Cosmic ray spectrum of protons plus helium nuclei between 6 and 158 TeV from HAWC data

Albert A, Alfaro R, Alvarez C, Angeles Camacho JR, Arteaga-Velázquez JC, Arunbabu KP, Avila Rojas D, Ayala Solares HA, Belmont-Moreno E, Brisbois C, Caballero-Mora KS, Capistrán T, Carramiñana A, Casanova S, Cotti U, Cotzomi J, De La Fuente E, Diaz Hernandez R, Duvernois MA, Durocher M, Díaz-Vélez JC, Espinoza C, Fraija N, García-González JA, Garfias F, González MM, Goodman JA, Harding JP, Hona B, Huang D, Hueyotl-Zahuantitla F, Hüntemeyer P, Iriarte A, Joshi V, Kieda D, Kunde GJ, Lara A, Lee WH, León Vargas H, Linnemann JT, Longinotti AL, Luis-Raya G, Malone K, Martinez O, Martínez-Castro J, Matthews JA, Miranda-Romagnoli P, Morales-Soto JA, Moreno E, Mostafá M, Nayerhoda A, Nellen L, Newbold M, Noriega-Papaqui R, Omodei N, Pérez-Pérez EG, Rho CD, Rosa-González D, Salazar H, Salesa Greus F, Sandoval A, Serna-Franco J, Smith AJ, Springer RW, Tollefson K, Torres I, Torres-Escobedo R, Ureña-Mena F, Villaseñor L, Wang X, Willox E, Zhou H, De León C, Álvarez JD, Yodh GB, Zepeda A (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Book Volume: 105

Article Number: 063021

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.063021

Abstract

A measurement with high statistics of the differential energy spectrum of light elements in cosmic rays, in particular, of primary H plus He nuclei, is reported. The spectrum is presented in the energy range from 6 to 158 TeV per nucleus. Data was collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory between June 2015 and June 2019. The analysis was based on a Bayesian unfolding procedure, which was applied on a subsample of vertical HAWC data that was enriched to 82% of events induced by light nuclei. To achieve the mass separation, a cut on the lateral age of air shower data was set guided by predictions of CORSIKA/QGSJET-II-04 simulations. The measured spectrum is consistent with a broken power-law spectrum and shows a kneelike feature at around E=24.0-3.1+3.6 TeV, with a spectral index γ=-2.51±0.02 before the break and with γ=-2.83±0.02 above it. The feature has a statistical significance of 4.1σ. Within systematic uncertainties, the significance of the spectral break is 0.8σ.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Mexico (MX) National Autonomous University of Mexico / Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Mexico (MX) University of Maryland United States (USA) (US) Los Alamos National Laboratory United States (USA) (US) University of Utah United States (USA) (US) Michigan Technological University United States (USA) (US) Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH) Mexico (MX) Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) / Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla Mexico (MX) Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN / Instytut Fizyki Jądrowej im. Henryka Niewodniczańskiego PAN Poland (PL) Michigan State University United States (USA) (US) National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics / Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE) Mexico (MX) Shanghai Jiao Tong University / 上海交通大学 China (CN) Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) Mexico (MX) Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) United States (USA) (US) Universidad de Guadalajara (UDEG) Mexico (MX) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US) Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo / Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Mexico (MX) Stanford University United States (USA) (US) Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (UPP) Mexico (MX) University of Seoul (UOS) / 서울시립대학교 Korea, Republic of (KR) National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico / Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México Mexico (MX) University of New Mexico (UNM) / Universidad de Nuevo México United States (USA) (US) Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute / Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN) Mexico (MX) University of California Irvine United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Angeles Camacho, J.R., Arteaga-Velázquez, J.C., Arunbabu, K.P.,... Zepeda, A. (2022). Cosmic ray spectrum of protons plus helium nuclei between 6 and 158 TeV from HAWC data. Physical Review D, 105(6). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.063021

MLA:

Albert, A., et al. "Cosmic ray spectrum of protons plus helium nuclei between 6 and 158 TeV from HAWC data." Physical Review D 105.6 (2022).

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