Observing ultra-high energy cosmic rays with prototypes of the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) in both hemispheres
Abstract
The origin and nature of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are hot topics in the astroparticle physics community. The Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) is a design for a next-generation ground-based UHECR observatory, addressing the requirements for a large-area, low-cost detector suitable for measuring the properties of the highest energy cosmic rays with an unprecedented aperture. We have developed a full-scale prototype consisting of four 200 mm photomultiplier tubes at the focus of a segmented mirror of 1.6 m in diameter. Over the last three years, we have installed three prototypes at the Telescope Array Experiment in Utah, USA. These telescopes have been steadily taking data since installation. We report on preliminary results of the full-scale FAST prototypes, including measurements of UHECRs, and distant ultra-violet lasers used to study the atmospheric transparency. Furthermore, we discuss the installation of an additional identical FAST prototype at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. Possible benefits to the Telescope Array Experiment and the Pierre Auger Observatory include a comparison of the transparency of the atmosphere above both experiments, a study of the systematic uncertainty associated with their existing fluorescence detectors, and a cross-calibration of their energy and Xmax scales.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1908.02904,
title = {Observing ultra-high energy cosmic rays with prototypes of the Fluorescence detector Array of Single-pixel Telescopes (FAST) in both hemispheres},
author = {Toshihiro Fujii and Max Malacari and John Farmer and Justin Albury and Jose A. Bellido and Ladislav Chytka and Petr Hamal and Pavel Horvath and Miroslav Hrabovsky and Jiri Kvita and Dusan Mandat and Massimo Mastrodicasa and John N. Matthews and Stanislav Michal and Xiaochen Ni and Libor Nozka and Miroslav Palatka and Miroslav Pech and Paolo Privitera and Petr Schovanek and Francesco Salamida and Radomir Smida and Stan B. Thomas and Petr Travnicek and Martin Vacula},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.02904},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
8 pages, Proceedings of the 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2019), July 24th - August 1st, 2019, Madison, WI, USA. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1810.06678