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P. Huentemeyer

Publications and source records attributed to P. Huentemeyer.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2023

An update on site search activities for SWGO

The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) is a project by scientists and engineers from 14 countries and 78 institutions to design and build the first wide-field, ground-based gamma-ray observatory in the Southern Hemisphere, with high duty cycle and covering an energy range rom hundreds of GeV to the PeV scale. The observatory will cover the Southern sky and aims to map the Galaxy's large-scale emission, as well as detecting transient and variable phenomena. The host sites under consideration are at a minimum altitude of 4400 m.a.s.l. and comprise two types: flat plateaus of at least 1 km$^{2}$ for the installation of an array of tank-based water Cherenkov detectors (WCD), or large natural lakes for the direct deployment of WCD units. Four South American countries proposed excellent sites to host the observatory meeting these requirements. Argentina proposed two locations in the Salta province, Bolivia presented one site in Chacaltaya, Chile two locations within the Atacama Astronomical Park, and Peru two ground-based locations in the Arequipa district as well as lakes in the Cuzco region. The SWGO collaboration is currently conducting a site characterization study, gathering all the necessary information for site shortlisting and final site selection by the end of 2023. The process has reached the shortlisting phase, in which primary and backup sites for each country have been identified. The primary sites were visited by a team of experts from the collaboration, to investigate and validate the proposed site characteristics. Here we present an update on these site selection activities.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2021

Spectrum and Morphology of the Very-High-Energy Source HAWC J2019+368

The MGRO J2019+37 region is one of the brightest sources in the sky at TeV energies. It was detected in the 2 year HAWC catalog as 2HWC J2019+367 and here we present a detailed study of this region using data from HAWC. This analysis resolves the region into two sources: HAWC J2019+368 and HAWC J2016+371. We associate HAWC J2016+371 with the evolved supernova remnant CTB 87, although its low significance in this analysis prevents a detailed study at this time. An investigation of the morphology (including possible energy dependent morphology) and spectrum for HAWC J2019+368 is the focus of this work. We associate HAWC J2019+368 with PSR J2021+3651 and its X-ray pulsar wind nebula, the Dragonfly nebula. Modeling the spectrum measured by HAWC and Suzaku reveals a $\sim$7 kyr pulsar and nebula system producing the observed emission at X-ray and $γ$-ray energies.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2019

The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO): A Next-Generation Ground-Based Survey Instrument for VHE Gamma-Ray Astronomy

We describe plans for the development of the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), a next-generation instrument with sensitivity to the very-high-energy (VHE) band to be constructed in the Southern Hemisphere. SWGO will provide wide-field coverage of a large portion of the southern sky, effectively complementing current and future instruments in the global multi-messenger effort to understand extreme astrophysical phenomena throughout the universe. A detailed description of science topics addressed by SWGO is available in the science case white paper [1]. The development of SWGO will draw on extensive experience within the community in designing, constructing, and successfully operating wide-field instruments using observations of extensive air showers. The detector will consist of a compact inner array of particle detection units surrounded by a sparser outer array. A key advantage of the design of SWGO is that it can be constructed using current, already proven technology. We estimate a construction cost of 54M USD and a cost of 7.5M USD for 5 years of operation, with an anticipated US contribution of 20M USD ensuring that the US will be a driving force for the SWGO effort. The recently formed SWGO collaboration will conduct site selection and detector optimization studies prior to construction, with full operations foreseen to begin in 2026. Throughout this document, references to science white papers submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey with particular relevance to the key science goals of SWGO, which include unveiling Galactic particle accelerators [2-10], exploring the dynamic universe [11-21], and probing physics beyond the Standard Model [22-25], are highlighted in red boldface.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2019

Science Case for a Wide Field-of-View Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere

We outline the science motivation for SGSO, the Southern Gamma-Ray Survey Observatory. SGSO will be a next-generation wide field-of-view gamma-ray survey instrument, sensitive to gamma-rays in the energy range from 100 GeV to hundreds of TeV. Its science topics include unveiling galactic and extragalactic particle accelerators, monitoring the transient sky at very high energies, probing particle physics beyond the Standard Model, and the characterization of the cosmic ray flux. SGSO will consist of an air shower detector array, located in South America. Due to its location and large field of view, SGSO will be complementary to other current and planned gamma-ray observatories such as HAWC, LHAASO, and CTA.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2014

The Sensitivity of HAWC to High-Mass Dark Matter Annihilations

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a wide field-of-view detector sensitive to gamma rays of 100 GeV to a few hundred TeV. Located in central Mexico at 19 degrees North latitude and 4100 m above sea level, HAWC will observe gamma rays and cosmic rays with an array of water Cherenkov detectors. The full HAWC array is scheduled to be operational in Spring 2015. In this paper, we study the HAWC sensitivity to the gamma-ray signatures of high-mass (multi- TeV) dark matter annihilation. The HAWC observatory will be sensitive to diverse searches for dark matter annihilation, including annihilation from extended dark matter sources, the diffuse gamma-ray emission from dark matter annihilation, and gamma-ray emission from non-luminous dark matter subhalos. Here we consider the HAWC sensitivity to a subset of these sources, including dwarf galaxies, the M31 galaxy, the Virgo cluster, and the Galactic center. We simulate the HAWC response to gamma rays from these sources in several well-motivated dark matter annihilation channels. If no gamma-ray excess is observed, we show the limits HAWC can place on the dark matter cross-section from these sources. In particular, in the case of dark matter annihilation into gauge bosons, HAWC will be able to detect a narrow range of dark matter masses to cross-sections below thermal. HAWC should also be sensitive to non-thermal cross-sections for masses up to nearly 1000 TeV. The constraints placed by HAWC on the dark matter cross-section from known sources should be competitive with current limits in the mass range where HAWC has similar sensitivity. HAWC can additionally explore higher dark matter masses than are currently constrained.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2010

Indications of Proton-Dominated Cosmic Ray Composition above 1.6 EeV

We report studies of ultra-high energy cosmic ray composition via analysis of depth of airshower maximum (Xmax), for airshower events collected by the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) observatory. The HiRes data are consistent with a constant elongation rate d /d(log(E)) of 47.9 +- 6.0 (stat.) +- 3.2 (syst.)g/cm^2/decade for energies between 1.6 EeV and 63 EeV, and are consistent with a predominantly protonic composition of cosmic rays when interpreted via the QGSJET01 and QGSJET-II high-energy hadronic interaction models. These measurements constrain models in which the galactic-to-extragalactic transition is the cause of the energy spectrum "ankle' at 4 EeV.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2008

An upper limit on the electron-neutrino flux from the HiRes detector

Air-fluorescence detectors such as the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) detector are very sensitive to upward-going, Earth-skimming ultrahigh energy electron-neutrino-induced showers. This is due to the relatively large interaction cross sections of these high-energy neutrinos and to the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect. The LPM effect causes a significant decrease in the cross sections for bremsstrahlung and pair production, allowing charged-current electron-neutrino-induced showers occurring deep in the Earth's crust to be detectable as they exit the Earth into the atmosphere. A search for upward-going neutrino-induced showers in the HiRes-II monocular dataset has yielded a null result. From an LPM calculation of the energy spectrum of charged particles as a function of primary energy and depth for electron-induced showers in rock, we calculate the shape of the resulting profile of these showers in air. We describe a full detector Monte Carlo simulation to determine the detector response to upward-going electron-neutrino-induced cascades and present an upper limit on the flux of electron-neutrinos.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Air fluorescence measurements in the spectral range 300-420 nm using a 28.5 GeV electron beam

Measurements are reported of the yield and spectrum of fluorescence, excited by a 28.5 GeV electron beam, in air at a range of pressures of interest to ultra-high energy cosmic ray detectors. The wavelength range was 300 - 420 nm. System calibration has been performed using Rayleigh scattering of a nitrogen laser beam. In atmospheric pressure dry air at 304 K the yield is 20.8 +/- 1.6 photons per MeV.

astro-ph↗