Niechciol, Marcus: A new window to the universe? : searching for ultra-high-energy photons at the Pierre Auger ObservatoryA Ein neues Fenster zum Universum? : die Suche nach ultrahochenergetischen Photonen am Pierre-Auger-Observatorium. 2015
Inhalt
- Abstract
- Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Cosmic Rays
- 2.1. Early History of Cosmic-Ray Physics
- 2.2. Primary Cosmic Rays
- 2.2.1. Energy Spectrum
- 2.2.2. Composition
- 2.2.3. Anisotropy in Arrival Directions
- 2.2.4. Origin of Primary Cosmic Rays
- 2.3. Extensive Air Showers
- 3 Ultra-High-Energy Photons
- 3.1. Origin of UHE Photons
- 3.2. Propagation through the Universe
- 3.3. Extensive Air Showers Induced by Photons
- 3.4. Current Upper Limits on the Incoming Photon Flux
- 4 The Pierre Auger Observatory
- 4.1. The Surface Detector
- 4.2. The Fluorescence Detector
- 4.2.1. Data Acquisition and Trigger Systems
- 4.2.2. Calibration of the FD
- 4.2.3. Atmospheric Monitoring
- 4.3. Enhancements of the Observatory
- 4.3.1. Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array (AMIGA)
- 4.3.2. High Elevation Auger Telescopes (HEAT)
- 4.3.3. Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA)
- 4.4. Plans to Upgrade the Observatory beyond 2015
- 4.5. Reconstruction of Air Shower Events
- 5 Simulations and Data
- 5.1. Simulation Samples Used in the Analysis
- 5.1.1. Air Shower Simulations with CORSIKA
- 5.1.2. Detector Simulations with the Auger Offline Software Framework
- 5.2. Data Sample Used in the Analysis
- 5.3. Event Selection
- 6 Simulation Study of Observables for the Search for UHE Photons
- 6.1. Xmax as a Discriminating Observable
- 6.2. A new SD-related Observable: Fgamma
- 6.2.1. Definition of Fgamma
- 6.2.2. Determining a Parameterization of the LDF Shape Parameter b for Photons in the EeV Range
- 6.2.3. Description of the Photon-Optimized Fit
- 6.2.4. Performance of Fgamma
- 6.2.5. Comparison with other SD-related Observables
- 6.2.6. Introducing additional selection criteria based on Fgamma
- 6.3. Combining Fgamma and Xmax in a Multivariate Analysis
- 6.3.1. Applying the Fisher Discriminant Analysis
- 6.3.2. Parameterization of the Fisher Coefficients as a Function of Energy
- 6.3.3. Defining the Photon Candidate Cut
- 6.4. Further Studies Using Simulations
- 7 A Search for Photons in the EeV Range Using Hybrid Data
- 7.1. Application of the Analysis to Hybrid Data
- 7.2. Study of the Photon Candidate Event
- 7.2.1. FD Part of the Event
- 7.2.2. SD Part of the Event
- 7.2.3. Study of the Arrival Direction
- 7.2.4. Possible Primary Particle Type
- 7.3. Determining Upper Limits in the EeV Range
- 8 Summary and Outlook
- Appendices
- A. Input Files for the Simulations
- B. Detailed Statistics for the Event Selection
- C. Additional Plots for Chapter 6
- D. Acceptance Correction
- Bibliography
- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations