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J. Alvarez-Muniz

Publications and source records attributed to J. Alvarez-Muniz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2022

Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era -- A review

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

The AMY (Air Microwave Yield) experiment to measure the GHz emission from air shower plasma

The aim of the Air Microwave Yield (AMY) experiment is to investigate the Molecular Bremsstrahlung Radiation (MBR) emitted from an electron beam induced air-shower. The measurements have been performed with a 510 MeV electron beam at the Beam Test Facility (BTF) of Frascati INFN National Laboratories in a wide frequency range between 1 and 20 GHz. We present the experimental apparatus and the first results of the measurements. Contrary to what have been reported in a previous similar experiment~\cite{Gorham-SLAC}, we have found that the intensity of the emission is strongly influenced by the particular time structure of the accelerator beam. This makes very difficult the interpretation of the emission process and a realistic extrapolation of the emission yield to the plasma generated during the development of an atmospheric shower.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2015

The lunar Askaryan technique: a technical roadmap

The lunar Askaryan technique, which involves searching for Askaryan radio pulses from particle cascades in the outer layers of the Moon, is a method for using the lunar surface as an extremely large detector of ultra-high-energy particles. The high time resolution required to detect these pulses, which have a duration of around a nanosecond, puts this technique in a regime quite different from other forms of radio astronomy, with a unique set of associated technical challenges which have been addressed in a series of experiments by various groups. Implementing the methods and techniques developed by these groups for detecting lunar Askaryan pulses will be important for a future experiment with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which is expected to have sufficient sensitivity to allow the first positive detection using this technique. Key issues include correction for ionospheric dispersion, beamforming, efficient triggering, and the exclusion of spurious events from radio-frequency interference. We review the progress in each of these areas, and consider the further progress expected for future application with the SKA.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2013

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2011

Proton-Nucleus Collisions at the LHC: Scientific Opportunities and Requirements

Proton-nucleus (p+A) collisions have long been recognized as a crucial component of the physics programme with nuclear beams at high energies, in particular for their reference role to interpret and understand nucleus-nucleus data as well as for their potential to elucidate the partonic structure of matter at low parton fractional momenta (small-x). Here, we summarize the main motivations that make a proton-nucleus run a decisive ingredient for a successful heavy-ion programme at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and we present unique scientific opportunities arising from these collisions. We also review the status of ongoing discussions about operation plans for the p+A mode at the LHC.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2010

The MIDAS experiment: A prototype for the microwave emission of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

Recent measurements suggest that extensive air showers initiated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) emit signals in the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum caused by the collisions of the free-electrons with the atmospheric neutral molecules in the plasma produced by the passage of the shower. Such emission is isotropic and could allow the detection of air showers with 100% duty cycle and a calorimetric-like energy measurement, a significant improvement over current detection techniques. We have built MIDAS (MIcrowave Detection of Air Showers), a prototype of microwave detector, which consists of a 4.5 m diameter antenna with a cluster of 53 feed-horns in the 4 GHz range. The details of the prototype and first results will be presented.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2010

A comprehensive study of shower to shower fluctuations

By means of Monte Carlo simulations of extensive air showers (EAS), we have performed a comprehensive study of the shower to shower fluctuations affecting the longitudinal and lateral development of EAS. We split the fluctuations into physical fluctuations and those induced by the thinning procedure customarily applied to simulate showers at EeV energies and above. We study the influence of thinning on the calculation of the shower to shower fluctuations in the simulations. For thinning levels larger than 10^(-5) - 10^(-6), the determination of the shower to shower fluctuations is hampered by the artificial fluctuations induced by the thinning procedure. However, we show that shower to shower fluctuations can still be approximately estimated, and we provide expressions to calculate them. The influence of fluctuations of the depth of first interaction on the determination of shower to shower fluctuations is also addressed.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2009

Characterisation of the electromagnetic component in ultra-high energy inclined air showers

Inclined air showers - those arriving at ground with zenith angle with respect to the vertical theta > 60 deg - are characterised by the dominance of the muonic component at ground which is accompanied by an electromagnetic halo produced mainly by muon decay and muon interactions. By means of Monte Carlo simulations we give a full characterisation of the particle densities at ground in ultra-high energy inclined showers as a function of primary energy and mass composition, as well as for different hadronic models assumed in the simulations. We also investigate the effect of intrinsic shower-to-shower fluctuations in the particle densities.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2008

Status Report and Future Prospects on LUNASKA Lunar Observations with ATCA

LUNASKA (Lunar UHE Neutrino Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array) is a theoretical and experimental project developing the lunar Cherenkov technique for the next generation of giant radio-telescope arrays. Here we report on a series of observations with ATCA (the Australia Telescope Compact Array). Our current observations use three of the six 22m ATCA antennas with a 600 MHz bandwidth at 1.2-1.8 GHz, analogue dedispersion filters to correct for the typical night-time ionospheric dispersion, and state-of-the-art 2 GHz FPGA-based digital pulse detection hardware. We have observed so as to maximise the UHE neutrino sensitivity in the region surrounding the galactic centre and to Centaurus A, to which current limits on the highest-energy neutrinos are relatively weak.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Net-Baryon Physics: Basic Mechanisms

It is well known that, in nuclear collisions, a sizable fraction of the available energy is carried away by baryons. As the baryon number is conserved, the net-baryon $B-\bar{B}$ retains information on the energy-momentum carried by the incoming nuclei. A simple but consistent model for net-baryon production in high energy hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions is presented. The basic ingredients of the model are valence string formation based on standard PDFs with QCD evolution and string fragmentation via the Schwinger mechanism. The results of the model are presented and compared with both data and existing models. These results show that a good description of the main features of net-baryon data is possible on the framework of a simplistic model, with the advantage of making the fundamental production mechanisms manifest.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

Percolation and high energy cosmic rays above $10^{17}$ eV

In this work we argue that, in the interpretation of the energy dependence of the depth of the shower maximum and of the muon content in high energy cosmic ray showers ($E > 10^{17}$ eV), other variables besides the composition may play an important role, in particular those characterising the first (high energy) hadronic collisions. The role of the inelasticity, of the nature of the leading particle, and of the particle multiplicity are discussed. A consistent interpretation of existing data within a string percolation model implemented in a hybrid, one dimensional simulation method is given.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2003

Neutrinos From Individual Gamma-Ray Bursts in the BATSE Catalog

We calculate the neutrino emission from individual gamma-ray bursts observed by the BATSE detector on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. Neutrinos are produced by photoproduction of pions when protons interact with photons in the region where the kinetic energy of the relativistic fireball is dissipated allowing the acceleration of electrons and protons. We also consider models where neutrinos are predominantly produced on the radiation surrounding the newly formed black hole. From the observed redshift and photon flux of each individual burst, we compute the neutrino flux in a variety of models based on the assumption that equal kinetic energy is dissipated into electrons and protons. Where not measured, the redshift is estimated by other methods. Unlike previous calculations of the universal diffuse neutrino flux produced by all gamma-ray bursts, the individual fluxes (compiled at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~dafne/grb/) can be directly compared with coincident observations by the AMANDA telescope at the South Pole. Because of its large statistics, our predictions are likely to be representative for future observations with larger neutrino telescopes.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2002

Comparative study of simulations of Cerenkov radio emission from high energy showers in dense media

We compare in detail the results of simulations of electromagnetic showers in ice in the GeV-TeV energy range, using both the GEANT package and the ZHS Monte Carlo, a code specifically designed to calculate coherent Cerenkov radio pulses from electromagnetic showers in dense media. The longitudinal and lateral profiles as well as the tracklengths, and excess tracklengths are shown to agree at the 10% level. We briefly comment on the negligible influence of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect on the total shower tracklength. Our results are relevant for experiments exploiting the radio Cerenkov technique in dense media as well as for other detectors that rely on the Cerenkov effect in water or ice.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2001

Phenomenology of High Energy Neutrinos in Low-Scale Quantum Gravity Models

We show that neutrino telescopes, optimized for detecting neutrinos of TeV to PeV energy, can reveal threshold effects associated with TeV-scale gravity. The signature is an increase with energy of the cross section beyond what is predicted by the Standard Model. The advantage of the method is that the neutrino cross section is measured in an energy region where i) the models are characteristically distinguishable and ii) the Standard Model neutrino cross section can be reliably calculated so that any deviation can be conclusively identified.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2001

10^20 eV Cosmic Ray and Particle Physics with IceCube

We show that a kilometer-scale neutrino observatory, though optimized for detecting neutrinos of TeV to PeV energy, can reveal the science associated with the enigmatic super-EeV radiation in the Universe. Speculations regarding its origin include heavy relics from the early Universe, particle interactions associated with the Greisen cutoff, and topological defects which are remnant cosmic structures associated with phase transitions in grand unified gauge theories. We show that it is a misconception that new instruments optimized to EeV energy can exclusively do this important science. Because kilometer-scale neutrino telescopes such as IceCube can reject the atmospheric neutrino background by identifying the very high energy of the signal events, they have sensitivity over the full solid angle, including the horizon where most of the signal is concentrated. This is critical because upgoing neutrino-induced muons, considered in previous calculations, are absorbed by the Earth. Previous calculations have underestimated the event rates of IceCube for EeV signals by over one order of magnitude.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2000

10^20 eV Cosmic-Ray and Particle Physics with Kilometer-Scale Neutrino Telelscopes

We show that a kilometer-scale neutrino observatory, though optimized for TeV to PeV energy, is sensitive to the neutrinos associated with super-EeV sources. These include super-heavy relics, neutrinos associated with the Greisen cutoff, and topological defects which are remnant cosmic structures associated with phase transitions in grand unified gauge theories. It is a misconception that new instruments optimized to EeV energy are required to do this important science. Because kilometer-scale neutrino telescopes can reject atmospheric backgrounds by establishing the very high energy of the signal events, they have sensitivity over the full solid angle, including the horizon where most of the signal is concentrated. This is important because up-going neutrino-induced muons, routinely considered in previous calculations, are absorbed by the Earth.

astro-ph↗