First operation of LArTPC in the stratosphere as an engineering GRAMS balloon flight (eGRAMS)
Abstract
GRAMS (Gamma-Ray and AntiMatter Survey) is a next-generation balloon/satellite experiment utilizing a LArTPC (Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber), to simultaneously target astrophysical observations of cosmic MeV gamma-rays and conduct an indirect dark matter search using antimatter. While LArTPCs are widely used in particle physics experiments, they have never been operated at balloon altitudes. An engineering balloon flight with a small-scale LArTPC (eGRAMS) was conducted on July 27th, 2023, to establish a system for safely operating a LArTPC at balloon altitudes and to obtain cosmic-ray data from the LArTPC. The flight was launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Taiki Aerospace Research Field in Hokkaido, Japan. The total flight duration was 3 hours and 12 minutes, including a level flight of 44 minutes at a maximum altitude of 28.9 km. The flight system was landed on the sea and successfully recovered. The LArTPC was successfully operated throughout the flight, and about 0.5 million events of the cosmic-ray data including muons, protons, and Compton scattering gamma-ray candidates, were collected. This pioneering flight demonstrates the feasibility of operating a LArTPC in high-altitude environments, paving the way for future GRAMS missions and advancing our capabilities in MeV gamma-ray astronomy and dark matter research.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2409.13209,
title = {First operation of LArTPC in the stratosphere as an engineering GRAMS balloon flight (eGRAMS)},
author = {R. Nakajima and S. Arai and K. Aoyama and Y. Utsumi and T. Tamba and H. Odaka and M. Tanaka and K. Yorita and S. Arai and T. Aramaki and J. Asaadi and A. Bamba and N. Cannady and P. Coppi and G. De Nolfo and M. Errando and L. Fabris and T. Fujiwara and Y. Fukazawa and P. Ghosh and K. Hagino and T. Hakamata and U. Hijikata and N. Hiroshima and M. Ichihashi and Y. Ichinohe and Y. Inoue and K. Ishikawa and K. Ishiwata and T. Iwata and G. Karagiorgi and T. Kato and H. Kawamura and J. Krizmanic and J. Leyva and A. Malige and J. G. Mitchell and J. W. Mitchell and R. Mukherjee and K. Nakazawa and K. Okuma and K. Perez and N. Poudyal and I. Safa and M. Sasaki and W. Seligman and K. Shirahama and T. Shiraishi and S. Smith and Y. Suda and A. Suraj and H. Takahashi and S. Takashima and S. Tandon and R. Tatsumi and J. Tomsick and N. Tsuji and Y. Uchida and S. Watanabe and Y. Yano and K. Yawata and H. Yoneda and M. Yoshimoto and J. Zeng},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.13209},
year = {2024}
}