Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110–190MHz with LOFAR

A. Nelles; P. Schellart; S. Buitink; A. Corstanje; K.D. de Vries; J.E. Enriquez; H. Falcke; W. Frieswijk; J.R. Hörandel; O. Scholten; S. Ter Veen; S. Thoudam; M. Van den Akker; J. Anderson; A. Asgekar; M.E. Bell; M.J. Bentum; G. Bernardi; P. Best; J. Bregman; F. Breitling; J. Broderick; W.N. Brouw; M. Brüggen; H.R. Butcher; B. Ciardi; A. Deller; S. Duscha; J. Eislöffel; R.A. Fallows; M.A. Garrett; A.W. Gunst; T.E. Hassall; G. Heald; A. Horneffer; M. Iacobelli; E. Juette; A. Karastergiou; V.I. Kondratiev; M. Kramer; M. Kuniyoshi; G. Kuper; P. Maat; G. Mann; M. Mevius; M.J. Norden; H. Paas; M. Pandey-Pommier; G. Pietka; R. Pizzo; A.G. Polatidis; W. Reich; H. Röttgering; A.M.M. Scaife; D. Schwarz; O. Smirnov; B.W. Stappers; M. Steinmetz; A. Stewart; Michel Tagger; Y. Tang; C. Tasse; R. Vermeulen; C. Vocks; R.J. Van Weeren; S.J. Wijnholds; O. Wucknitz; S. Yatawatta; P. Zarka

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2014.11.006

Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110–190MHz with LOFAR

A. Nelles ¹ P. Schellart ¹ S. Buitink ¹ A. Corstanje K.D. de Vries ¹ J.E. Enriquez ² H. Falcke ^{3, 4, 1} W. Frieswijk J.R. Hörandel O. Scholten ⁵ S. Ter Veen ⁶ S. Thoudam ¹ M. Van den Akker J. Anderson A. Asgekar ³ M.E. Bell ⁷ M.J. Bentum ³ G. Bernardi ⁸ P. Best ⁹ J. Bregman ³ F. Breitling ¹⁰ J. Broderick ⁷ W.N. Brouw ¹¹ M. Brüggen ¹² H.R. Butcher ³ B. Ciardi ¹³ A. Deller S. Duscha J. Eislöffel ¹⁴ R.A. Fallows ¹⁵ M.A. Garrett ^{3, 16} A.W. Gunst ³ T.E. Hassall ¹⁷ G. Heald ³ A. Horneffer M. Iacobelli ^{18, 19} E. Juette ²⁰ A. Karastergiou ²¹ V.I. Kondratiev ³ M. Kramer ²² M. Kuniyoshi ⁴ G. Kuper ³ P. Maat ³ G. Mann ²³ M. Mevius ³ M.J. Norden H. Paas ³ M. Pandey-Pommier ²⁴ G. Pietka ²¹ R. Pizzo ³ A.G. Polatidis ³ W. Reich ⁴ H. Röttgering ¹⁶ A.M.M. Scaife ²⁵ D. Schwarz ²⁶ O. Smirnov ²⁷ B.W. Stappers ¹⁷ M. Steinmetz ²⁸ A. Stewart ²⁹ Michel Tagger ³⁰ Y. Tang ³¹ C. Tasse ^{27, 32} R. Vermeulen C. Vocks R.J. Van Weeren ³ S.J. Wijnholds ³ O. Wucknitz ³³ S. Yatawatta ¹¹ P. Zarka ³⁴

1 Radboud university [Nijmegen]

2 SETI Institute

3 ASTRON - Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy

4 MPIFR - Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie

5 KVI - Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, Univ. of Groningen

6 IMAPP - Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics

7 University of Southampton [Southampton]

8 CfA - Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

9 University of Edinburgh

10 AIP - Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam

11 Kapteyn Astronomical Institute [Groningen]

12 Jacobs University [Bremen]

13 Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

14 TLS - Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg

15 Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

16 Leiden Observatory [Leiden]

17 Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

18 CMLS - Centre de Mathématiques Laurent Schwartz

19 Sapienza University of Rome - Dipartimento di Matematica "Guido Castelnuovo" [Roma I]

20 Ruhr-Universität Bochum [Bochum]

21 Oxford Astrophysics

22 VUMC - Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre

23 AIP - Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam

24 CRAL - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon

25 School of Physics and Astronomy [Southampton]

26 Interactions Son Musique Mouvement

STMS - Sciences et Technologies de la Musique et du Son

27 Rhodes University

28 DSMZ - Leibniz-Institut DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH / Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures

29 LASP - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder]

30 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace

31 Sun Yat-Sen University

32 SKA South Africa

33 AlfA - Argelander-Institut für Astronomie

34 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique

Abstract : Measuring radio emission from air showers offers a novel way to determine properties of the primary cosmic rays such as their mass and energy. Theory predicts that relativistic time compression effects lead to a ring of amplified emission which starts to dominate the emission pattern for frequencies above ∼100∼100 MHz. In this article we present the first detailed measurements of this structure. Ring structures in the radio emission of air showers are measured with the LOFAR radio telescope in the frequency range of 110–190 MHz. These data are well described by CoREAS simulations. They clearly confirm the importance of including the index of refraction of air as a function of height. Furthermore, the presence of the Cherenkov ring offers the possibility for a geometrical measurement of the depth of shower maximum, which in turn depends on the mass of the primary particle.

Keywords : Time-compression Radio emission LOFAR Cosmic rays Extensive air showers

Document type :

Journal articles

Domain :

Sciences of the Universe [physics]

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https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-01271487
Contributor : Nathalie Rouchon <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, February 9, 2016 - 11:45:03 AM
Last modification on : Friday, April 5, 2019 - 8:19:26 PM

Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110–190MHz with LOFAR

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Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110–190MHz with LOFAR

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