Related papers: AugerPrime: the Pierre Auger Observatory Upgrade
The Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to elucidate the origin and nature of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays using a hybrid detection technique. A first run of data taking with a prototype version of both detectors (the so called…
Using the Auger mass-composition analysis of ultra high energy cosmic rays, based on the shape-fitting of $X_{max}$ distributions, we demonstrate that mass composition and energy spectra measured by Auger, Telescope Array and HiRes can be…
We present arguments aiming at reconciling apparently contradictory results concerning the chemical composition of cosmic rays of highest energy, coming recently from the Auger and HiRes collaborations. In particular, we argue that the…
The Pierre Auger Cosmic-Ray Observatory uses the earth's atmosphere as a calorimeter to measure extensive air-showers created by particles of astrophysical origin. Some of these particles carry joules of energy. At these extreme energies,…
The high energy spectrum of cosmic rays presents three distinct traits, the second knee, the ankle, and the GZK cutoff and as such, a thorough understanding of cosmic rays encompasses the study of these three features. It is in the second…
The main results from the Auger Observatory are described. A steepening of the spectrum is observed at the highest energies, supporting the expectation that above $4\times 10^{19}$ eV the cosmic ray energies are significantly degraded by…
Determining anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays at the highest energy is an important task in astrophysics. It is common and useful to partition the sky into spherical harmonics as a measure of anisotropy. The two lowest…
A search for ultra-high energy photons with energies above 1 EeV is performed using nine years of data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory in hybrid operation mode. An unprecedented separation power between photon and hadron primaries…
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the…
The Pierre Auger Observatory for cosmic rays provides a laboratory for studying fundamental interactions at energies well beyond those available at colliders. In addition to hadrons or photons, Auger is sensitive to ultra-high energy…
The determination of the primary energy of extensive air showers using the fluorescence detection technique requires an estimation of the energy carried away by particles that do not deposit all their energy in the atmosphere. This…
The shape of the longitudinal development of the showers generated in the atmosphere by very high energy cosmic ray particles encodes information about the mass composition of the flux, and about the properties of hadronic interactions that…
Over the last 30 years or so, a handful of events observed in ground-based cosmic ray detectors seem to have opened a new window in the field of high-energy astrophysics. These events have energies exceeding 5x10**19 eV (the region of the…
Using the data taken at the Pierre Auger Observatory between December 2004 and December 2012, we have examined the implications of the distributions of depths of atmospheric shower maximum (Xmax), using a hybrid technique, for composition…
Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger Observatory
In this paper, the connection between Pierre Auger Observatory measurements and photons is discussed. Three cases are presented: the search for photons in the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray radiation, the impact of the photon background in the…
Based on observations of the depth of shower maximum performed with the hybrid detector of the Auger Observatory, an upper limit on the cosmic-ray photon fraction of 26% (at 95% confidence level) is derived for primary energies above 10^19…
We explore the feasibility of estimating primary cosmic ray composition at ultra high energies from the sum of muon, electron and photon densities and the depth of maximum of extensive air showers detected by the Auger Observatory. From the…
Data taken at the Pierre Auger Observatory are used to search for air showers initiated by ultra-high energy (UHE) photons. Results of searches are reported from hybrid observations where events are measured with both fluorescence and array…
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has embraced the concept of open access to their research data since its foundation, with the aim of giving access to the widest possible community. A gradual process of release began as early as 2007 when 1%…