deep sea near the Bahamas. Investigations for even larger apertures include several other detection possibilities, including placing radio and acoustic sensors in large underground salt formations. The acoustic technique may find promise in solid media currently under investigation. The neutrino sensitivity of current and proposed telescopes based on optical, radio, acoustic techniques will be compared for both specific models and in a model-independent fashion. [Preview Abstract] |
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