Measuring a Cherenkov ring in the radio emission from air showers at 110-190 MHz with LOFAR
Journal
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Nelles, A.
•
Schellart, P.
•
Buitink, S.
•
Corstanje, A.
•
de Vries, K. D.
•
Enriquez, J. E.
•
Falcke, H.
•
Frieswijk, W.
•
Hörandel, J. R.
•
Scholten, O.
•
ter Veen, S.
•
Thoudam, S.
•
van den Akker, M.
•
Anderson, J.
•
Asgekar, A.
•
Bell, M. E.
•
Bentum, M. J.
•
•
Best, P.
•
Bregman, J.
•
Breitling, F.
•
Broderick, J.
•
Brouw, W. N.
•
Brüggen, M.
•
Butcher, H. R.
•
Ciardi, B.
•
Deller, A.
•
Duscha, S.
•
Eislöffel, J.
•
Fallows, R. A.
•
Garrett, M. A.
•
Gunst, A. W.
•
Hassall, T. E.
•
Heald, G.
•
Horneffer, A.
•
Iacobelli, M.
•
Juette, E.
•
Karastergiou, A.
•
Kondratiev, V. I.
•
Kramer, M.
•
Kuniyoshi, M.
•
Kuper, G.
•
Maat, P.
•
Mann, G.
•
Mevius, M.
•
Norden, M. J.
•
Paas, H.
•
Pandey-Pommier, M.
•
Pietka, G.
•
Pizzo, R.
•
Polatidis, A. G.
•
Reich, W.
•
Röttgering, H.
•
Scaife, A. M. M.
•
Schwarz, D.
•
Smirnov, O.
•
Stappers, B. W.
•
Steinmetz, M.
•
Stewart, A.
•
Tagger, M.
•
Tang, Y.
•
Tasse, C.
•
Vermeulen, R.
•
Vocks, C.
•
van Weeren, R. J.
•
Wijnholds, S. J.
•
Wucknitz, O.
•
Yatawatta, S.
•
Zarka, P.
Description
Acknowledgments We thank both the internal and external reviewers for the fruitful discussions regarding this article. The LOFAR cosmic ray key science project very much acknowledges the scientific and technical support from ASTRON . Furthermore, we acknowledge financial support from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) , the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) , the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) , VENI Grant 639-041-130. We acknowledge funding from an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council under the European Unions Seventh Framework Program (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement no. 227610. LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON, has facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation under a joint scientific policy.
Abstract
Measuring radio emission from air showers offers a novel way to determine properties of the primary cosmic rays such as their mass and energy. Theory predicts that relativistic time compression effects lead to a ring of amplified emission which starts to dominate the emission pattern for frequencies above ∼ 100 MHz. In this article we present the first detailed measurements of this structure. Ring structures in the radio emission of air showers are measured with the LOFAR radio telescope in the frequency range of 110-190 MHz. These data are well described by CoREAS simulations. They clearly confirm the importance of including the index of refraction of air as a function of height. Furthermore, the presence of the Cherenkov ring offers the possibility for a geometrical measurement of the depth of shower maximum, which in turn depends on the mass of the primary particle.
Volume
65
Start page
11
Issn Identifier
0927-6505
Ads BibCode
2015APh....65...11N
Rights
open.access
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