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M. Amenomori

Publications and source records attributed to M. Amenomori.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2007

Future plan for observation of cosmic gamma rays in the 100 TeV energy region with the Tibet air shower array : simulation and sensitivity

The Tibet air shower array, which has an effective area of 37,000 square meters and is located at 4300 m in altitude, has been observing air showers induced by cosmic rays with energies above a few TeV. We have a plan to add a large muon detector array to it for the purpose of increasing its sensitivity to cosmic gamma rays in the 100 TeV energy region by discriminating them from cosmic-ray hadrons. We have deduced the attainable sensitivity of the muon detector array using our Monte Carlo simulation. We report here on the detailed procedure of our Monte Carlo simulation.

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arXiv2007

Future plan for observation of cosmic gamma rays in the 100 TeV energy region with the Tibet air shower array : physics goal and overview

The Tibet air shower array, which has an effective area of 37,000 square meters and is located at 4300 m in altitude, has been observing air showers induced by cosmic rays with energies above a few TeV. We are planning to add a large muon detector array to it for the purpose of increasing its sensitivity to cosmic gamma rays in the 100 TeV (10 - 1000 TeV) energy region by discriminating them from cosmic-ray hadrons. We report on the possibility of detection of gamma rays in the 100 TeV energy region in our field of view, based on the improved sensitivity of our air shower array deduced from the full Monte Carlo simulation.

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arXiv2007

Moon Shadow by Cosmic Rays under the Influence of Geomagnetic Field and Search for Antiprotons at Multi-TeV Energies

We have observed the shadowing of galactic cosmic ray flux in the direction of the moon, the so-called moon shadow, using the Tibet-III air shower array operating at Yangbajing (4300 m a.s.l.) in Tibet since 1999. Almost all cosmic rays are positively charged; for that reason, they are bent by the geomagnetic field, thereby shifting the moon shadow westward. The cosmic rays will also produce an additional shadow in the eastward direction of the moon if cosmic rays contain negatively charged particles, such as antiprotons, with some fraction. We selected 1.5 x10^{10} air shower events with energy beyond about 3 TeV from the dataset observed by the Tibet-III air shower array and detected the moon shadow at $\sim 40 σ$ level. The center of the moon was detected in the direction away from the apparent center of the moon by 0.23$^\circ$ to the west. Based on these data and a full Monte Carlo simulation, we searched for the existence of the shadow produced by antiprotons at the multi-TeV energy region. No evidence of the existence of antiprotons was found in this energy region. We obtained the 90% confidence level upper limit of the flux ratio of antiprotons to protons as 7% at multi-TeV energies.

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arXiv2006

Revised Upper Limits of the Diffuse Tev Gamma Rays from the Galactic Planes with the Tibet II and III Air Shower Arrays

The flux upper limits of the diffuse gamma rays, from the inner and outer Galactic planes, are revised by factors of 4.0$\sim$3.7 for mode energies 3$\sim$10 TeV, respectively, by using the simulation results of the effective area ratios for gamma-ray induced showers and cosmic-ray induced ones in the Tibet air shower array. In our previous work, (Amenomori et al., ApJ, 580, 887, 2002) the flux upper limits were deduced only from the flux ratio of air showers generated by gamma rays versus cosmic rays. The details of the simulation are given in the paper (Amenomori et al., Advances in Space Research, 37, 1932, 2006). The present result using the same data as in ApJ suggests that the spectral index of source electrons is steeper than 2.2 and 2.1 for the inner and outer Galactic planes, respectively.

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arXiv2006

Underground Water Cherenkov Muon Detector Array with the Tibet Air Shower Array for Gamma-Ray Astronomy in the 100 TeV Region

We propose to build a large water-Cherenkov-type muon-detector array (Tibet MD array) around the 37,000 m$^{2}$ Tibet air shower array (Tibet AS array) already constructed at 4,300 m above sea level in Tibet, China. Each muon detector is a waterproof concrete pool, 6 m wide $\times$ 6 m long $\times$ 1.5 m deep in size, equipped with a 20 inch-in-diameter PMT. The Tibet MD array consists of 240 muon detectors set up 2.5 m underground. Its total effective area will be 8,640 m$^{2}$ for muon detection. The Tibet MD array will significantly improve gamma-ray sensitivity of the Tibet AS array in the 100 TeV region (10-1000 TeV) by means of gamma/hadron separation based on counting the number of muons accompanying an air shower. The Tibet AS+MD array will have the sensitivity to gamma rays in the 100 TeV region by an order of magnitude better than any other previous existing detectors in the world.

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arXiv2006

Anisotropy and Corotation of Galactic Cosmic Rays

The intensity of Galactic cosmic rays is nearly isotropic because of the influence of magnetic fields in the Milky Way. Here, we present two-dimensional high-precision anisotropy measurement for energies from a few to several hundred teraelectronvolts (TeV), using the large data sample of the Tibet Air Shower Arrays. Besides revealing finer details of the known anisotropies, a new component of Galactic cosmic ray anisotropy in sidereal time is uncovered around the Cygnus region direction. For cosmic-ray energies up to a few hundred TeV, all components of anisotropies fade away, showing a corotation of Galactic cosmic rays with the local Galactic magnetic environment. These results have broad implications for a comprehensive understanding of cosmic rays, supernovae, magnetic fields, and heliospheric and Galactic dynamic environments.

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arXiv2005

Observation of PeV Gamma Rays from the Monogem Ring with the Tibet Air Shower Array

We searched for steady PeV gamma-ray emission from the Monogem ring region with the Tibet air shower array from 1997 February to 2004 October. No evidence for statistically significant gamma-ray signals was found in a region 111$\degr$ $\leq$ R.A. $<$ 114$\degr$, 12$\fdg$5 $\leq$ decl. $<$ 15$\fdg$5 in the Monogem ring where the MAKET-ANI experiment recently claimed a positive detection of PeV high-energy cosmic radiation, although our flux sensitivity is approximately 10 times better than MAKET-ANI's. We set the most stringent integral flux upper limit at a 99% confidence level of 4.0 $\times$ 10$^{-12}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ sr$^{-1}$ above 1 PeV on diffuse gamma rays extended in the 3$^{\circ}$ $\times$ 3$^{\circ}$ region.

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arXiv2005

Flux upper limits of diffuse TeV gamma rays from the Galactic plane using the effective area of the Tibet-II and -III arrays

We obtained new upper limits on the diffuse gamma rays from the inner Galactic (IG) and outer Galactic (OG) planes in 3.10 TeV region, using the Tibet air shower data and new Monte Carlo simulation results. A difference of the effective area of the air-shower array for observing gamma rays and cosmic rays was carefully taken into account in this analysis, resulting in that the flux upper limits of the diffuse TeV gamma rays were reduced by factors of 4.0.3.7 for 3.10 TeV than those in our previous results (Amenomori, M., Ayabe, S., Cui, S.W., et al. Observation of multi-TeV diffuse gamma rays from the Galactic plane with the Tibet air shower array. Astrophys. J. 580, 887.895, 2002.). This new result suggests that the inverse power index of the energy spectrum of source electrons responsible for generating diffuse TeV gamma rays through inverse Compton effect should be steeper than 2.2 and 2.1 for IG and OG planes, respectively, with 99%C.L.

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arXiv2005

Are protons still dominant at the knee of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum?

A hybrid experiment consisting of emulsion chambers, burst detectors and the Tibet II air-shower array was carried out at Yangbajing (4,300 m a.s.l., 606 g/cm$^2$) in Tibet to obtain the energy spectra of primary protons and heliums. From three-year operation, these energy spectra are deduced between $10^{15}$ and $10^{16}$ eV by triggering the air showers associated with a high energy core and using a neural network method in the primary mass separation. The proton spectrum can be expressed by a single power-law function with a differential index of $-3.01 \pm 0.11$ and $-3.05 \pm 0.12$ based on the QGSJET+HD and SIBYLL+HD models, respectively, which are steeper than that extrapolated from the direct observations of $-2.74 \pm 0.01$ in the energy range below $10^{14}$ eV. The absolute fluxes of protons and heliums are derived within 30% systematic errors depending on the hadronic interaction models used in Monte Carlo simulation. The result of our experiment suggests that the main component responsible for the change of the power index of the all-particle spectrum around $3 \times 10^{15}$ eV, so-called ``knee'', is composed of nuclei heavier than helium. This is the first measurement of the differential energy spectra of primary protons and heliums by selecting them event by event at the knee energy region.

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arXiv2005

A Northern Sky Survey for Steady TeV Gamma-Ray Point Sources Using the Tibet Air Shower Array

Results on steady TeV $γ$-ray point source search using data taken from the Tibet HD (Feb. 1997 -- Sep. 1999) and Tibet III (Nov. 1999 -- Oct. 2001) arrays are presented. From $0^{\circ}$ to $60^{\circ}$ in declination, significant excesses from the well-known steady source Crab Nebula and the high state of the flare type source Markarian 421 are observed. Because the levels of significance from other positions are not sufficiently high, 90% confidence level upper limits on the flux are set assuming different power law spectra. To allow crosschecking, two independently developed analyses are used in this work.

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arXiv2005

Large-Scale Sidereal Anisotropy of Galactic Cosmic-Ray Intensity Observed by the Tibet Air Shower Array

We present the large-scale sidereal anisotropy ofgalactic cosmic-ray intensity in the multi-TeV region observed with the Tibet-IIIair shower array during the period from 1999 through 2003. The sidereal daily variation of cosmic rays observed in this experiment shows an excess of relative intensity around $4\sim7 $ hours local sidereal time, as well as a deficit around 12 hours local sidereal time. While the amplitude of the excess is not significant when averaged over all declinations, the excess in individual declinaton bands becomes larger and clearer as the viewing direction moves toward the south. The maximum phase of the excess intensity changes from $\sim$7 at the northern hemisphere to $\sim$4 hours at the equatorial region. We also show that both the amplitude and the phase of the first harmonic vector of the daily variation are remarkably independent of primary energy in the multi-TeV region. This is the first result determining the energy and declination dependences of the full 24-hour profiles of the sidereal daily variation in the multi-TeV region with a single air shower experiment.

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arXiv2004

Observation by an Air-Shower Array in Tibet of the Multi-TeV Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy due to Terrestrial Orbital Motion Around the Sun

We report on the solar diurnal variation of the galactic cosmic-ray intensity observed by the Tibet III air shower array during the period from 1999 to 2003. In the higher-energy event samples (12 TeV and 6.2 TeV), the variations are fairly consistent with the Compton-Getting anisotropy due to the terrestrial orbital motion around the sun, while the variation in the lower-energy event sample (4.0 TeV) is inconsistent with this anisotropy. This suggests an additional anisotropy superposed at the multi-TeV energies, e.g. the solar modulation effect. This is the highest-precision measurement of the Compton-Getting anisotropy ever made.

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arXiv2003

Multi-TeV Gamma-Ray Flares from Markarian 421 in 2000 and 2001 Observed with the Tibet Air Shower Array

Several strong TeV gamma-ray flares were detected from Markarian 421 in the years 2000 and 2001 by the Tibet III air shower array at a level of statistical significance of 5.1 sigma. Markarian 421 was unprecedentedly active at X-ray and TeV gamma-ray energies during this period, and a positive correlation was found between the change of the ASM/RXTE X-ray flux and the Tibet TeV gamma-ray flux. When a power-law energy spectrum for gamma-rays from this source is assumed, the spectral index is calculated to be -3.24+-0.69 at the most active phase in 2001. The spectral index observed by the Tibet air shower array is consistent with those obtained via imaging air Cerenkov telescopes.

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arXiv2000

Primary proton spectrum between 200 TeV and 1000 TeV observed with the Tibet burst detector and air shower array

Since 1996, a hybrid experiment consisting of the emulsion chamber and burst detector array and the Tibet-II air-shower array has been operated at Yangbajing (4300 m above sea level, 606 g/cm^2) in Tibet. This experiment can detect air-shower cores, called as burst events, accompanied by air showers in excess of about 100 TeV. We observed about 4300 burst events accompanied by air showers during 690 days of operation and selected 820 proton-induced events with its primary energy above 200 TeV using a neural network method. Using this data set, we obtained the energy spectrum of primary protons in the energy range from 200 to 1000 TeV. The differential energy spectrum obtained in this energy region can be fitted by a power law with the index of -2.97 $\pm$ 0.06, which is steeper than that obtained by direct measurements at lower energies. We also obtained the energy spectrum of helium nuclei at particle energies around 1000 TeV.

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arXiv2000

A study of the shadowing of galactic cosmic rays by the sun in a quiet phase of solar activity with the Tibet air shower array

We have shown that the Sun's shadow by high energy cosmic rays moves year by year and its behavior is correlated with a time variation of the large-scale structure of the solar and interplanetary magnetic fields. The solar activity was near minimum in the period from 1996 through 1997. Using the data obtained with the Tibet air shower array, we examined the shadowing of cosmic rays by the Sun in this quiet phase of solar cycle, and found that the Sun's shadow was just in the apparent direction of the Sun, though it was observed at the position considerably away from the Sun to the south-west in the period between 1990 and 1993. It is known that the magnetic pole of equivalent solar dipole was reversed during the previous active phase, and near solar minimum the dipole was aligned with the rotating axis, preserving its N-pole on the north pole side of the Sun. This causes the solar magnetic field to shift the Sun's shadow to the east. Thus, the observed results suggest that the shift of the Sun's shadow due to the solar magnetic field was pushed back by the effect of the geomagnetic field, since the geomagnetic field always make the shadow shift to the west. We discuss the Sun's shadow observed during the period near solar minimum in 1996-1997 and compare it with the simulation results.

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arXiv2000

Measurement of air shower cores to study the cosmic ray composition in the knee energy region

Since 1996, a hybrid experiment consisting of an emulsion chamber and a burst detector array and the Tibet-II air shower array has been operated at Yangbajing (4300 m above sea level) in Tibet. This experiment can detect air-shower cores, called burst events, accompanied by air showers in excess of about 100 TeV. Using the burst event data observed by this experiment, we discuss the primary cosmic ray composition around the knee in comparison with the Monte Carlo simulations. In this paper, we show that all the features of burst events are wholly compatible with the heavy enriched composition in the knee energy region.

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arXiv2000

Detection of Multi-TeV Gamma Rays from Markarian 501 during an Unforeseen Flaring State in 1997 with the Tibet Air Shower Array

In 1997, the BL Lac Object Mrk 501 entered a very active phase and was the brightest source in the sky at TeV energies, showing strong and frequent flaring. Using the data obtained with a high density air shower array that has been operating successfully at Yangbajing in Tibet since 1996, we searched for gamma-ray signals from this source during the period from February through August in 1997. Our observation detected multi-TeV $γ$-ray signals at the 3.7-Sigma level during this period. The most rapid increase of the excess counts was observed between April 7 and June 16 and the statistical significance of the excess counts in this period was 4.7-Sigma. Among several observations of flaring TeV gamma-rays from Mrk 501 in 1997, this is the only observation using a conventional air shower array. We present the energy spectrum of gamma-rays which will be worthy to compare with those obtained by imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescopes.

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