Observation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays with the ANITA balloon-borne radio interferometer.
Phys Rev Lett
; 105(15): 151101, 2010 Oct 08.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21230887
ABSTRACT
We report the observation of 16 cosmic ray events with a mean energy of 1.5 × 10¹9 eV via radio pulses originating from the interaction of the cosmic ray air shower with the Antarctic geomagnetic field, a process known as geosynchrotron emission. We present measurements in the 300-900 MHz range, which are the first self-triggered, first ultrawide band, first far-field, and the highest energy sample of cosmic ray events collected with the radio technique. Their properties are inconsistent with current ground-based geosynchrotron models. The emission is 100% polarized in the plane perpendicular to the projected geomagnetic field. Fourteen events are seen to have a phase inversion due to reflection of the radio beam off the ice surface, and two additional events are seen directly from above the horizon. Based on a likelihood analysis, we estimate angular pointing precision of order 2° for the event arrival directions.
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MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Ano de publicação:
2010
Tipo de documento:
Article