Published June 14, 2016
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Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

Creators

  • 1. Folkwang University of the Arts
  • 2. Instituto Superior Técnico
  • 3. University of Turin
  • 4. Fermilab
  • 5. University of Paris
  • 6. University of São Paulo
  • 7. Balseiro Institute
  • 8. Ohio State University
  • 9. National Technological University
  • 10. National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • 11. University of Santiago de Compostela
  • 12. University of Hamburg
  • 13. Università di Napoli "Federico II" and Sezione INFN, Napoli, Italy.
  • 14. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
  • 15. Radboud University Nijmegen
  • 16. University of Catania
  • 17. City University of New York
  • 18. University of Lisbon
  • 19. Technical University of Lisbon
  • 20. University of Naples Federico II
  • 21. Complutense University of Madrid
  • 22. University of Bucharest
  • 23. Industrial University of Santander
  • 24. National Scientific and Technical Research Council
  • 25. Centre national de la recherche scientifique
  • 26. Observatorio Pierre Auger and Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Malargüe, Argentina.
  • 27. New York University
  • 28. Politehnica University of Bucharest
  • 29. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • 30. University of Wuppertal
  • 31. University of Adelaide
  • 32. Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, Grenoble, France.
  • 33. Max Planck Society
  • 34. Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University
  • 35. Paris-Sorbonne University
  • 36. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  • 37. University of Salento
  • 38. INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi (L'Aquila), Italy.
  • 39. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
  • 40. Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Krakow, Poland.
  • 41. Colorado State University
  • 42. "Horia Hulubei" National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.
  • 43. RWTH Aachen University
  • 44. University of Granada
  • 45. Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico.
  • 46. University of Milan
  • 47. University of Rome Tor Vergata
  • 48. Institute of Space Science, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania.
  • 49. Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
  • 50. State University of Campinas
  • 51. Pennsylvania State University
  • 52. Observatorio Pierre Auger, Malargüe, Argentina.
  • 53. Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire (LAL), Université Paris 11, CNRS-IN2P3, Orsay, France.
  • 54. Case Western Reserve University
  • 55. University of Chicago
  • 56. SUBATECH, école des Mines de Nantes, CNRS-IN2P3, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France.
  • 57. Station de Radioastronomie de Nançay, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS/INSU, Nançay, France.
  • 58. University of Buenos Aires
  • 59. Federal Fluminense University
  • 60. Rio de Janeiro State University
  • 61. University of Alcalá
  • 62. Institut de Physique Nucléaire d'Orsay (IPNO), Université Paris 11, CNRS-IN2P3, Orsay, France.
  • 63. Michigan Technological University
  • 64. Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche dell'Università dell'Aquila and INFN, L'Aquila, Italy.
  • 65. University of Groningen
  • 66. National University of La Plata
  • 67. United States Department of Energy
  • 68. ASTRON
  • 69. Experimental Particle Physics Department, J. Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • 70. Laboratory for Astroparticle Physics, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
  • 71. University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland.
  • 72. University of Łódź
  • 73. University of Hawaii
  • 74. State University of Feira de Santana
  • 75. Palacký University, Olomouc
  • 76. Colorado School of Mines
  • 77. University of Nova Gorica
  • 78. University of New Mexico
  • 79. Universidade Federal do ABC
  • 80. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
  • 81. CINVESTAV
  • 82. Louisiana State University
  • 83. Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • 84. KVI - Center for Advanced Radiation Technology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
  • 85. National University of Rosario
  • 86. Universidade Federal de Pelotas
  • 87. Charles University in Prague
  • 88. Northeastern University
  • 89. Polish Academy of Sciences
  • 90. Instituto Politécnico Nacional
  • 91. Federal University of Bahia
  • 92. University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • 93. Université libre de Bruxelles
  • 94. INAF
  • 95. Louisiana State University System
  • 96. University of Leeds
  • 97. Jožef Stefan Institute
  • 98. Università di Catania and Sezione INFN, Catania, Italy.

Description

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.
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