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Register a new userHigh-energy cosmic rays measured with KASCADE-Grande
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The detection of high-energy cosmic rays above a few hundred TeV is realized by the observation of extensive air-showers. By using the multi-detector setup of KASCADE-Grande, energy spectrum, elemental composition, and anisotropies of high-energy cosmic rays in the energy range from below the knee up to 2 EeV are investigated. In addition, the large high-quality data set permits distinct tests of the validity of hadronic interaction models used in interpreting air-shower measurements. After more than 16 years, the KASCADE-Grande experiment terminated measurements end of 2012. This contribution will give an overview of the main results of the data analysis achieved so far, and will report about the status of KCDC, the KASCADE Cosmic-ray Data Center, where via a web-based interface the data will be made available for the interested public.
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The energy spectrum of cosmic rays between 10**16 eV and 10**18 eV, derived from measurements of the shower size (total number of charged particles) and the total muon number of extensive air showers by the KASCADE-Grande experiment, is described. The resulting all-particle energy spectrum exhibits strong hints for a hardening of the spectrum at approximately 2x10**16 eV and a significant steepening at c. 8x10**16 eV. These observations challenge the view that the spectrum is a single power law between knee and ankle. Possible scenarios generating such features are discussed in terms of astrophysical processes that may explain the transition region from galactic to extragalactic origin of cosmic rays.
KASCADE-Grande is a multi-detector experiment at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany for measuring extensive air showers in the primary energy range of 100 TeV to 1 EeV. This contribution attempts to provide a synopsis of the current results of the experiment. In particular, the reconstruction of the all-particle energy spectrum in the range of 10 PeV to 1 EeV based on four different methods with partly different sources of systematic uncertainties is presented. Since the calibration of the observables in terms of the primary energy and mass depends on Monte Carlo simulations, we compare the results of various methods applied to the same sample of measured data. In addition, first investigations on the elemental composition of the cosmic particles as well as on tests of hadronic interaction models underlying the analyses are discussed.
The KASCADE-Grande air shower experiment [W. Apel, et al. (KASCADE-Grande collaboration), Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 620 (2010) 202] consists of, among others, a large scintillator array for measurements of charged particles, Nch, and of an array of shielded scintillation counters used for muon counting, Nmu. KASCADE-Grande is optimized for cosmic ray measurements in the energy range 10 PeV to about 2000 PeV, where exploring the composition is of fundamental importance for understanding the transition from galactic to extragalactic origin of cosmic rays. Following earlier studies of the all-particle and the elemental spectra reconstructed in the knee energy range from KASCADE data [T. Antoni, et al. (KASCADE collaboration), Astropart. Phys. 24 (2005) 1], we have now extended these measurements to beyond 200 PeV. By analysing the two-dimensional shower size spectrum Nch vs. Nmu for nearly vertical events, we reconstruct the energy spectra of different mass groups by means of unfolding methods over an energy range where the detector is fully efficient. The procedure and its results, which are derived based on the hadronic interaction model QGSJET-II-02 and which yield a strong indication for a dominance of heavy mass groups in the covered energy range and for a knee-like structure in the iron spectrum at around 80 PeV, are presented. This confirms and further refines the results obtained by other analyses of KASCADE-Grande data, which already gave evidence for a knee-like structure in the heavy component of cosmic rays at about 80 PeV [W. Apel, et al. (KASCADE-Grande collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 107 (2011) 171104].
The KASCADE-Grande experiment, located at KIT-Karlsruhe, Germany, consists of a large scintillator array for measurements of charged particles, N_ch, and of an array of shielded scintillation counters used for muon counting, N_mu. KASCADE-Grande is optimized for cosmic ray measurements in the energy range 10 PeV to 1000 PeV, thereby enabling the verification of a knee in the iron spectrum expected at approximately 100 PeV. Exploring the composition in this energy range is of fundamental importance for understanding the transition from galactic to extragalactic cosmic rays. Following earlier studies of elemental spectra reconstructed in the knee energy range from KASCADE data, we have now extended these measurements to beyond 100 PeV. By analysing the two-dimensional shower size spectrum N_ch vs. N_mu, we reconstruct the energy spectra of different mass groups by means of unfolding methods. The procedure and its results, giving evidence for a knee-like structure in the spectrum of iron nuclei, will be presented.
The all-particle energy spectrum as measured by the KASCADE-Grande experiment for E = 10^{16} - 10^{18} eV is presented within the framework of the QGSJET II/FLUKA hadronic interaction models. Three different methods were applied based on the muon size and the total number of charged particles individually and in combination. From the study it is found that the spectrum cannot be completely described by a smooth power law due to the presence of characteristic features.
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