A large light-mass component of cosmic rays at 1017-1017.5 electronvolts from radio observations

被引：118

作者：

Buitink, S. ^{[1
,2
]}

Corstanje, A. ^{[2
]}

Falcke, H. ^{[2
,3
,4
,5
]}

Hoerandel, J. R. ^{[2
,4
]}

Huege, T. ^{[6
]}

Nelles, A. ^{[2
,7
]}

Rachen, J. P. ^{[2
]}

Rossetto, L. ^{[2
]}

Schellart, P. ^{[2
]}

Scholten, O. ^{[8
,9
]}

ter Veen, S. ^{[3
]}

Thoudam, S. ^{[2
]}

Trinh, T. N. G. ^{[8
]}

Anderson, J. ^{[10
]}

Asgekar, A. ^{[3
,11
]}

Avruch, I. M. ^{[12
,13
]}

Bell, M. E. ^{[14
,15
]}

Bentum, M. J. ^{[3
]}

Bernardi, G. ^{[16
,17
]}

Best, P. ^{[18
]}

Bonafede, A. ^{[19
]}

Breitling, F. ^{[20
]}

Broderick, J. W. ^{[21
]}

Brouw, W. N. ^{[3
,13
]}

Brueggen, M. ^{[19
]}

Buteher, H. R. ^{[22
]}

Carbone, D. ^{[23
]}

Ciardi, B. ^{[24
]}

Conway, J. E. ^{[25
]}

de Gasperin, E. ^{[19
]}

de Geus, E. ^{[3
,26
]}

Deller, A. ^{[3
]}

Dettmar, R. -J. ^{[27
]}

van Diepen, G. ^{[3
]}

Duscha, S. ^{[3
]}

Eisloeffel, J. ^{[28
]}

Engels, D. ^{[29
]}

Enriquez, J. E. ^{[3
]}

Fallows, R. A. ^{[3
]}

Fender, R. ^{[30
]}

Ferrari, C. ^{[31
]}

Frieswijk, W. ^{[3
]}

Garrett, M. A. ^{[3
,32
]}

Griessmeier, J. M. ^{[33
,34
]}

Gunst, A. W. ^{[3
]}

van Haarlem, M. P. ^{[3
]}

Hassall, T. E. ^{[21
]}

Heald, G. ^{[3
,13
]}

Hessels, J. W. T. ^{[3
,23
]}

Hoeft, M. ^{[28
]}

机构：

[1] Vrije Univ Brussel, Inst Astrophys, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium

[2] Radboud Univ Nijmegen, IMAPP, Dept Astrophys, POB 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen, Netherlands

[3] Netherlands Inst Radio Astron, ASTRON, Postbus 2, NL-7990 AA Dwingeloo, Netherlands

[4] Nikhef, Sci Pk Amsterdam, NL-1098 XG Amsterdam, Netherlands

[5] Max Planck Inst Radioastron, Hugel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany

[6] Karlsruhe Inst Technol, Inst Nucl Phys IKP, Postfach 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

[7] Univ Calif Irvine, Dept Phys & Astron, Irvine, CA 92697 USA

[8] Univ Groningen, KVI Ctr Adv Radiat Technol, NL-9747 AA Groningen, Netherlands

[9] Vrije Univ Brussel, Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium

[10] Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsch GeoForschungsZentrum GEZ, Dept 1, Geodesy & Remote Sensing, Telegrafenberg A17, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany

[11] Shell Technol Ctr, Bangalore 560048, Karnataka, India

[12] SRON Netherlands Inst Space Res, POB 800, NL-9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands

[13] Univ Groningen, Kapteyn Astron Inst, POB 800, NL-9700 AV Groningen, Netherlands

[14] CSIRO Australia Telescope Natl Facil, POB 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia

[15] Univ Twente, POB 217, NL-7500 AE Enschede, Netherlands

[16] Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[17] SKA South Africa, 3rd Floor,Pk Rd, ZA-7405 Pinelands, South Africa

[18] Univ Edinburgh, Royal Observ Edinburgh, Inst Astron, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, Midlothian, Scotland

[19] Univ Hamburg, Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany

[20] Leibniz Inst Astrophys Potsdam AIP, Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany

[21] Univ Southampton, Sch Phys & Astron, Southampton SO17 1BJ, Hants, England

[22] Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Astron & Astrophys, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia

[23] Univ Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Inst Astron, Sci Pk 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands

[24] Max Planck Inst Astrophys, Karl Schwarzschild Str 1, D-85741 Garching, Germany

[25] Chalmers Univ Technol, Dept Earth & Space Sci, Onsala Space Observ, SE-43992 Onsala, Sweden

[26] SmarterVision BV, Oostersingel 5, NL-9401 JX Assen, Netherlands

[27] Ruhr Univ Bochum, Astron Inst, Univ Str 150, D-44780 Bochum, Germany

[28] Thuringer Landessternwarte, Sternwarte 5, D-07778 Tautenburg, Germany

[29] Elamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany

[30] Univ Oxford, Dept Astrophys, Denys Wilkinson Bldg,Keble Rd, Oxford OX1 3RH, England

[31] Univ Cote Azur, Observ Cote Azur, CNRS, Lab Lagrange, Blvd Observ,CS 34229, F-06304 Nice 4, France

[32] Leiden Univ, Leiden Observ, NL-2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands

[33] Univ Orleans, CNRS, LPC2E, F-45071 Orleans 2, France

[34] Univ Orleans, OSUC, Stn Radioastron Nancay, Observ Paris,CNRS,INSU,USR 704, Route Souesmes, F-18330 Nancay, France

[35] Natl Radio Astron Observ, 1003 Lopezville Rd, Socorro, NM 87801 USA

[36] Ctr Astro Space, Lebeclev Phys Inst, Profsoyuznayast 84-32, Moscow 117997, Russia

[37] Univ Manchester, Sch Phys & Astron, Jodrell Bank Ctr Astrophys, Manchester M13 9PL, Lancs, England

[38] Natl Astron Observ Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 1818588, Japan

[39] Univ Oulu, Sodankyla Geophys Observ, Tahtelantie 62, Sodankyla 99600, Finland

[40] STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab, Harwell Sci & Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, Oxon, England

[41] Univ Groningen, CIT, POB 72, NL-9700 AB Groningen, Netherlands

[42] Observ Lyon, Ctr Rech Astrophys Lyon, 9 Ave Charles Andre, F-69561 St Gems Laval, France

[43] Univ Bielefeld, Fak Phys, Postfach 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany

[44] Rhodes Univ, Dept Phys & Elect, POB 94, ZA-6140 Grahamstown, South Africa

[45] Princeton Univ, Dept Astrophys Sci, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA

[46] Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS, Observ Paris, GEPI, 5 Pl Jules Janssen, F-92190 Meudon, France

[47] UPMC, Univ Paris Diderot, CNRS, LESIA,Observ Paris, 5 Pl Jules Janssen, F-92190 Meudon, France

来源：

NATURE | 2016年 / 531卷 / 7592期

基金：

欧洲研究理事会;

关键词：

AIR-SHOWERS; ENERGY-SPECTRUM; EMISSION; LOFAR; PULSES;

D O I：

10.1038/nature16976

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Cosmic rays are the highest-energy particles found in nature. Measurements of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies of 10(17)-10(18) electronvolts are essential to understanding whether they have galactic or extragalactic sources. It has also been proposed that the astrophysical neutrino signal1 comes from accelerators capable of producing cosmic rays of these energies(2). Cosmic rays initiate air showers-cascades of secondary particles in the atmosphere-and their masses can be inferred from measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum3 (Xmax; the depth of the air shower when it contains the most particles) or of the composition of shower particles reaching the ground(4). Current measurements(5) have either high uncertainty, or a low duty cycle and a high energy threshold. Radio detection of cosmic rays(6-8) is a rapidly developing technique(9) for determining Xmax (refs 10, 11) with a duty cycle of, in principle, nearly 100 per cent. The radiation is generated by the separation of relativistic electrons and positrons in the geomagnetic field and a negative charge excess in the shower front(6,12). Here we report radio measurements of X-max with a mean uncertainty of 16 grams per square centimetre for air showers initiated by cosmic rays with energies of 1017-1017.5 electronvolts. This high resolution in Xmax enables us to determine the mass spectrum of the cosmic rays: we find a mixed composition, with a light-mass fraction (protons and helium nuclei) of about 80 per cent. Unless, contrary to current expectations, the extragalactic component of cosmic rays contributes substantially to the total flux below 10(17.5) electronvolts, our measurements indicate the existence of an additional galactic component, to account for the light composition that we measured in the 10(17)-10(17.5) electronvolt range.

引用

页码：70 / +

页数：13

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