arXiv subjects

Huihai He

Publications and source records attributed to Huihai He.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

A Giant Peanut-shaped Ultra-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emitter Off the Galactic Plane

Ultra-high-energy (UHE), exceeding 100 TeV (10^12 electronvolts), {\gamma}-rays manifests extreme particle acceleration in astrophysical sources. Recent observations by {\gamma}-ray telescopes, particularly by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), have revealed a few tens of UHE sources, indicating numerous Galactic sources capable of accelerating particles to PeV (10^15 electronvolts) energies. However, discerning the dominant acceleration mechanisms (leptonic versus hadronic), the relative contributions of specific source classes, and the role of particle transport in shaping their observed emission are central goals of modern UHE astrophysics. Here we report the discovery of a giant UHE {\gamma}-ray emitter at -17.5{\deg} off the Galactic plane - a region where UHE {\gamma}-ray sources are rarely found. The emitter exhibits a distinctive asymmetric shape, resembling a giant "Peanut" spanning 0.45{\deg} \times 4.6{\deg}, indicative of anisotropic particle distribution over a large area. A highly aged millisecond pulsar (MSP) J0218+4232 is the sole candidate accelerator positionally coincident with the Peanut region. Its association with UHE {\gamma}-rays extending to 0.7 PeV, if confirmed, would provide the first evidence of a millisecond pulsar powering PeV particles. Such a finding challenges prevailing models, which posit that millisecond pulsars cannot sustain acceleration to PeV energies. The detection reveals fundamental gaps in understanding particle acceleration, cosmic-ray transport, and interstellar magnetic field effects, potentially revealing new PeV accelerator (PeVatron) classes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Unveiling the nature of the knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum

The knee-like structure around 4 PeV is the most striking feature in the cosmic ray energy spectrum, whose origin remains enigmatic. We propose a novel concept of the total logarithmic mass energy spectrum to characterize the knee, taking into account LHAASO measurements of the all-particle energy spectrum and the mean logarithmic mass. The predominant role of proton in the knee formation is unearthed. The case of a mass-dependent knee is ruled out with a significance of 22.9${\sigma}$ and the rigidity-dependent knee feature is revealed. An ankle-like structure stemming from the excess of iron is discovered at 9.7${\pm}$ 0.2 PeV with a significance of 25.9${\sigma}$. Our findings pierce the mist of the puzzling knee for the first time since its discovery.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Effect of near-earth thunderstorm electric field on the flux of cosmic ray air showers in LHAASO-KM2A

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is located at Haizi Mountain, Daocheng, Sichuan province, China. Due to its high-altitude location with frequent thunderstorm activities, the LHAASO is suited for studying the effects of near-earth thunderstorm electric fields on cosmic ray air showers. In this paper, Monte Carlo simulations are performed with CORSIKA and G4KM2A to analyze the flux variations of cosmic ray air showers detected by the kilometer-square array of LHAASO (LHAASO-KM2A) during thunderstorms. The strength, polarity, and layer thickness of atmospheric electric field (AEF) during thunderstorm are found to be associated with the shower rate variations. The flux of shower events satisfying trigger conditions of the KM2A increases with field intensity, particularly within negative fields, and the enhanced amplitude is more than 5% in -600 V/cm and 12% in -1000 V/cm, whereas it increases by only 1% and 7% in equivalent positive fields, respectively. While in positive fields ranging from 0 to 400 V/cm, the shower rate decreases with smaller amplitudes. Furthermore, the shower rate increases dramatically with the AEF layer thickness until a certain value, above which the variation trend slows down. The dependence of the trigger rate variation on the primary zenith angle has also been revealed, increasing in lower zenith angle ranges and showing opposite behaviors in higher ones. Additionally, we study that the relationship between the trigger rate variations and the primary energies, and find the enhanced amplitude of the shower rate decreases with increasing primary energy. Simultaneously, the shower events with lower primary energy show a significant increase, whereas events with higher primary energy are hardly affected during thunderstorms. Our simulations offer insights into the variation of the trigger rate detected by LHAASO-KM2A during thunderstorms.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Search for neutrino signals correlated with LHAASO diffuse Galactic emission

The diffuse Galactic $\gamma$-ray emission originates from the interactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar medium or radiation fields within our Galaxy, where the production of neutrinos is also anticipated. Recently, the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) reported measurements of diffuse $\gamma$-rays from the Galactic plane with energies ranging from sub-TeV to 1 PeV. Using publicly available 7 years of IceCube track data with the full detector, we conduct a template search using the $\gamma$-ray flux map observed by LHAASO-KM2A as the neutrino emission template and perform a scan search of the Galactic plane. In the template search, a mild excess of neutrinos is observed in the Galactic plane with a pretrial (posttrial) significance of $1.9\sigma$ ($1.1\sigma$). The measured muon neutrino intensity at 25 TeV is $4.73^{+2.53}_{-2.51}\times10^{-14}\,{\rm TeV^{-1}\,cm^{-2}\,s^{-1}\,sr^{-1}}$, consistent with the expected neutrino flux assuming that all the diffuse Galactic $\gamma$-rays originate from hadronic interactions. In the Galactic plane scan search, the most significant location is found at $l=63.57^{\circ}$ and $b=0.93^{\circ}$ with a pretrial (posttrial) significance of $4.6\sigma$ ($1.8\sigma$).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Approach for composition measurement of cosmic rays using the muon-to-electron ratio observed by LHAASO-KM2A

Composition measurement of cosmic rays (CRs) around the knee of the CR energy spectrum is crucial for studying the processes of particle acceleration and propagation of Galactic CRs. The Square Kilometer Array (KM2A) of Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) can provide precise measurement of the muonic and electromagnetic (em.) components in CR-induced extensive air showers, and hence a good chance to disentangle the CR composition. Here we propose an approach of decomposing CR compositions with the number ratio between muons and em. particles ($N_μ$/$N_{\rm e}$) observed by LHAASO-KM2A: we reconstruct the energy spectra of individual CR compositions by fitting $N_μ$/$N_{\rm e}$ distributions in each reconstructed energy bin using the template shapes of $N_μ$/$N_{\rm e}$ distributions of individual CR compositions based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. We evaluate the performance of this approach with MC tests where mock data of LHAASO-KM2A are generated by MC simulation. We show that the input composition model can be well recovered in this approach, independent of the CR composition model adopted in the MC simulation for the template distributions. The uncertainties of the reconstructed spectra at < 20 PeV, mainly limited by simulation statistics, are $\le$ 7% for proton, He, and Fe groups, and $\le$ 8% and $\le$ 16% for CNO and MgAlSi groups, respectively.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Simulating gamma-ray production from cosmic rays interacting with the solar atmosphere in the presence of coronal magnetic fields

Cosmic rays can interact with the solar atmosphere and produce a slew of secondary messengers, making the Sun a bright gamma-ray source in the sky. Detailed observations with Fermi-LAT have shown that these interactions must be strongly affected by solar magnetic fields in order to produce the wide range of observational features, such as high flux and hard spectrum. However, the detailed mechanisms behind these features are still a mystery. In this work, we tackle this problem by performing particle interaction simulations in the solar atmosphere in the presence of coronal magnetic fields modelled using the potential field source surface (PFSS) model. We find that the low-energy (~GeV) gamma-ray production is significantly enhanced by the coronal magnetic fields, but the enhancement decreases rapidly with energy. The enhancement is directly correlated with the production of gamma rays with large deviation angles relative to the input cosmic-ray direction. We conclude that coronal magnetic fields are essential for correctly modeling solar disk gamma rays below 10GeV, but above that the effect of coronal magnetic fields diminishes. Other magnetic field structures are needed to explain the high-energy disk emission.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Search for neutrino emission from the Cygnus Bubble based on LHAASO $\gamma$-ray observations

The Cygnus region, which contains massive molecular and atomic clouds and young stars, is a promising Galactic neutrino source candidate. Cosmic rays transport in the region can produce neutrinos and $\gamma$-rays. Recently, the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) detected an ultrahigh-energy $\gamma$-ray bubble (Cygnus Bubble) in this region. Using publicly available track events detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in 7 years of full detector operation, we conduct searches for correlated neutrino signals from the Cygnus Bubble with neutrino emission templates based on LHAASO $\gamma$-ray observations. No significant signals were found for any employed templates. With the 7 TeV $\gamma$-ray flux template, we set a flux upper limit of 90% confidence level (C.L.) for the neutrino emission from the Cygnus Bubble to be $5.7\times10^{-13}\, \mathrm{TeV}^{-1}\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ at 5 TeV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Novel methods for measuring the optical parameters of the water Cherenkov detector

In this paper, novel methods are presented to measure the optical properties of muon detectors (MDs) in the Large High-Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), which can also be used by other experiments. Each MD consists of a cylindrical water Cherenkov detector, with a Tyvek liner containing pure water, and a photomultiplier tube (PMT) mounted on the top. The time distribution of the photons collected by the PMT in the water Cherenkov detector have an approximately exponential distribution, and their decay factor is determined by the photon absorption length in the water, the reflectivity of the inner Tyvek surface, the mean reflecting step length of photons reflected by the inner surface, and the ratio of reflectional Tyvek area to the total inner surface area. By considering the principles of photon propagation in the water Cherenkov detector, we have developed novel methods to measure the water absorption length, the Tyvek reflectivity, and the mean step length of photons. The step length of photons can be determined by measuring the time distribution of the reflected photons hitting the PMT after multiple photons with single wavelength are generated in the tank, with slightly different ratios of the inner Tyvek to the total inner area. The water absorption length and Tyvek reflectivity can be measured simultaneously by the PMT by changing the height of the water, while the step length and Tyvek reflectivity in air can also be measured simultaneously. The proposed novel methods are supported by deduction of formulae and verified by GEANT4 simulations and the prototype experiment.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

Seasonal and Lunar month periods observed in natural neutron flux at high altitude

Air radon concentration measurement is useful for research on geophysical effects, but it is strongly sensitive to site geology and many geophysical and microclimatic processes such as wind, ventilation, air humidity and so on that induce very big fluctuations on the concentration of radon in air. On the contrary, monitoring the radon concentration in soil by measuring the thermal neutron flux reduces environmental effects. In this paper we report some experimental results on the natural thermal neutron flux as well as the concentration of air radon and its variations at 4300 m a.s.l. These results were obtained with unshielded thermal neutron scintillation detectors (en-detectors) and radon monitors located inside the ARGO-YBJ experimental hall. The correlation of these variations with the lunar month and 1-year period is undoubtedly confirmed. A method for earthquakes prediction provided by a global net of the en-detectors is currently under study.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2016

Expectation on Observation of Supernova Remnants with the LHAASO Project

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are believed to be the most important acceleration sites for cosmic rays (CRs) below $\sim10^{15}$ eV in the Galaxy. High energy photons, either directly from the shocks of the SNRs or indirectly from the interaction between SNRs and the nearby clouds, are crucial probes for the CR acceleration. Big progresses on observations of SNRs have been achieved by space- and ground-based $γ$-ray facilities. However, whether $γ$-rays come from accelerated hadrons or not, as well as their connection with the CRs observed at Earth, remains in debate. Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), the next generation experiment, is designed to survey the northern part of the very high energy $γ$-ray sky from $\sim 0.3$ TeV to PeV with the sensitivity of $\lesssim1\%$ of the Crab nebula flux. In this paper, we indicate that LHAASO will be dedicated to enlarging the $γ$-ray SNR samples and improving the spectral and morphological measurements. These measurements, especially at energies above 30 TeV, will be important for us to finally understand the CR acceleration in SNRs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Multi-wavelength study of the MGRO J2019+37

MGRO J2019+37 within the Cygnus region is a bright and extended source revealed by Milagro at 12-35 TeV. This source is almost as bright as Crab Nebula in northern sky, while it is not confirmed by ARGO-YBJ around TeV. Up to now, no obvious counterpart at low energy wavelengths has been found. Hence, MGRO J2019+37 becomes mysterious and its VHE gamma-ray emission mechanism is attractive. In this paper, a brief summary of the multi-wavelength observations from Radio to gamma-ray is presented. All the available data from the XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL at X-ray, and the Fermi-LAT at gamma-ray bands were used to get constraint on its emission flux at low energy wavelengths. Then, its possible counterparts and the VHE emission mechanism are discussed.

astro-ph.HE↗