Orateur
Prof.
Ad van den Berg
(KVI/University of Groningen)
Description
Authorship: The Pierre Auger Collaboration
The Pierre Auger collaboration uses its observatory in Argentina to study ultra-high energy cosmic rays (E> 1 EeV). The baseline detectors are a surface detector array with 1660 water-Cherenkov detectors distributed over an area of 3000 km2 overseen by 24 fluorescence telescopes mounted at the perimeter of this array. Recently, the collaboration has extended its observatory with 3 new detection systems, which will lower the energy threshold of the baseline detectors from 1 EeV to 0.1 EeV. With this threshold we can study the region where we expect the transition from a Galactic to an extra-Galactic origin of cosmic rays and we can study particle-particle interactions in the TeV range. The extensions are AERA (Auger Engineering Radio Array), AMIGA (Auger Muon and Infill for the Ground Array), and HEAT (High Elevation Auger Telescopes), which will work side-by-side, bringing together for the very first time several complementary detection techniques. The information from these systems will be used to determine in detail the flux spectrum and to address their composition of cosmic rays with E > 0.1 EeV. The current status of and initial results from these 3 detection systems will be presented. In addition, I will briefly on the study of new detection techniques based on the emission of GHz molecular Bremsstrahlung from the plasma cloud created by cosmic rays entering the atmosphere of the Earth.
Auteur principal
Prof.
Ad van den Berg
(KVI/University of Groningen)
