A search for ultra-high energy photons with energies above 1 EeV is performed using nine years of data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory in hybrid operation mode. An unprecedented separation power between photon and hadron primaries is achieved by combining measurements of the longitudinal air-shower development with the particle content at ground measured by the fluorescence and surface detectors, respectively. Only three photon candidates at energies 1 - 2 EeV are found, which is compatible with the expected hadroninduced background. Upper limits on the integral flux of ultra-high energy photons of 0.027, 0.009, 0.008, 0.008 and 0.007 km -2 sr -1 yr -1 are derived at 95% C.L. for energy thresholds of 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 EeV. These limits bound the fractions of photons in the all-particle integral flux below 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.33%, 0.85% and 2.7%. For the first time the photon fraction at EeV energies is constrained at the sub-percent level. The improved limits are below the flux of diffuse photons predicted by some astrophysical scenarios for cosmogenic photon production. The new results rule-out the early top-down models - in which ultra-high energy cosmic rays are produced by, e.g., the decay of super-massive particles - and challenge the most recent super-heavy dark matter models.
Documento: | Artículo |
Título: | Search for photons with energies above 10 18 eV using the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory |
Autor: | Multitudinario:399 |
Filiación: | Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro (CNEA-UNCuyo-CONICET), Argentina Centro de Investigaciones en Láseres y Aplicaciones, CITEDEF and CONICET, Argentina Departamento de Fisica and Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmosfera y Los Oceanos, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina IFLP, Universidad Nacional de la Plata and CONICET, Argentina Instituto de Astronomía y Física Del Espacio (IAFE, CONICET-UBA), Argentina Inst. de Fis. de Rosario - CONICET/U.N.R. and Fac. de Ciencias Bioquimicas y Farmaceuticas U.N.R., Argentina Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas (CNEA, CONICET, UNSAM), Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Facultad Regional Mendoza (CONICET/CNEA), Argentina Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas (CNEA, CONICET, UNSAM), Centro Atómico Constituyentes, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Argentina Observatorio Pierre Auger, Argentina Observatorio Pierre Auger and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Argentina Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Facultad Regional Buenos Aires, Argentina University of Adelaide, Australia Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas (CBPF), Brazil Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo, Inst. de Física de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo, Inst. de Física, São Paulo, Brazil Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS), Brazil Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil Universidade Federal Do ABC (UFABC), Brazil Universidade Federal Do Paraná, Setor Palotina, Brazil Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Instituto de Física, Brazil Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia Institute of Physics (FZU) of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic Palacky University, RCPTM, Czech Republic University Prague, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics, Czech Republic Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay (IPNO), Université Paris-Sud, Univ. Paris/Saclay, CNRS-IN2P3, France Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies (LPNHE), Universités Paris 6 et Paris 7, CNRS-IN2P3, France Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, France Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Department of Physics, Germany Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut für Experimentelle Kernphysik (IEKP), Germany Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut für Kernphysik (IKP), Germany Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut für Prozessdatenverarbeitung und Elektronik (IPE), Germany RWTH Aachen University, III. Physikalisches Institut A, Germany Universitat Hamburg, II. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Germany Universitat Siegen, Fachbereich 7 Physik - Experimentelle Teilchenphysik, Germany Gran Sasso Science Institute (INFN), L'Aquila, Italy INAF - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo, Italy INFN Laboratori Nazionali Del Gran Sasso, Italy INFN, Gruppo Collegato dell'Aquila, Italy INFN, Sezione di Catania, Italy INFN, Sezione di Lecce, Italy INFN, Sezione di Milano, Italy INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Italy INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy INFN, Sezione di Torino, Italy Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino (INAF), Torino, Italy Universita Del Salento, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Italy Universita Del Salento, Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica E. de Giorgi, Italy Universita dell'Aquila, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Italy Universita di Catania, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Italy Universita di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, Italy Universita di Napoli Federico II, Dipartimento di Fisica Ettore Pancini, Italy Universita di Roma Tor Vergata, Dipartimento di Fisica, Italy Universita Torino, Dipartimento di Fisica, Italy Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Mexico Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados Del IPN (CINVESTAV), Mexico U. Profesional Interdisciplinaria en Ing. y Tecnologias Avanzadas Del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Mexico Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Mexico Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, Netherlands KVI - Center for Advanced Radiation Technology, University of Groningen, Netherlands Nationaal Instituut voor Kernfysica en Hoge Energie Fysica (NIKHEF), Netherlands Stichting Astronomisch Onderzoek in Nederland (ASTRON), Dwingeloo, Netherlands Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Poland University of Łódź, Faculty of Astrophysics, Poland University of Łódź, Faculty of High-Energy Astrophysics, Poland Laboratorio de Instrumentacao e Fis. Exp. de Particulas - LIP and Instituto Superior Tecnico - IST, Universidade de Lisboa - UL, Portugal Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Romania Institute of Space Science, Romania University of Bucharest, Physics Department, Romania University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Experimental Particle Physics Department, J. Stefan Institute, Slovenia Laboratory for Astroparticle Physics, University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Universidad de Granada and C.A.F.P.E., Spain Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain Case Western Reserve University, United States Colorado School of Mines, United States Colorado State University, United States Department of Physics and Astronomy, Lehman College, City University of New York, United States Louisiana State University, United States Michigan Technological University, United States New York University, United States Northeastern University, United States Ohio State University, United States Pennsylvania State University, United States University of Chicago, United States University of Hawaii, United States University of Nebraska, United States University of New Mexico, United States School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Brussels, Belgium Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen, Germany SUBATECH, École des Mines de Nantes, CNRS-IN2P3, Université de Nantes, France Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, United States |
Año: | 2017 |
Volumen: | 2017 |
Número: | 4 |
DOI: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2017/04/009 |
Título revista: | Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics |
Título revista abreviado: | J. Cosmol. Astroparticle Phys. |
ISSN: | 14757516 |
Registro: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_14757516_v2017_n4_p_Multitudinario |