1. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Observation of high energy atmospheric neutrinos with the Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array
- 2002
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 66:1, s. 120051-1200520
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array (AMANDA) began collecting data with ten strings in 1997. Results from the first year of operation are presented. Neutrinos coming through the Earth from the Northern Hemisphere are identified by secondary muons moving upward through the array. Cosmic rays in the atmosphere generate a background of downward moving muons, which are about 106 times more abundant than the upward moving muons. Over 130 days of exposure, we observed a total of about 300 neutrino events. In the same period, a background of 1.05 × 109 cosmic ray muon events was recorded. The observed neutrino flux is consistent with atmospheric neutrino predictions. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that 90% of these events lie in the energy range 66 GeV to 3.4 TeV. The observation of atmospheric neutrinos consistent with expectations establishes AMANDA-B10 as a working neutrino telescope.
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2. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
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The MACRO detector at Gran Sasso
- 2002
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 486:3, s. 663-707
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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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3. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of the cosmic ray composition at the knee with the SPASE-2/AMANDA-B10 detectors
- 2004
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 21:6, s. 565-581
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mass composition of high-energy cosmic rays at energies above 1015 eV can provide crucial information for the understanding of their origin. Air showers were measured simultaneously with the SPASE-2 air shower array and the AMANDA-B10 Cherenkov telescope at the South Pole. This combination has the advantage to sample almost all high-energy shower muons and is thus a new approach to the determination of the cosmic ray composition. The change in the cosmic ray mass composition was measured versus existing data from direct measurements at low energies. Our data show an increase of the mean log atomic mass 〈lnA〉 by about 0.8 between 500 TeV and 5 PeV. This trend of an increasing mass through the "knee" region is robust against a variety of systematic effects. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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4. |
- 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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5. |
- 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
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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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6. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Calibration and survey of AMANDA with the SPASE detectors
- 2004
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 522:3, s. 347-359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the analysis of air showers observed in coincidence by the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino detector array (AMANDA-B10) and the South Pole Air Shower Experiment (SPASE-1 and SPASE-2). We discuss the use of coincident events for calibration and survey of the deep AMANDA detector as well as the response of AMANDA to muon bundles. This analysis uses data taken during 1997 when both SPASE-1 and SPASE-2 were in operation to provide a stereo view of AMANDA. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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7. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for point sources of high-energy neutrinos with AMANDA
- 2003
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2041-8205 .- 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 583:2 I, s. 1040-1057
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes the search for astronomical sources of high-energy neutrinos using the AMANDA-B10 detector, an array of 302 photomultiplier tubes used for the detection of Cerenkov light from upward-traveling neutrino-induced muons, buried deep in ice at the South Pole. The absolute pointing accuracy and angular resolution were studied by using coincident events between the AMANDA detector and two independent telescopes on the surface, the GASP air Cerenkov telescope and the SPASE extensive air shower array. Using data collected from 1997 April to October (130.1 days of live time), a general survey of the northern hemisphere revealed no statistically significant excess of events from any direction. The sensitivity for a flux of muon neutrinos is based on the effective detection area for through-going muons. Averaged over the northern sky, the effective detection area exceeds 10,000 m2 for E μ ≈ 10 TeV. Neutrinos generated in the atmosphere by cosmic-ray interactions were used to verify the predicted performance of the detector. For a source with a differential energy spectrum proportional to Eν -2 and declination larger than +40°, we obtain E2(dNν/dE) ≤ 10-6 GeV cm-2 s-1 for an energy threshold of 10 GeV.
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8. |
- Andres, E., et al.
(författare)
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Selected recent results from AMANDA
- 2001
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Ingår i: ICHEP 2000. Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on High Energy Physics. - : World Scientific. ; , s. 965-968
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a selection of results based on data taken in 1997 with the 302-PMT Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array-B10 ("AMANDA-B10") array. Atmospheric neutrinos created in the northern hemisphere are observed indirectly through their charged current interactions which produce relativistic, Cherenkov-light-emitting upgoing muons in the South Pole ice cap. The reconstructed angular distribution of these events is in good agreement with expectation and demonstrates the viability of this ice-based device as a neutrino telescope. Studies of nearly vertical upgoing muons limit the available parameter space for WIMP dark matter under the assumption that WIMPS are trapped in the earth's gravitational potential well and annihilate with one another near the earth's center.
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9. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
-
Initial results from AMANDA
- 2001
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Ingår i: 21st Rencontres de Moriond Workshop on Very High-Energy Phenomena in the Universe.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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10. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for neutrino-induced cascades with the AMANDA detector
- 2003
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society (APS). - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 67:1, s. 012003-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on a search for electromagnetic and/or hadronic showers (cascades) induced by a diffuse flux of neutrinos with energies between 5 TeV and 300 TeV from extraterrestrial sources. Cascades may be produced by matter interactions of all flavors of neutrinos, and contained cascades have better energy resolution and afford better background rejection than throughgoing νμ-induced muons. Data taken in 1997 with the AMANDA detector were searched for events with a high-energy cascadelike signature. The observed events are consistent with expected backgrounds from atmospheric neutrinos and catastrophic energy losses from atmospheric muons. Effective volumes for all flavors of neutrinos, which allow the calculation of limits for any neutrino flux model, are presented. The limit on cascades from a diffuse flux of νe+ νμ + ντ+ ν̄e + ν̄μ+ ν̄τ is E2(dΦ/dE)<9.8×10-6 GeV cm-2 s-1 sr-1, assuming a neutrino flavor flux ratio of 1:1:1 at the detector. The limit on cascades from a diffuse flux of νe+ν̄e is E2(dΦ/dE)<6. 5×10-6 GeV cm-2 s-1 sr-1, independent of the assumed neutrino flavor flux ratio. © 2003 The American Physical Society.
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11. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for supernova neutrino bursts with the AMANDA detector
- 2001
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Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 16:4, s. 345-359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The core collapse of a massive star in the Milky Way will produce a neutrino burst, intense enough to be detected by existing underground detectors. The AMANDA neutrino telescope located deep in the South Pole ice can detect MeV neutrinos by a collective rate increase in all photo-multipliers on top of dark noise. The main source of light comes from positrons produced in the CC reaction of anti-electron neutrinos on free protons ve + p → e+ + n. This paper describes the first supernova search performed on the full sets of data taken during 1997 and 1998 (215 days of live time) with 302 of the detector's optical modules. No candidate events resulted from this search. The performance of the detector is calculated, yielding a 70% coverage of the galaxy with one background fake per year with 90% efficiency for the detector configuration under study. An upper limit at the 90% c.l. on the rate of stellar collapses in the Milky Way is derived, yielding 4.3 events per year. A trigger algorithm is presented and its performance estimated. Possible improvements of the detector hardware are reviewed.
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12. |
- Andrés, E., et al.
(författare)
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Observation of high-energy neutrinos using Čerenkov detectors embedded deep in Antarctic ice
- 2001
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 410:6827, s. 441-443
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neutrinos are elementary particles that carry no electric charge and have little mass. As they interact only weakly with other particles, they can penetrate enormous amounts of matter, and therefore have the potential to directly convey astrophysical information from the edge of the Universe and from deep inside the most cataclysmic high-energy regions. The neutrino's great penetrating power, however, also makes this particle difficult to detect. Underground detectors have observed low-energy neutrinos from the Sun and a nearby supernova2, as well as neutrinos generated in the Earth's atmosphere. But the very low fluxes of high-energy neutrinos from cosmic sources can be observed only by much larger, expandable detectors in, for example, deep water3,4 or ice5. Here we report the detection of upwardly propagating atmospheric neutrinos by the ice-based Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array (AMANDA). These results establish a technology with which to build a kilometre-scale neutrino observatory necessary for astrophysical observations1.
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13. |
- Andrés, E., et al.
(författare)
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Recent results from AMANDA
- 2001
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Ingår i: International Journal of Modern Physics A. - 0217-751X .- 1793-656X. ; 16:1C, s. 1013-1015
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present results based on data taken in 1997 with the 302-PMT Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array-B10 ("AMANDA-B10") array. Atmospheric neutrinos created in the northern hemisphere are observed indirectly through their charged current interactions which produce relativistic, Cherenkov-light-emitting upgoing muons in the South Pole ice cap. The reconstructed angular distribution of these events is in good agreement with expectation and demonstrates the viability of this ice-based device as a neutrino telescope.
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14. |
- Beral, V, et al.
(författare)
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Alcohol, tobacco and breast cancer - collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 53 epidemiological studies, including 58515 women with breast cancer and 95067 women without the disease
- 2002
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1532-1827 .- 0007-0920. ; 87, s. 1234-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alcohol and tobacco consumption are closely correlated and published results on their association with breast cancer have not always allowed adequately for confounding between these exposures. Over 80% of the relevant information worldwide on alcohol and tobacco consumption and breast cancer were collated, checked and analysed centrally. Analyses included 58515 women with invasive breast cancer and 95067 controls from 53 studies. Relative risks of breast cancer were estimated, after stratifying by study, age, parity and, where appropriate, women's age when their first child was born and consumption of alcohol and tobacco. The average consumption of alcohol reported by controls from developed countries was 6.0 g per day, i.e. about half a unit/drink of alcohol per day, and was greater in ever-smokers than never-smokers, (8.4 g per day and 5.0 g per day, respectively). Compared with women who reported drinking no alcohol, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.32 (1.19 - 1.45, P < 0.00001) for an intake of 35 - 44 g per day alcohol, and 1.46 (1.33 - 1.61, P < 0.00001) for greater than or equal to 45 g per day alcohol. The relative risk of breast cancer increased by 7.1% (95% CI 5.5-8.7%; P<0.00001) for each additional 10 g per day intake of alcohol, i.e. for each extra unit or drink of alcohol consumed on a daily basis. This increase was the same in ever-smokers and never-smokers (7.1 % per 10 g per day, P < 0.00001, in each group). By contrast, the relationship between smoking and breast cancer was substantially confounded by the effect of alcohol. When analyses were restricted to 22 255 women with breast cancer and 40 832 controls who reported drinking no alcohol, smoking was not associated with breast cancer (compared to never-smokers, relative risk for ever-smokers= 1.03, 95% CI 0.98 - 1.07, and for current smokers=0.99, 0.92 - 1.05). The results for alcohol and for tobacco did not vary substantially across studies, study designs, or according to 15 personal characteristics of the women; nor were the findings materially confounded by any of these factors. If the observed relationship for alcohol is causal, these results suggest that about 4% of the breast cancers in developed countries are attributable to alcohol. In developing countries, where alcohol consumption among controls averaged only 0.4 g per day, alcohol would have a negligible effect on the incidence of breast cancer. In conclusion, smoking has little or no independent effect on the risk of developing breast cancer; the effect of alcohol on breast cancer needs to be interpreted in the context of its beneficial effects, in moderation, on cardiovascular disease and its harmful effects on cirrhosis and cancers of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus and liver. (C) 2002 Cancer Research UK.
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15. |
- Karle, A., et al.
(författare)
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Observation of high energy atmospheric neutrinos with AMANDA
- 2000
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Ingår i: AIP Conference Proceedings. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). ; , s. 823-827
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 1997 the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) started operating with 10 strings. In an analysis of data taken during the first year of operation 188 atmospheric neutrino candidates were found. Their zenith angle distribution agrees with expectations based on Monte Carlo simulations. A preliminary upper limit is given on a diffuse flux of high energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.
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16. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Limits on diffuse fluxes of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos with the AMANDA-B10 detector
- 2003
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - : American Physical Society. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 90:25, s. 2511011-2511015
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A report on the limits, which could be placed on diffuse fluxes of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos, was presented. The incorporation of neutrino oscillations was necessary for interpreting the limits in terms of the flux from a cosmological distributions of sources. The energetic accelerated environments were presented as the sources of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos.
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17. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Limits to the muon flux from WIMP annihilation in the center of the Earth with the AMANDA detector
- 2002
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Ingår i: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society. - 1550-7998 .- 1550-2368. ; 66:3, s. 032006-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A search for nearly vertical up-going muon-neutrinos from neutralino annihilations in the center of the Earth has been performed with the AMANDA-B10 neutrino detector. The data collected in 130.1 days of live time in 1997, ∼10 9 events, have been analyzed for this search. No excess over the expected atmospheric neutrino background has been observed. An upper limit at 90% confidence level has been obtained on the annihilation rate of neutralinos in the center of the Earth, as well as the corresponding muon flux limit, both as a function of the neutralino mass in the range 100 GeV-5000 GeV. © 2002 The American Physical Society.
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18. |
- Ambrosio, M, et al.
(författare)
-
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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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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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
-
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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Muon energy estimate through multiple scattering with the MACRO detector
- 2002
-
Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 492:3, s. 376-386
-
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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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
-
Ingår i: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 19:1, s. 1-13
-
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
-
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. |
- Andres, E., et al.
(författare)
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Results from the AMANDA high energy neutrino detector
- 2000
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Ingår i: Nuclear physics B, Proceedings supplements. - : Elsevier. - 0920-5632 .- 1873-3832. ; 91:1-3, s. 423-430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper briefly summarizes the search for astronomical sources of high-energy neutrinos using the AMANDA-B10 detector. The complete data set from 1997 was analyzed. For Eμ > 10 TeV, the detector exceeds 10,000 m2 in effective area between declinations of 25 and 90 degrees. Neutrinos generated in the atmosphere by cosmic ray interactions were used to verify the overall sensitivity of the detector. The absolute pointing accuracy and angular resolution has been confirmed by the analysis of coincident events between the SPASE air shower array and the AMANDA detector. Preliminary flux limits from point source candidates are presented. For declinations larger than +45 degrees, our results compare favorably to existing limits for sources in the Southern sky. We also present the current status of the searches for high energy neutrino emission from diffusely distributed sources, GRBs, and WIMPs from the center of the earth.
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27. |
- Bai, X., et al.
(författare)
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Status of the Neutrino Telescope AMANDA : Monopoles and WIMPS
- 2001
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Ingår i: Dark Matter in Astro- and Particle Physics. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783642626081 ; , s. 699-706
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The neutrino telescope AMANDA has been set up at the geographical South Pole as first step to a neutrino telescope of the scale of one cubic kilometer, which is the canonical size for a detector sensitive to neutrinos from Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) and Topological Defects (TD). The location and depth in which the detector is installed is given by the requirement to detect neutrinos by the Cherenkov light produced by their reaction products and to keep the background due to atmospheric muons as small as possible. However, a detector optimized for this purpose is also capable to detect the bright Cherenkov light from relativistic Monopoles and neutrino signals from regions with high gravitational potential, where WIMPS are accumulated and possibly annihilate. Both hypothetical particles might contribute to the amount of dark matter. Therefore here a report about the status of the experiment (autumn 2000) and about the status of the search for these particles with the AMANDA B10 sub-detector is given.
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28. |
- Wiebusch, C., et al.
(författare)
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Results from AMANDA
- 2002
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Ingår i: Modern Physics Letters A. - : Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). - 0217-7323 .- 1793-6632. ; 17:31, s. 2019-2037
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) is a high-energy neutrino telescope operating at the geographic South Pole. It is a lattice of photomultiplier tubes buried deep in the polar ice. The primary goal of this detector is to discover astrophysical sources of high energy neutrinos. We describe the detector methods of operation and present results from the AMANDA-B10 prototype. We demonstrate the improved sensitivity of the current AMANDA-II detector. We conclude with an outlook to the envisioned sensitivity of the future IceCube detector.
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29. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Results from AMANDA
- 2001
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Ingår i: Proceedings, 9th International Workshop, Venice, Italy, March 6-9, 2001. Vol. 1, 2. ; , s. 569-580
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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30. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Search for Extraterrestrial Point Sources of Neutrinos with AMANDA-II
- 2004
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 92:7, s. 711021-711025
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The results of a search for point sources of high energy neutrinos in the northern hemisphere were presented using AMANDA-II data collected in the year 2000. The results included the flux limits on several active-galactic-nuclei blazars, microquasars, magnetars, and other candidate neutrino sources. A search for excesses above a random background of cosmic ray induced atmospheric neutrinos and misreconstructed downgoing cosmic-rays muons, which revealed no statistically significant neutrino point sources was also presented. It was shown that AMANDA-II had achieved the sensitivity required to probe known TeV γ-ray sources such as the blazar Markarian 501 in its 1997 flaring state at a level where neutrino and γ-ray fluxes were equal.
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31. |
- 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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32. |
- 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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33. |
- 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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34. |
- Edsjö, Joakim, et al.
(författare)
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WIMP searches with AMANDA-B10
- 2001
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Ingår i: The Identification Of Dark Matter. - : World Scientific. - 9789810246020 ; , s. 499-505
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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35. |
- Niessen, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Recent results from the amanda experiment
- 2003
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 38th Rencontres de Moriond on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories 15-22 Mar 2003. Les Arcs, France.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- AMANDA (Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array) is a neutrino telescope built under the southern polar icecap and its scope is to explore the possibility to detect high energy cosmic neutrinos. This should generate insight into the powerful celestial objects where acceleration mechanisms can bring up to 10 20 eV. We describe the achievements and results from the AMANDA-B10 prototype and the preliminary results from the current AMANDA-II detector which show dramatic increase in sensitivity.
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36. |
- 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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37. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Muon track reconstruction and data selection techniques in AMANDA
- 2004
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 524:1-3, s. 169-194
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) is a high-energy neutrino telescope operating at the geographic South Pole. It is a lattice of photo-multiplier tubes buried deep in the polar ice between 1500 and 2000 m. The primary goal of this detector is to discover astrophysical sources of high-energy neutrinos. A high-energy muon neutrino coming through the earth from the Northern Hemisphere can be identified by the secondary muon moving upward through the detector. The muon tracks are reconstructed with a maximum likelihood method. It models the arrival times and amplitudes of Cherenkov photons registered by the photo-multipliers. This paper describes the different methods of reconstruction, which have been successfully implemented within AMANDA. Strategies for optimizing the reconstruction performance and rejecting background are presented. For a typical analysis procedure the direction of tracks are reconstructed with about 2° accuracy. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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38. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Physics and operation of the AMANDA-II high energy neutrino telescope
- 2002
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering 2003. - : Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). ; , s. 79-91
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper briefly describes the principle of operation and science goals of the AMANDA high energy neutrino telescope located at the South Pole, Antarctica. Results from an earlier phase of the telescope, called AMANDA-B10, demonstrate both reliable operation and the broad astrophysical reach of this device, which includes searches for a variety of sources of ultrahigh energy neutrinos: generic point sources, Gamma-Ray Bursts and diffuse sources. The predicted sensitivity and angular resolution of the telescope were confirmed by studies of atmospheric muon and neutrino backgrounds. We also report on the status of the analysis from AMANDA-II, a larger version with far greater capabilities. At this stage of analysis, details of the ice properties and other systematic uncertainties of the AMANDA-II telescope are under study, but we have made progress toward critical science objectives. In particular, we focus on the search for continuous emission from astrophysical point sources and the search for correlated neutrino emission from Gamma Ray Bursts detected by BATSE before decommissioning in May 2000. During the next two years, we expect to exploit the full potential of AMANDA-II with the installation of a new data acquisition system that records full waveforms from the in-ice optical sensors.
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39. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Results from the AMANDA telescope
- 2003
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Ingår i: Nuclear Physics A. - : Elsevier. - 0375-9474 .- 1873-1554. ; 721, s. C545-C548
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present results from the AMANDA high energy neutrino telescope located at the South Pole. They include measurements of the atmospheric neutrino flux, search for UHE point sources, and diffuse sources producing electromagnetic/hadronic showers at the detector or close to it.
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40. |
- Ahrens, J., et al.
(författare)
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Results from the Antarctic muon and nuetrino detector array
- 2003
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Ingår i: Nuclear physics B, Proceedings supplements. - : Elsevier. - 0920-5632 .- 1873-3832. ; 118, s. 371-379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We show new results from both the older and newer incarnations of AMANDA (AMANDA-B10 and AMANDA-II, respectively). These results demonstrate that AMANDA is a functioning, multipurpose detector with significant physics and astrophysics reach. They include a new higher-statistics measurement of the atmospheric muon neutrino flux and preliminary results from searches for a variety of sources of ultrahigh energy neutrinos: generic point sources, gamma-ray bursters and diffuse sources producing muons in the detector, and diffuse sources producing electromagnetic or hadronic showers in or near the detector.
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41. |
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