The mass composition of cosmic rays contains important clues about their origin. Accurate measurements are needed to resolve long-standing issues such as the transition from Galactic to extragalactic origin, and the nature of the cutoff observed at t
he highest energies. Composition can be studied by measuring the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum Xmax of air showers generated by high-energy cosmic rays hitting the Earths atmosphere. We present a new method to reconstruct Xmax based on radio measurements. The radio emission mechanism of air showers is a complex process that creates an asymmetric intensity pattern on the ground. The shape of this pattern strongly depends on the longitudinal development of the shower. We reconstruct Xmax by fitting two-dimensional intensity profiles, simulated with CoREAS, to data from the LOFAR radio telescope. In the dense LOFAR core, air showers are detected by hundreds of antennas simultaneously. The simulations fit the data very well, indicating that the radiation mechanism is now well-understood. The typical uncertainty on the reconstruction of Xmax for LOFAR showers is 17 g/cm^2.
Ultra-high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays produce short radio flashes through the Askaryan effect when they impact on the Moon. Earthbound radio telescopes can search the Lunar surface for these signals. A new generation of low- frequency, digital
radio arrays, spearheaded by LOFAR, will allow for searches with unprecedented sensitivity. In the first stage of the NuMoon project, low-frequency observations were carried out with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, leading to the most stringent limit on the cosmic neutrino flux above 10$^{23}$ eV. With LOFAR we will be able to reach a sensitivity of over an order of magnitude better and to decrease the threshold energy.
Gamma-ray induced air showers are notable for their lack of muons, compared to hadronic showers. Hence, air shower arrays with large underground muon detectors can select a sample greatly enriched in photon showers by rejecting showers containing muo
ns. IceCube is sensitive to muons with energies above ~500 GeV at the surface, which provides an efficient veto system for hadronic air showers with energies above 1 PeV. One year of data from the 40-string IceCube configuration was used to perform a search for point sources and a Galactic diffuse signal. No sources were found, resulting in a 90% C.L. upper limit on the ratio of gamma rays to cosmic rays of 1.2 x 10^(-3)for the flux coming from the Galactic Plane region (-80 deg < l < -30 deg; -10 deg < b < 5 deg) in the energy range 1.2 - 6.0 PeV. In the same energy range, point source fluxes with E^(-2) spectra have been excluded at a level of (E/TeV)^2 dPhi/dE ~ 10^(-12)-10^(-11) cm^2/s/TeV depending on source declination. The complete IceCube detector will have a better sensitivity, due to the larger detector size, improved reconstruction and vetoing techniques. Preliminary data from the nearly-final IceCube detector configuration has been used to estimate the 5 year sensitivity of the full detector. It is found to be more than an order of magnitude better, allowing the search for PeV extensions of known TeV gamma-ray emitters.
Ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos and cosmic rays initiate particle cascades underneath the Moons surface. These cascades have a negative charge excess and radiate Cherenkov radio emission in a process known as the Askaryan effect. The optimal freque
ncy window for observation of these pulses with radio telescopes on the Earth is around 150 MHz. By observing the Moon with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope array we are able to set a new limit on the UHE neutrino flux. The PuMa II backend is used to monitor the Moon in 4 frequency bands between 113 and 175 MHz with a sampling frequency of 40 MHz. The narrowband radio interference is digitally filtered out and the dispersive effect of the Earths ionosphere is compensated for. A trigger system is implemented to search for short pulses. By inserting simulated pulses in the raw data, the detection efficiency for pulses of various strength is calculated. With 47.6 hours of observation time, we are able to set a limit on the UHE neutrino flux. This new limit is an order of magnitude lower than existing limits. In the near future, the digital radio array LOFAR will be used to achieve an even lower limit.
We study the effect of atmospheric electric fields on the radio pulse emitted by cosmic ray air showers. Under fair weather conditions the dominant part of the radio emission is driven by the geomagnetic field. When the shower charges are accelerated
and deflected in an electric field additional radiation is emitted. We simulate this effect with the Monte Carlo code REAS2, using CORSIKA-simulated showers as input. In both codes a routine has been implemented that treats the effect of the electric field on the shower particles. We find that the radio pulse is significantly altered in background fields of the order of ~100 V/cm and higher. Practically, this means that air showers passing through thunderstorms emit radio pulses that are not a reliable measure for the shower energy. Under other weather circumstances significant electric field effects are expected to occur rarely, but nimbostratus clouds can harbor fields that are large enough. In general, the contribution of the electric field to the radio pulse has polarization properties that are different from the geomagnetic pulse. In order to filter out radio pulses that have been affected by electric field effects, radio air shower experiments should keep weather information and perform full polarization measurements of the radio signal.
The development of cosmic ray air showers can be influenced by atmospheric electric fields. Under fair weather conditions these fields are small, but the strong fields inside thunderstorms can have a significant effect on the electromagnetic componen
t of a shower. Understanding this effect is particularly important for radio detection of air showers, since the radio emission is produced by the shower electrons and positrons. We perform Monte Carlo simulations to calculate the effects of different electric field configurations on the shower development. We find that the electric field becomes important for values of the order of 1 kV/cm. Not only can the energy distribution of electrons and positrons change significantly for such field strengths, it is also possible that runaway electron breakdown occurs at high altitudes, which is an important effect in lightning initiation.
The NuMoon project uses the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope to search for short radio pulses from the Moon. These pulses are created when an ultra high energy cosmic ray or neutrino initiates a particle cascade inside the Moons regolith. The cas
cade has a negative charge excess and moves faster than the local speed of light, which causes coherent Cherenkov radiation to be emitted. With 100 hours of data, a limit on the neutrino flux can be set that is an order of magnitude better than the current one (based on FORTE). We present an analysis of the first 10 hours of data.
