1. |
- Aghanim, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck intermediate results XLVI. Reduction of large-scale systematic effects in HFI polarization maps and estimation of the reionization optical depth
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes the identification, modelling, and removal of previously unexplained systematic effects in the polarization data of the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) on large angular scales, including new mapmaking and calibration procedures, new and more complete end-to-end simulations, and a set of robust internal consistency checks on the resulting maps. These maps, at 100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz, are early versions of those that will be released in final form later in 2016. The improvements allow us to determine the cosmic reionization optical depth tau using, for the first time, the low-multipole EE data from HFI, reducing significantly the central value and uncertainty, and hence the upper limit. Two different likelihood procedures are used to constrain tau from two estimators of the CMB E- and B-mode angular power spectra at 100 and 143 GHz, after debiasing the spectra from a small remaining systematic contamination. These all give fully consistent results. A further consistency test is performed using cross-correlations derived from the Low Frequency Instrument maps of the Planck 2015 data release and the new HFI data. For this purpose, end-to-end analyses of systematic effects from the two instruments are used to demonstrate the near independence of their dominant systematic error residuals. The tightest result comes from the HFI-based tau posterior distribution using the maximum likelihood power spectrum estimator from EE data only, giving a value 0.055 +/- 0.009. In a companion paper these results are discussed in the context of the best-fit Planck Lambda CDM cosmological model and recent models of reionization.
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2. |
- Adam, R., et al.
(författare)
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Planck intermediate results XLVII. Planck constraints on reionization history
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate constraints on cosmic reionization extracted from the Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. We combine the Planck CMB anisotropy data in temperature with the low-multipole polarization data to fit Lambda CDM models with various parameterizations of the reionization history. We obtain a Thomson optical depth tau = 0.058 +/- 0.012 for the commonly adopted instantaneous reionization model. This confirms, with data solely from CMB anisotropies, the low value suggested by combining Planck 2015 results with other data sets, and also reduces the uncertainties. We reconstruct the history of the ionization fraction using either a symmetric or an asymmetric model for the transition between the neutral and ionized phases. To determine better constraints on the duration of the reionization process, we also make use of measurements of the amplitude of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect using additional information from the high-resolution Atacama Cosmology Telescope and South Pole Telescope experiments. The average redshift at which reionization occurs is found to lie between z = 7.8 and 8.8, depending on the model of reionization adopted. Using kSZ constraints and a redshift-symmetric reionization model, we find an upper limit to the width of the reionization period of Delta z < 2.8. In all cases, we find that the Universe is ionized at less than the 10% level at redshifts above z similar or equal to 10. This suggests that an early onset of reionization is strongly disfavoured by the Planck data. We show that this result also reduces the tension between CMB-based analyses and constraints from other astrophysical sources.
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3. |
- Aghanim, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck intermediate results LI. Features in the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum and shifts in cosmological parameters
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 607
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The six parameters of the standard Lambda CDM model have best-fit values derived from the Planck temperature power spectrum that are shifted somewhat from the best-fit values derived from WMAP data. These shifts are driven by features in the Planck temperature power spectrum at angular scales that had never before been measured to cosmic-variance level precision. We have investigated these shifts to determine whether they are within the range of expectation and to understand their origin in the data. Taking our parameter set to be the optical depth of the reionized intergalactic medium tau, the baryon density omega(b), the matter density omega(m), the angular size of the sound horizon theta(*), the spectral index of the primordial power spectrum, n(s), and A(s)e(-2 pi) (where As is the amplitude of the primordial power spectrum), we have examined the change in best-fit values between a WMAP-like large angular-scale data set (with multipole moment l < 800 in the Planck temperature power spectrum) and an all angular-scale data set (l < 2500 Planck temperature power spectrum), each with a prior on tau of 0.07 +/- 0.02. We find that the shifts, in units of the 1 sigma expected dispersion for each parameter, are {Delta tau, Delta A(s)e(-2 tau), Delta n(s), Delta omega(m), Delta omega(b), Delta theta(*)} = {-1.7, -2.2, 1.2, 2.0, 1.1, 0.9}, with a chi(2) value of 8.0. We find that this chi(2) value is exceeded in 15% of our simulated data sets, and that a parameter deviates by more than 2.2 sigma in 9% of simulated data sets, meaning that the shifts are not unusually large. Comparing l < 800 instead to l > 800, or splitting at a different multipole, yields similar results. We examined the l < 800 model residuals in the l > 800 power spectrum data and find that the features there that drive these shifts are a set of oscillations across a broad range of angular scales. Although they partly appear similar to the effects of enhanced gravitational lensing, the shifts in Lambda CDM parameters that arise in response to these features correspond to model spectrum changes that are predominantly due to non-lensing effects; the only exception is tau, which, at fixed A(s)e(-2 tau), affects the l > 800 temperature power spectrum solely through the associated change in As and the impact of that on the lensing potential power spectrum. We also ask, what is it about the power spectrum at l < 800 that leads to somewhat different best-fit parameters than come from the full l range? We find that if we discard the data at l < 30, where there is a roughly 2 sigma downward fluctuation in power relative to the model that best fits the full l range, the l < 800 best-fit parameters shift significantly towards the l < 2500 best-fit parameters. In contrast, including l < 30, this previously noted low-l deficit drives ns up and impacts parameters correlated with ns, such as omega(m) and H-0. As expected, the l < 30 data have a much greater impact on the l < 800 best fit than on the l < 2500 best fit. So although the shifts are not very significant, we find that they can be understood through the combined effects of an oscillatory-like set of high-l residuals and the deficit in low-l power, excursions consistent with sample variance that happen to map onto changes in cosmological parameters. Finally, we examine agreement between Planck TT data and two other CMB data sets, namely the Planck lensing reconstruction and the TT power spectrum measured by the South Pole Telescope, again finding a lack of convincing evidence of any significant deviations in parameters, suggesting that current CMB data sets give an internally consistent picture of the Lambda CDM model.
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4. |
- Pezzotta, A., et al.
(författare)
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Euclid preparation XLI. Galaxy power spectrum modelling in real space
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 687
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the accuracy of the perturbative galaxy bias expansion in view of the forthcoming analysis of the Euclid spectroscopic galaxy samples. We compare the performance of a Eulerian galaxy bias expansion using state-of-the-art prescriptions from the effective field theory of large-scale structure (EFTofLSS) with a hybrid approach based on Lagrangian perturbation theory and high-resolution simulations. These models are benchmarked against comoving snapshots of the flagship I N-body simulation at z = (0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8), which have been populated with H alpha galaxies leading to catalogues of millions of objects within a volume of about 58 h(-3) Gpc(3). Our analysis suggests that both models can be used to provide a robust inference of the parameters (h, omega c) in the redshift range under consideration, with comparable constraining power. We additionally determine the range of validity of the EFTofLSS model in terms of scale cuts and model degrees of freedom. From these tests, it emerges that the standard third-order Eulerian bias expansion - which includes local and non-local bias parameters, a matter counter term, and a correction to the shot-noise contribution - can accurately describe the full shape of the real-space galaxy power spectrum up to the maximum wavenumber of k(max) = 0.45 h Mpc(-1), and with a measurement precision of well below the percentage level. Fixing either of the tidal bias parameters to physically motivated relations still leads to unbiased cosmological constraints, and helps in reducing the severity of projection effects due to the large dimensionality of the model. We finally show how we repeated our analysis assuming a volume that matches the expected footprint of Euclid, but without considering observational effects, such as purity and completeness, showing that we can get constraints on the combination (h, omega c) that are consistent with the fiducial values to better than the 68% confidence interval over this range of scales and redshifts.
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5. |
- Aghanim, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck intermediate results L. Evidence of spatial variation of the polarized thermal dust spectral energy distribution and implications for CMB B-mode analysis
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 599
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The characterization of the Galactic foregrounds has been shown to be the main obstacle in the challenging quest to detect primordial B-modes in the polarized microwave sky. We make use of the Planck-HFI 2015 data release at high frequencies to place new constraints on the properties of the polarized thermal dust emission at high Galactic latitudes. Here, we specifically study the spatial variability of the dust polarized spectral energy distribution (SED), and its potential impact on the determination of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r. We use the correlation ratio of the CBB `angular power spectra between the 217 and 353 GHz channels as a tracer of these potential variations, computed on different high Galactic latitude regions, ranging from 80% to 20% of the sky. The new insight from Planck data is a departure of the correlation ratio from unity that cannot be attributed to a spurious decorrelation due to the cosmic microwave background, instrumental noise, or instrumental systematics. The effect is marginally detected on each region, but the statistical combination of all the regions gives more than 99% confidence for this variation in polarized dust properties. In addition, we show that the decorrelation increases when there is a decrease in the mean column density of the region of the sky being considered, and we propose a simple power-law empirical model for this dependence, which matches what is seen in the Planck data. We explore the effect that this measured decorrelation has on simulations of the BICEP2-Keck Array/Planck analysis and show that the 2015 constraints from these data still allow a decorrelation between the dust at 150 and 353 GHz that is compatible with our measured value. Finally, using simplified models, we show that either spatial variation of the dust SED or of the dust polarization angle are able to produce decorrelations between 217 and 353 GHz data similar to the values we observe in the data.
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6. |
- Akrami, Y., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck 2018 results II. Low Frequency Instrument data processing
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 641
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a final description of the data-processing pipeline for the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI), implemented for the 2018 data release. Several improvements have been made with respect to the previous release, especially in the calibration process and in the correction of instrumental features such as the effects of nonlinearity in the response of the analogue-to-digital converters. We provide a brief pedagogical introduction to the complete pipeline, as well as a detailed description of the important changes implemented. Self-consistency of the pipeline is demonstrated using dedicated simulations and null tests. We present the final version of the LFI full sky maps at 30, 44, and 70 GHz, both in temperature and polarization, together with a refined estimate of the solar dipole and a final assessment of the main LFI instrumental parameters.
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7. |
- Aghanim, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck 2018 results III. High Frequency Instrument data processing and frequency maps
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 641
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) data processing procedures for the Planck 2018 release. Major improvements in mapmaking have been achieved since the previous Planck 2015 release, many of which were used and described already in an intermediate paper dedicated to the Planck polarized data at low multipoles. These improvements enabled the first significant measurement of the reionization optical depth parameter using Planck-HFI data. This paper presents an extensive analysis of systematic effects, including the use of end-to-end simulations to facilitate their removal and characterize the residuals. The polarized data, which presented a number of known problems in the 2015 Planck release, are very significantly improved, especially the leakage from intensity to polarization. Calibration, based on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) dipole, is now extremely accurate and in the frequency range 100-353 GHz reduces intensity-to-polarization leakage caused by calibration mismatch. The Solar dipole direction has been determined in the three lowest HFI frequency channels to within one arc minute, and its amplitude has an absolute uncertainty smaller than 0.35 mu K, an accuracy of order 10(-4). This is a major legacy from the Planck HFI for future CMB experiments. The removal of bandpass leakage has been improved for the main high-frequency foregrounds by extracting the bandpass-mismatch coefficients for each detector as part of the mapmaking process; these values in turn improve the intensity maps. This is a major change in the philosophy of frequency maps, which are now computed from single detector data, all adjusted to the same average bandpass response for the main foregrounds. End-to-end simulations have been shown to reproduce very well the relative gain calibration of detectors, as well as drifts within a frequency induced by the residuals of the main systematic effect (analogue-to-digital convertor non-linearity residuals). Using these simulations, we have been able to measure and correct the small frequency calibration bias induced by this systematic effect at the 10(-4) level. There is no detectable sign of a residual calibration bias between the first and second acoustic peaks in the CMB channels, at the 10(-3) level.
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8. |
- Aghanim, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Planck intermediate results XLIX. Parity-violation constraints from polarization data
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parity-violating extensions of the standard electromagnetic theory cause in vacuo rotation of the plane of polarization of propagating photons. This effect, also known as cosmic birefringence, has an impact on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy angular power spectra, producing non-vanishing T-B and E-B correlations that are otherwise null when parity is a symmetry. Here we present new constraints on an isotropic rotation, parametrized by the angle alpha, derived from Planck 2015 CMB polarization data. To increase the robustness of our analyses, we employ two complementary approaches, in harmonic space and in map space, the latter based on a peak stacking technique. The two approaches provide estimates for alpha that are in agreement within statistical uncertainties and are very stable against several consistency tests. Considering the T-B and E-B information jointly, we find alpha = 0 degrees: 31 +/- 0 degrees.05 (stat:) +/- 0 degrees:28 (syst:) from the harmonic analysis and alpha = 0 degrees.35 +/- 0 degrees.05 (stat :) 0 degrees.28 (syst :) from the stacking approach. These constraints are compatible with no parity violation and are dominated by the systematic uncertainty in the orientation of Planck's polarization-sensitive bolometers.
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9. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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The MACRO detector at Gran Sasso
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 486:3, s. 663-707
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- MACRO was an experiment that ran in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso from 1988 to 2000. Its principal goal was to observe magnetic monopoles or set significantly lower experimental flux limits than had been previously available in the velocity range from about beta = 10(-4) to unity. In addition it made a variety of other observations. Examples are: setting flux limits on other so far unobserved particles such as nuclearites and lightly ionizing particles, searching for WIMP annihilations in the Earth and the Sun and for neutrino bursts from stellar collapses in or near our Galaxy, and making measurements relevant to high energy muon and neutrino astronomy and of the flux of up-going muons as a function of nadir angle showing evidence for neutrino oscillations. The apparatus consisted of three principal types of detectors: liquid scintillator counters, limited streamer tubes, and nuclear track etch detectors. In addition, over part of its area it contained a transition radiation detector. The general design philosophy emphasized redundancy and complementarity. This paper describes the technical aspects of the complete MACRO detector, its operational performance, and the techniques used to calibrate it and verify its proper operation. It supplements a previously published paper which described the first portion of the detector that was built and operated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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10. |
- Akrami, Y., et al.
(författare)
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Planck intermediate results LII. Planet flux densities
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 607
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measurements of flux density are described for five planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, across the six Planck High Frequency Instrument frequency bands (100-857 GHz) and these are then compared with models and existing data. In our analysis, we have also included estimates of the brightness of Jupiter and Saturn at the three frequencies of the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (30, 44, and 70 GHz). The results provide constraints on the intrinsic brightness and the brightness time-variability of these planets. The majority of the planet flux density estimates are limited by systematic errors, but still yield better than 1% measurements in many cases. Applying data from Planck HFI, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) to a model that incorporates contributions from Saturn's rings to the planet's total flux density suggests a best fit value for the spectral index of Saturn's ring system of beta(ring) = 2 : 30 +/- 0 : 03 over the 30-1000 GHz frequency range. Estimates of the polarization amplitude of the planets have also been made in the four bands that have polarization-sensitive detectors (100-353 GHz); this analysis provides a 95% confidence level upper limit on Mars's polarization of 1.8, 1.7, 1.2, and 1.7% at 100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz, respectively. The average ratio between the Planck-HFI measurements and the adopted model predictions for all five planets (excluding Jupiter observations for 353 GHz) is 1.004, 1.002, 1.021, and 1.033 for 100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz, respectively. Model predictions for planet thermodynamic temperatures are therefore consistent with the absolute calibration of Planck-HFI detectors at about the three-percent level. We compare our measurements with published results from recent cosmic microwave background experiments. In particular, we observe that the flux densities measured by Planck HFI and WMAP agree to within 2%. These results allow experiments operating in the mm-wavelength range to cross-calibrate against Planck and improve models of radiative transport used in planetary science.
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11. |
- Aglietta, M, et al.
(författare)
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The cosmic ray primary composition between 10(15) and 10(16) eV from Extensive Air Showers electromagnetic and TeV muon data
- 2004
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 20:6, s. 641-652
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cosmic ray primary composition in the energy range between 10(15) and 10(16) eV, i.e., around the "knee" of the primary spectrum, has been studied through the combined measurements of the EAS-TOP air shower array (2005 m a. s.l., 10(5) m(2) collecting area) and the MACRO underground detector (963 m.a.s.l., 3100 m w.e. of minimum rock overburden, 920 m(2) effective area) at the National Gran Sasso Laboratories. The used observables are the air shower size (N-c) measured by EAS-TOP and the muon number (N-mu) recorded by MACRO. The two detectors are separated on average by 1200 m of rock, and located at a respective zenith angle of about 30degrees. The energy threshold at the surface for muons reaching the MACRO depth is approximately 1.3 TeV. Such muons are produced in the early stages of the shower development and in a kinematic region quite different from the one relevant for the usual N-mu - N-e studies. The measurement leads to a primary composition becoming heavier at the knee of the primary spectrum, the knee itself resulting from the steepening of the spectrum of a primary light component (p, He) of Deltay = 0.7 +/- 0.4 at E-0 similar to 4 x 10(15) eV. The result confirms the ones reported from the observation of the low energy muons at the surface (typically in the GeV energy range), showing that the conclusions do not depend on the production region kinematics. Thus, the hadronic interaction model used (CORSIKA/QGSJET) provides consistent composition results from data related to secondaries produced in a rapidity region exceeding the central one. Such an evolution of the composition in the knee region supports the "standard" galactic acceleration/propagation models that imply rigidity dependent breaks of the different components.. and therefore breaks occurring at lower energies in the spectra of the light nuclei. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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12. |
- Aglietta, M, et al.
(författare)
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The cosmic ray proton, helium and CNO fluxes in the 100 TeV energy region from TeV muons and EAS atmospheric Cherenkov light observations of MACRO and EAS-TOP
- 2004
-
Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 21:3, s. 223-240
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The primary cosmic ray (CR) proton, helium and CNO fluxes in the energy range 80-300 TeV are studied at the National Gran Sasso Laboratories by means of EAS-TOP (Campo Imperatore, 2005 m a.s.l.) and MACRO (deep underground, 3100 m w.e., the surface energy threshold for a muon reaching the detector being E-mu(th) approximate to 1.3 TeV). The measurement is based on: (a) the selection of primaries based on their energy/nucleon (i.e., with energy/nucleon sufficient to produce a muon with energy larger than 1.3 TeV) and the reconstruction of the shower geometry by means of the muons recorded by MACRO in the deep underground laboratories; (b) the detection of the associated atmospheric Cherenkov light (C.l.) signals by means of the C.l. detector of EAS-TOP. The C.l. density at core distance r > 100 m is directly related to the total primary energy E-0. Proton and helium ("p + He") and proton, helium and CNO ("p + He + CNO") primaries are thus selected at E-0 approximate to 80 TeV, and at E-0 similar or equal to 250 TeV, respectively. Their flux is measured: J(p+He)(80 TeV) = (1.8 +/- 0.4) x 10(-6) m(-1)-s(-1) sr(-1) TeV-1, and J(p+He+CNO)(250 TeV) = (1.1 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) m(-2)-s(-1) sr(-1) TeV-1, their relative weights being J(p+He)(J(p+He+CNO)) over bar (250 TeV) = 0.78 +/- 0.17. By using the measurements of the proton spectrum obtained from the direct experiments and hadron flux data in the atmosphere, we obtain for the relative weights of the three components at 250 TeV: J(p) : J(He) : J(CNO) = (0.20 +/- 0.08) : (0.58 +/- 0.19) : (0.22 +/- 0.17). This corresponds to the dominance of helium over proton primaries at 100-1000 TeV, and a possible non-negligible contribution from CNO. The lateral distribution of Cherenkov light in Extensive Air Showers (EASs), which is related to the rate of energy deposit of the primary in the atmosphere, is measured for a selected proton and helium primary beam, and good agreement is found when compared with the one calculated with the CORSIKA/QGSJET simulation model. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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13. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Matter effects in upward-going muons and sterile neutrino oscillations
- 2001
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Ingår i: Physics Letters B. - : Elsevier. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 517:1-2, s. 59-66
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The angular distribution of upward-going muons produced by atmospheric neutrinos in the rock below the MACRO detector shows anomalies in good agreement with two flavor nu (mu) --> nu (tau) oscillations with maximum mixing and Deltam(2) around 0.0024 eV(2). Exploiting the dependence of magnitude of the matter effect on oscillation channel, and using a set of 809 upward-going muons observed in MACRO, we show that the two flavor nu (mu) --> nu (s) oscillation is disfavored with 99% C.L. with respect to nu (mu) --> nu (tau). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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14. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Muon energy estimate through multiple scattering with the MACRO detector
- 2002
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 492:3, s. 376-386
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Muon energy measurement represents an important issue for any experiment addressing neutrino-induced up-going muon studies. Since the neutrino oscillation probability depends on the neutrino energy, a measurement of the muon energy adds an important piece of information concerning the neutrino system. We show in this paper how the MACRO limited streamer tube system can be operated in drift mode by using the TDCs included in the QTPs, an electronics designed for magnetic monopole search. An improvement of the space resolution is obtained, through an analysis of the multiple scattering of muon tracks as they pass through our detector. This information can be used further to obtain an estimate of the energy of muons crossing the detector. Here we present the results of two dedicated tests, performed at CERN PS-T9 and SPS-X7 beam lines, to provide a full check of the electronics and to exploit the feasibility of such a multiple scattering analysis. We show that by using a neural network approach, we are able to reconstruct the muon energy for E-mu < 40 GeV. The test beam data provide an absolute energy calibration, which allows us to apply this method to MACRO data. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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15. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Search for the sidereal and solar diurnal modulations in the total MACRO muon data set
- 2003
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. Particles and fields. - : American Physical Society. - 0556-2821 .- 1089-4918. ; 67:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have analyzed 44.3M single muons collected by MACRO from 1991 through 2000 in 2145 live days of operation. We have searched for the solar diurnal, apparent sidereal, and pseudosidereal modulation of the underground muon rate by computing hourly deviations of the muon rate from 6 month averages. We find evidence for statistically significant modulations with the solar diurnal and the sidereal periods. The amplitudes of these modulations are <0.1%, and are at the limit of the detector statistics. The pseudosidereal modulation is not statistically significant. The solar diurnal modulation is due to the daily atmospheric temperature variations at 20 km, the altitude of primary cosmic ray interactions with the atmosphere; MACRO is the deepest experiment to report this result. The sidereal modulation is in addition to the expected Compton-Getting modulation due to solar system motion relative to the local standard of rest; it represents motion of the solar system with respect to the galactic cosmic rays toward the galactic plane.
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16. |
- Acharya, B., et al.
(författare)
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Search formagnetic monopoles with the MoEDAL prototype trapping detector in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP). - 1126-6708 .- 1029-8479. ; :8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for magnetic monopoles and other highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy collisions at the LHC. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Interaction Point 8 on the LHC ring, relies on two dedicated direct detection techniques. The first technique is based on stacks of nuclear-track detectors with surface area similar to 18 m(2), sensitive to particle ionisation exceeding a high threshold. These detectors are analysed offline by optical scanning microscopes. The second technique is based on the trapping of charged particles in an array of roughly 800 kg of aluminium samples. These samples are monitored offline for the presence of trapped magnetic charge at a remote superconducting magnetometer facility. We present here the results of a search for magnetic monopoles using a 160 kg prototype MoEDAL trapping detector exposed to 8TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, for an integrated luminosity of 0.75 fb(-1). No magnetic charge exceeding 0.5g(D) (where g(D) is the Dirac magnetic charge) is measured in any of the exposed samples, allowing limits to be placed on monopole production in the mass range 100 GeV <= m <= 3500 GeV. Model-independent cross-section limits are presented in fiducial regions of monopole energy and direction for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 6g(D), and model-dependent cross-section limits are obtained for Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 and spin-0 monopoles for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 4g(D). Under the assumption of Drell-Yan cross sections, mass limits are derived for vertical bar g vertical bar = 2g(D) and vertical bar g vertical bar = 3g(D) for the first time at the LHC, surpassing the results from previous collider experiments.
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17. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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A combined analysis technique for the search for fast magnetic monopoles with the MACRO detector
- 2002
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 18:1, s. 27-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe a search method for fast moving (beta = v/c > 5 x 10(-3)) magnetic monopoles using simultaneously the scintillator, streamer tube and track-etch subdetectors of the MACRO apparatus. The first two subdetectors are used primarily for the identification of candidates while the track-etch one is used as the final tool for their rejection or confirmation. Using this technique, a first sample of more than two-years of data has been analyzed without any evidence of a magnetic monopole. We set a 90% CL upper limit to the local monopole flux of 1.5 x 10(-15) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) in the velocity range 5 x 10(-3) less than or equal to beta less than or equal to 0.99 and for nucleon decay catalysis cross-section smaller than similar to1 mb (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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18. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Atmospheric neutrino oscillations from upward throughgoing muon multiple scattering in MACRO
- 2003
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Ingår i: Physics Letters B. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 566:1-2, s. 35-44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The energy of atmospheric neutrinos detected by MACRO was estimated using multiple Coulomb scattering of upward throughgoing muons. This analysis allows a test of atmospheric neutrino oscillations, relying on the distortion of the muon energy distribution. These results have been combined with those coming from the upward throughgoing muon angular distribution only. Both analyses are independent of the neutrino flux normalization and provide strong evidence, above the for level, in favour of neutrino oscillations. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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19. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Final results of magnetic monopole searches with the MACRO experiment
- 2002
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 25:4, s. 511-522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the final results obtained by the MACRO experiment in the search for GUT magnetic monopoles in the penetrating cosmic radiation, for the range 4 x 10(-5) < 3 < 1. Several searches with all the MACRO sub-detectors (i.e. scintillation counters, limited streamer tubes and nuclear track detectors) were performed, both in stand alone and combined ways. No candidates were detected and a 90% Confidence Level (C.L.) upper limit to the local magnetic monopole flux was set at the level of 1.4 x 10(-16) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1). This result is the first experimental limit obtained in direct searches which is well below the Parker bound in the whole 3 range in which GUT magnetic monopoles are,expected.
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20. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of the residual energy of muons in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories
- 2003
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 19:3, s. 313-328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The MACRO detector was located in the Hall B of the Gran Sasso underground laboratories under an average rock overburden of 3700 hg/cm(2). A transition radiation detector composed of three identical modules, covering a total horizontal area of 36 m(2), was installed inside the empty upper part of the detector in order to measure the residual energy of muons. This paper presents the measurement of the residual energy of single and double muons crossing the apparatus. Our data show that double muons are more energetic than single ones. This measurement is performed over a standard rock depth range from 3000 to 6500 hg/cm(2). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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21. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Measurements of atmospheric muon neutrino oscillations, global analysis of the data collected with MACRO detector
- 2004
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 36:3, s. 323-339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The final analysis of atmospheric neutrino events collected with the MACRO detector is presented. Three different classes of events, generated by neutrinos in different energy ranges, are studied looking at rates, angular distributions and estimated energies. The results are consistent for all the subsamples and indicate a flux deficit that depends on energy and path - length of neutrinos. The no - oscillation hypothesis is excluded at similar to 5sigma, while the hypothesis of nu(mu) --> nu(tau) oscillation gives a satisfactory description of all data. The parameters with highest probability in a two flavor scenario are sin(2) 2theta(m) = 1 and Deltam(2) = 0.0023 eV(2). This result is independent of the absolute normalization of the atmospheric neutrino fluxes. The data can also be used to put experimental constrain on this normalization.
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22. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Moon and Sun shadowing effect in the MACRO detector
- 2003
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 20:2, s. 145-156
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using data collected by the MACRO experiment from 1989 to the end of its operations in 2000, we have studied in the underground muon flux the shadowing. effects due to both the Moon and the Sun. We have observed the shadow cast by the Moon at its apparent position with a significance of 6.5sigma. The Moon shadowing effect has been used to verify the pointing capability of the detector and to determine the instrument resolution for the search of muon excesses from any direction of the celestial sphere. The dependence of the effect on the geomagnetic field is clearly shown by splitting the data sample in day and night observations. The Sun shadow, observed with a significance of 4.6sigma is displaced by about 0.6degrees from its apparent position. In this case however the explanation resides in the configuration of the Solar and Interplanetary Magnetic Fields, which affect the propagation of cosmic ray particles between the Sun, and the Earth. The displacement of the Sun shadow with respect to the real Sun position has been used to establish an upper limit on the antimatter flux in cosmic rays of about 48% at 68% c.l. and primary energies of about 20 TeV. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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23. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Search for cosmic ray sources using muons detected by the MACRO experiment
- 2003
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 18:6, s. 615-627
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The MACRO underground detector at Gran Sasso Laboratory recorded 60 million secondary cosmic ray muons from February 1989 until December 2000. Different techniques were used to analyze this sample in search for density excesses from astrophysical point-like sources. No evidence for DC excesses for any source in an all-sky survey is reported. In addition, searches for muon excess correlated with the known binary periods of Cygnus X-3 and Hercules X-1, and searches for statistically significant bursting episodes from known gamma-ray sources are also proved negative. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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24. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Search for diffuse neutrino flux from astrophysical sources with MACRO
- 2003
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 19:1, s. 1-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many galactic and extragalactic astrophysical sources are currently considered promising candidates as high-energy neutrino emitters. Astrophysical neutrinos can be detected as upward-going muons produced in charged-current interactions with the medium surrounding the detector. The expected neutrino fluxes from various models start to dominate on the atmospheric neutrino background at neutrino energies above some tens of TeV. We present the results of a search for an excess of high-energy upward-going muons among the sample of data collected by MACRO during similar to5.8 years of effective running time. No significant evidence for this signal was found. As a consequence, an upper limit on the flux of upward-going muons from high-energy neutrinos was set at the level of 1.7 x 10(-14) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1). The corresponding upper limit for the diffuse neutrino flux was evaluated assuming a neutrino power law spectrum. Our result was compared with theoretical predictions and upper limits from other experiments. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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25. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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Search for nucleon decays induced by GUT magnetic monopoles with the MACRO experiment
- 2002
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Ingår i: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 26:2, s. 163-172
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The interaction of a Grand Unification Magnetic Monopole with a nucleon can lead to a barion-number violating process in which the nucleon decays into a lepton and one or more mesons (catalysis of nucleon decay). In this paper we report an experimental study of the effects of a catalysis process in the MACRO detector. Using a dedicated analysis we obtain new magnetic monopole (MM) flux upper limits at the level of similar to 3 (.) 10(-16) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) for 1.1(.) 10(-4) less than or equal to \beta\ less than or equal to 5 (.) 10(-3), based on the search for catalysis events in the MACRO data. We also analyze the dependence of the MM flux limit on the catalysis cross section.
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26. |
- Togo, V, et al.
(författare)
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Calibrations of CR39 and Makrofol nuclear track detectors and search for exotic particles
- 2003
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Ingår i: Nuclear physics B, Proceedings supplements. - : Elsevier. - 0920-5632 .- 1873-3832. ; 125, s. 217-221
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the final results of the search for exotic massive particles in the cosmic radiation performed with the MACRO underground experiment. Magnetic monopoles and nuclearites flux upper limits obtained with the CR39 nuclear track subdetector, the scintillation and streamer tube subdetectors are given. Searches at high altitude with the SLIM experiment are in progress.
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27. |
- Battistoni, G, et al.
(författare)
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Search for a Lorentz invariance violation contribution in atmospheric neutrino oscillations using MACRO data
- 2005
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Ingår i: Physics Letters B. - : Elsevier. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 615:1-2, s. 14-18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The energy spectrum of neutrino-induced upward-going muons in MACRO has been analysed in terms of relativity principles violating effects, keeping standard mass-induced atmospheric neutrino oscillations as the dominant source of v(u) -> v(tau) transitions. The data disfavor these exotic possibilities even at a subdominant level, and stringent 90% C.L. limits are placed on the Lorentz invariance violation parameter vertical bar Delta v vertical bar < 6 x 10(-24) at sin2 theta(v) = 0 and vertical bar Delta(v)vertical bar < 2.5-5 x 10(-26) at sin 2 theta(v) = +/- 1. These limits can also be re-interpreted as upper bounds on the parameters describing violation of the equivalence principle. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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28. |
- Battistoni, G, et al.
(författare)
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Search for exotic contributions to atmospheric neutrino oscillations
- 2005
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Ingår i: 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference. - Mumbai : Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. ; , s. 171-174
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The energy spectrum of neutrino-induced upward-going muons in MACRO was analysed in terms of relativity principles violating effects, keeping standard mass-induced atmospheric neutrino oscillations as the dominant source of v(mu) -> v(tau) transitions. The data disfavor these possibilities even at a sub-dominant level; stringent 90% C.L. limits are placed on the Lorentz invariance violation parameter vertical bar Delta v vertical bar < 6 x 10(-24) at sin 2 theta(v) = 0 and vertical bar Delta v vertical bar < 2.5 divided by 5 x 10(-26) at sin 2 theta(v) = +/- 1. The limits can be re-interpreted as bounds on the Equivalence Principle violation parameters.
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29. |
- Becherini, Yvonne, et al.
(författare)
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Time correlations of high energy muons in an underground detector
- 2005
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 23:3, s. 341-348
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the result of a search for correlations in the arrival times of high energy muons collected from 1995 till 2000 with the streamer tube system of the complete MACRO detector at the underground Gran Sasso Lab. Large samples of single muons (8.6 million), double muons (0.46 million) and multiple muons with multiplicities from 3 to 6 (0.08 million) were selected. These samples were used to search for time correlations of cosmic ray particles coming from the whole upper hemisphere or from selected space cones. The results of our analyses confirm with high statistics a random arrival time distribution of high energy cosmic rays. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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30. |
- Becherini, Yvonne, et al.
(författare)
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Time variations in the deep underground muon flux measured by MACRO
- 2005
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Ingår i: 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference. - Mumbai : Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. ; , s. 157-160
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- More than 30 million high-energy muons collected with the MACRO detector at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory have been used to search for flux variations of different nature. Two kinds of studies were carried out: search for periodical variations and for the occurrence of clusters of events. Different analysis methods, including Lomb-Scargle spectral analysis and scan statistics have been applied to the data.
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