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Register a new userCosmic ray composition at high energies: Results from the TRACER project
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The TRACER instrument Transition Radiation Array for Cosmic Energetic Radiation is designed to measure the individual energy spectra of cosmic-ray nuclei in long-duration balloon flights The large geometric factor of TRACER 5 m 2 sr permits statistically significant measurements at particle energies well beyond 10 14 eV TRACER identifies individual cosmic-ray nuclei with single-element resolution and measures their energy over a very wide range from about 0 5 to 10 000 GeV nucleon This is accomplished with a gas detector system of 1600 single-wire proportional tubes and plastic fiber radiators that measure specific ionization and transition radiation signals combined with plastic scintillators and acrylic Cherenkov counters A two-week flight in Antarctica in December 2003 has led to a measurement of the nuclear species oxygen to iron O Ne Mg Si S Ar Ca and Fe up to about 3 000 GeV nucleon We shall present the energy spectra and relative abundances for these elements and discuss the implication of the results in the context of current models of acceleration and propagation of galactic cosmic rays The instrument has been refurbished for a second long-duration flight in the Northern hemisphere scheduled for summer 2006 For this flight the dynamic range of TRACER has been extended to permit inclusion of the lighter elements B C and N in the measurement.
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The TRACER instrument (``Transition Radiation Array for Cosmic Energetic Radiation) has been developed for direct measurements of the heavier primary cosmic-ray nuclei at high energies. The instrument had a successful long-duration balloon flight in Antarctica in 2003. The detector system and measurement process are described, details of the data analysis are discussed, and the individual energy spectra of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe (nuclear charge Z=8 to 26) are presented. The large geometric factor of TRACER and the use of a transition radiation detector make it possible to determine the spectra up to energies in excess of 10$^{14}$ eV per particle. A power-law fit to the individual energy spectra above 20 GeV per amu exhibits nearly the same spectral index ($sim$ 2.65 $pm$ 0.05) for all elements, without noticeable dependence on the elemental charge Z.
TRACER (Transition Radiation Array for Cosmic Energetic Radiation) is a balloon borne instrument that has been developed to directly measure the composition and energy spectra of individual heavy elements up to 10^15 eV per particle. TRACER achieves a large geometric factor (5 m^2 sr) through the use of a Transition Radiation Detector utilizing arrays of single wire proportional tubes. TRACER has measured the energy spectra of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. The energy spectra reach energies in excess of 10^14 eV per particle and exhibit nearly the same spectral index (2.65 +/- 0.05) for all elements.
The fluxes of electrons, positrons, gammas, Cherenkov photons and muons in individual extensive air showers induced by the primary protons and helium, oxygen and iron nuclei at the level of observation have been estimated with help of the code CORSICA 6.616. The comparison show that the values of the function Xi**2 per one degree of freedom changes from 1.1 for iron nuclei to 0.9 for primary protons. As this difference is small all readings of detectors of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation have been used. At last, readings of underground detectors of muons with energies above 1 GeV have been exploited to make definite conclusion about chemical composition.
We present new measurements of the energy spectra of cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei from the second flight of the balloon-borne experiment Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM). The instrument included different particle detectors to provide redundant charge identification and measure the energy of CRs up to several hundred TeV. The measured individual energy spectra of C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe are presented up to $sim 10^{14}$ eV. The spectral shape looks nearly the same for these primary elements and it can be fitted to an $E^{-2.66 pm 0.04}$ power law in energy. Moreover, a new measurement of the absolute intensity of nitrogen in the 100-800 GeV/$n$ energy range with smaller errors than previous observations, clearly indicates a hardening of the spectrum at high energy. The relative abundance of N/O at the top of the atmosphere is measured to be $0.080 pm 0.025 $(stat.)$ pm 0.025 $(sys.) at $sim $800 GeV/$n$, in good agreement with a recent result from the first CREAM flight.
We present a new measurement of the cosmic-ray positron fraction e+/(e+ + e-) obtained from the first balloon flight of the High Energy Antimatter Telescope (HEAT). Using a magnet spectrometer combined with a transition radiation detector, an electromagnetic calorimeter, and time-of-flight counters we have achieved a high degree of background rejection. Our results do not indicate a major contribution to the positron flux from primary sources. In particular, we see no evidence for the significant rise in the positron fraction at energies above ~10 GeV previously reported.
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