Cosmic ray mass composition with LOFAR

S. Buitink; A. Bonardi; A. Corstanje; H. Falcke; B. M. Hare; J. R. Hörandel; P. Mitra; K. Mulrey; A. Nelles; J. P. Rachen; L. Rossetto; P. Schellart; O. Scholten; S. Ter Veen; S. Thoudam; T. N.G. Trinh; T. Winchen

Cosmic ray mass composition with LOFAR

S. Buitink
, A. Bonardi
, A. Corstanje
, H. Falcke
, B. M. Hare
, J. R. Hörandel
, P. Mitra
, K. Mulrey
, A. Nelles
, J. P. Rachen
, L. Rossetto
, P. Schellart
, O. Scholten
, S. Ter Veen
, S. Thoudam
, T. N.G. Trinh
, T. Winchen

Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

Abstract

The LOFAR radio telescope measures the radio emission from extensive air showers with unprecedented precision. In the dense core individual air showers are detected by hundreds of dipole antennas. By fitting the complex radiation pattern to Monte Carlo radio simulation codes we obtain measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum X_max with a precision of < 20 g/cm². This quantity is sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays. We discuss the first mass composition results of LOFAR and the improvements that are currently being made to enhance the accuracy of future analysis. Firstly, a more realistic treatment of the atmosphere will decrease the systematic uncertainties due to the atmosphere. Secondly, a series of upgrades to the LOFAR system will lead to increased effective area, duty cycle, and the possibility to extend the composition analysis down to the energy of 10^16.5 eV.

Original language	British English
Journal	Proceedings of Science
State	Published - 2017
Event	35th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2017 - Bexco, Busan, Korea, Republic of Duration: 10 Jul 2017 → 20 Jul 2017

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@article{67f7c47543bc4fd48adad018d58d228a,

title = "Cosmic ray mass composition with LOFAR",

abstract = "The LOFAR radio telescope measures the radio emission from extensive air showers with unprecedented precision. In the dense core individual air showers are detected by hundreds of dipole antennas. By fitting the complex radiation pattern to Monte Carlo radio simulation codes we obtain measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum Xmax with a precision of < 20 g/cm2. This quantity is sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays. We discuss the first mass composition results of LOFAR and the improvements that are currently being made to enhance the accuracy of future analysis. Firstly, a more realistic treatment of the atmosphere will decrease the systematic uncertainties due to the atmosphere. Secondly, a series of upgrades to the LOFAR system will lead to increased effective area, duty cycle, and the possibility to extend the composition analysis down to the energy of 1016.5 eV.",

author = "S. Buitink and A. Bonardi and A. Corstanje and H. Falcke and Hare, \{B. M.\} and H{\"o}randel, \{J. R.\} and P. Mitra and K. Mulrey and A. Nelles and Rachen, \{J. P.\} and L. Rossetto and P. Schellart and O. Scholten and \{Ter Veen\}, S. and S. Thoudam and Trinh, \{T. N.G.\} and T. Winchen",

note = "Funding Information: The LOFAR cosmic ray key science project acknowledges funding from an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 227610. The project has also received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 640130). We furthermore acknowledge financial support from FOM, (FOM-project 12PR3041-3) and NWO (Top Grant 614-001-454, and Spinoza Prize SPI 78-409). AN is supported by the DFG (research fellowship NE 2031/1-1). LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope foundation under a joint scientific policy. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).; 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2017 ; Conference date: 10-07-2017 Through 20-07-2017",

year = "2017",

language = "British English",

journal = "Proceedings of Science",

issn = "1824-8039",

publisher = "Sissa Medialab Srl",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cosmic ray mass composition with LOFAR

AU - Buitink, S.

AU - Bonardi, A.

AU - Corstanje, A.

AU - Falcke, H.

AU - Hare, B. M.

AU - Hörandel, J. R.

AU - Mitra, P.

AU - Mulrey, K.

AU - Nelles, A.

AU - Rachen, J. P.

AU - Rossetto, L.

AU - Schellart, P.

AU - Scholten, O.

AU - Ter Veen, S.

AU - Thoudam, S.

AU - Trinh, T. N.G.

AU - Winchen, T.

N1 - Funding Information: The LOFAR cosmic ray key science project acknowledges funding from an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 227610. The project has also received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 640130). We furthermore acknowledge financial support from FOM, (FOM-project 12PR3041-3) and NWO (Top Grant 614-001-454, and Spinoza Prize SPI 78-409). AN is supported by the DFG (research fellowship NE 2031/1-1). LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope foundation under a joint scientific policy. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The LOFAR radio telescope measures the radio emission from extensive air showers with unprecedented precision. In the dense core individual air showers are detected by hundreds of dipole antennas. By fitting the complex radiation pattern to Monte Carlo radio simulation codes we obtain measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum Xmax with a precision of < 20 g/cm2. This quantity is sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays. We discuss the first mass composition results of LOFAR and the improvements that are currently being made to enhance the accuracy of future analysis. Firstly, a more realistic treatment of the atmosphere will decrease the systematic uncertainties due to the atmosphere. Secondly, a series of upgrades to the LOFAR system will lead to increased effective area, duty cycle, and the possibility to extend the composition analysis down to the energy of 1016.5 eV.

AB - The LOFAR radio telescope measures the radio emission from extensive air showers with unprecedented precision. In the dense core individual air showers are detected by hundreds of dipole antennas. By fitting the complex radiation pattern to Monte Carlo radio simulation codes we obtain measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum Xmax with a precision of < 20 g/cm2. This quantity is sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays. We discuss the first mass composition results of LOFAR and the improvements that are currently being made to enhance the accuracy of future analysis. Firstly, a more realistic treatment of the atmosphere will decrease the systematic uncertainties due to the atmosphere. Secondly, a series of upgrades to the LOFAR system will lead to increased effective area, duty cycle, and the possibility to extend the composition analysis down to the energy of 1016.5 eV.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85046059030

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:85046059030

SN - 1824-8039

JO - Proceedings of Science

JF - Proceedings of Science

T2 - 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2017

Y2 - 10 July 2017 through 20 July 2017

ER -

Cosmic ray mass composition with LOFAR

Abstract

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