arXiv subjects

Paolo Desiati

Publications and source records attributed to Paolo Desiati.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Role of the Heliosphere in Shaping the Observed Cosmic Ray Spectral Anisotropy

Experimental results by Milagro, HAWC, and ARGO-YBJ have observed variations in the energy spectrum of cosmic rays at TeV scales in different regions of the sky. These findings on the spectral anisotropy provide insights into cosmic ray behavior. This work explores the impact of galactic cosmic ray interactions with the heliosphere in creating the observed spectral anisotropy features. Specifically, the features around 1-10 TeV, where our previous studies on the heliosphere have shown the greatest effects. In this project, we integrate particle trajectories in a state-of-the-art MHD-kinetic heliosphere model that includes the effects of the solar cycle and interaction with the interstellar medium's magnetic field. With these elements, this is the first time the exact effects of the heliosphere's magnetic field are tested to determine their influence on galactic cosmic rays and their spectral anisotropy. In our results, we identified an area on the map that exhibits a distinct cosmic ray energy spectrum compared to the all-sky distribution. This area approximately coincides with Region A, where observations have found a harder energy spectrum than the isotropic spectrum.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Investigating Energy-Dependent Anisotropy in Cosmic Rays with IceTop Surface Array

This study presents preliminary results from the analysis of cosmic-ray anisotropy using air showers detected by the IceTop surface array between 2011 and 2022. With improved statistical precision and updated Monte Carlo simulation events compared to previous IceTop reports, we investigate anisotropy patterns across four energy ranges spanning from 300 TeV to 6.9 PeV. This work extends the measurement of cosmic-ray anisotropy in the southern hemisphere to higher energies than previously achieved with IceTop. Our results provide a foundation for exploring potential connections between the observed anisotropy, the energy spectrum, and the mass composition of the cosmic-ray flux.

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arXiv2025

Time Variation in the TeV Cosmic Ray Anisotropy with IceCube and Energy Dependence of the Solar Dipole

There is an observed anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays in the TeV-PeV regime with variations on the scale of one part in a thousand. While the origin of this anisotropy is an open question, a possible factor is cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar and heliospheric magnetic fields. These magnetic fields may change over time - for example, due to changes in solar activity throughout its 11-year solar cycle. The cosmic-ray anisotropy can reflect these time-dependent magnetic fields. In addition to these speculative sources, there are several known sources of time variation in this anisotropy, such as the Compton-Getting Effect from the Earth's orbital motion. We discuss a preliminary study with limited statistics of time variation undertaken by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, including a measurement of the Compton-Getting Effect as well as a general, model-independent search for other time variations. Further, we use the Compton-Getting Effect to present a preliminary measurement of the cosmic-ray spectral index as a function of energy below the knee.

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arXiv2025

All-Sky Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy Update at Multiple Energies

We present preliminary results on an updated full-sky analysis of the cosmic-ray arrival direction distribution with data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory and IceCube Neutrino Observatory with complementary field of views covering a large fraction of the sky. This study extends the energy range to higher energies. The HAWC Observatory, located at 19$^{\circ}$N has analyzed 8 years of cosmic-ray data over an energy range between 3.0 TeV and 1.0 PeV and confirms an energy-dependent anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays seen by other experiments. Combined with recently published results from IceCube with 12 years of data, the combined sky maps with 93\% coverage of the sky -- between 70$^{\circ}$N and 90$^{\circ}$S -- and the corresponding angular power spectra largely eliminate biases that result from partial sky coverage.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Chaotic Behavior of Trapped Cosmic Rays

Recent experimental results on the arrival direction of high-energy cosmic rays have motivated studies to understand their propagating environment. The observed anisotropy is shaped by interstellar and local magnetic fields. In coherent magnetic structures, such as the heliosphere, or due to magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, magnetic mirroring can temporarily trap particles, leading to chaotic behavior. In this work, we develop a new method to characterize cosmic rays' chaotic behavior in magnetic systems using finite-time Lyapunov exponents. This quantity determines the degree of chaos and adapts to transitory behavior. We study particle trajectories in an axial-symmetric magnetic bottle to highlight mirroring effects. By introducing time-dependent magnetic perturbations, we study how temporal variations affect chaotic behavior. We tailor our model to the heliosphere; however, it can represent diverse magnetic configurations exhibiting mirroring phenomena. Our results have three key implications. (1)Theoretical: We find a correlation between the finite-time Lyapunov exponent and the particle escape time from the system, which follows a power law that persists even under additional perturbations. This power law may reveal intrinsic system characteristics, offering insight into propagation dynamics beyond simple diffusion. (2)Simulation: Chaotic effects play a role in cosmic ray simulations and can influence the resulting anisotropy maps. (3)Observational: Arrival maps display areas where the chaotic properties vary significantly; these changes can be the basis for time variability in the anisotropy maps. This work lays the framework for studying the effects of magnetic mirroring of cosmic rays within the heliosphere and the role of temporal variability in the observed anisotropy.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Atmospheric muons and their variations with temperature

Seasonal variations of atmospheric muons are traditionally interpreted in terms of an effective temperature that relates the atmospheric temperature profile at a given time to the dependence of muon production on atmospheric depth. This paper aims to review and generalize the treatment of muon production and effective temperature that has been used to interpret seasonal variations of atmospheric muons by many experiments. The formalism is developed both in integral form -- for application to compact detectors at a fixed depth that record all muons with $E_μ> E_μ^\mathrm{min}$ -- and in differential form -- for application to extended detectors like IceCube, KM3NeT, and Baikal-GVD, where the rates are proportional to energy-dependent effective areas.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Cosmic Ray Anisotropy with 11 Years of IceCube Data

The IceCube Observatory provides our highest-statistics picture of the cosmic-ray arrival directions in the Southern Hemisphere, with over 700 billion cosmic-ray-induced muon events collected between May 2011 and May 2022. Using the larger data volume, we find an improved significance of the PeV cosmic ray anisotropy down to scales of $6^\circ$. In addition, we observe a variation in the angular power spectrum as a function of energy, hinting at a relative decrease in large-scale features above 100 TeV. The data-taking period covers a complete solar cycle, providing new insight into the time variability of the signal. We present preliminary results using this up-to-date event sample.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Chaos, Cosmic Ray Anisotropy, and the Heliosphere

After more than a century of discovering cosmic rays, a comprehensive description of their origin, propagation, and composition still eludes us. One of the difficulties is that these particles interact with magnetic fields; therefore, their directional information is distorted as they travel. In addition, as cosmic rays (CRs) propagate in the Galaxy, they can be affected by magnetic structures that temporarily trap them and cause their trajectories to display chaotic behavior, therefore modifying the simple diffusion scenario. Here, we examine the effects of chaos and trapping on the TeV CR anisotropy. Concretely, we develop a new method to study the chaotic behavior of CRs. This work is based on the heliospheric effects since they can be remarkably significant for this anisotropy. Specifically, how the distinct heliospheric structures can affect chaos levels. We model the heliosphere as a coherent magnetic structure given by a static magnetic bottle and the presence of temporal magnetic perturbations. This configuration is used to describe the draping of the local interstellar magnetic field lines around the heliosphere and the effects of magnetic field reversals induced by the solar cycles. In this work, we explore the possibility that particle trajectories may develop chaotic behavior while traversing and being temporarily trapped in this heliospheric-inspired toy model and its potential consequences on the CR arrival distribution. It was found that the level of chaos in a trajectory is linked to the time the particles remain trapped in the system. This relation is described by a power law that could prove to be inherently characteristic of the system. Also, the arrival distribution maps show areas where the different chaotic behaviors are present, which can constitute a source of time-variability in the CR maps and can prove critical in understanding the anisotropy on Earth.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Anisotropy of Cosmic Rays and Chaotic Trajectories in the Heliosphere

As cosmic rays (CRs) propagate in the Galaxy, they can be affected by magnetic structures that temporarily trap them and cause their trajectories to display chaotic behavior, therefore modifying the simple diffusion scenario. When CRs arrive at the Earth, they do so anisotropically. These chaotic effects can be a fundamental contributor to this anisotropy. Accordingly, this requires a comprehensive description of chaos in trapping conditions since assessing their repercussions on the CR arrival directions is necessary. This study utilizes a new method described in López-Barquero and Desiati (2021) to characterize chaotic trajectories in bound systems. This method is based on the Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE), a quantity that determines the levels of chaos based on the trajectories' divergence rate. The FTLE is useful since it adapts to trapping conditions in magnetic structures or even propagating media changes. Here, we explore the effects that chaos and trapping can have on the TeV CR anisotropy. Concretely, we apply this method to study the behavior of CRs entering the heliosphere. Specifically, how the distinct heliospheric structures and CR impinging directions from the ISM can affect chaos levels. The heliosphere has an intrinsic directionality that affects CRs differently depending on where they enter it. This feature causes preferential directions from which particles tend to be more chaotic than others. This eventually translates into changes in the arrival maps which are not uniformly distributed. Instead, we expect sectors in the map to change separately from others, creating a time variation that could be detected. Consequently, this result points to the idea that time-variability in the maps is essential to understanding the CR anisotropy's overall processes.

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arXiv2022

CREW HaT: A Magnetic Shielding System for Space Habitats

At the dawn of a new space exploration age, aiming to send humans back to the Moon and for the first time to Mars, it is necessary to devise a solution to mitigate the impact that space radiation has on spacecraft and astronauts. Although technically challenging, active magnetic shielding is generally considered a promising solution. We propose a lightweight deployable system producing an open magnetic field around a space habitat. Our Cosmic Radiation Extended Warding (CREW) system consists of a cylindrical Halbach array coil arrangement, or Halbach Torus (HaT). This configuration generates an enhanced external magnetic field while suppressing it in the habitat volume. The CREW HaT takes advantage of recent innovations in high-temperature superconductors (e.g., ReBCO) that enables the needed high currents. We present a preliminary feasibility design of the magnetic shielding system and its collapsible mechanical structure to sustain the internal magnetic forces while protecting astronauts. We also lay down the next steps towards a more evolved and comprehensive device design.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2022

Using TeV Cosmic Rays to probe the Heliosphere's Boundary with the Local Interstellar Medium

The heliosphere is the magnetic structure formed by the Sun's atmosphere extending into the local interstellar medium (ISM). The boundary separating the heliosphere from the ISM is a still largely unexplored region of space. Even though both Voyager spacecraft entered the local ISM and are delivering data, they are two points piercing a vast region of space at specific times. The heliospheric boundary regulates the penetration of MeV- GeV galactic cosmic rays (CR) in the inner heliosphere. Interstellar keV neutral atoms are crucial to the outer heliosphere since they can penetrate unperturbed and transfer energy to the solar wind. Missions such as NASA's IBEX and Cassini are designed to detect neutral atoms and monitor charge exchange processes at the heliospheric boundary. The heliosphere does not modulate the TeV CR intensity, but it does influence their arrival direction distribution. Ground-based CR observatories have provided accurate maps of CR anisotropy as a function of energy in the last couple of decades. Combining observations to produce all-sky coverage makes it possible to investigate the heliosphere's impact on TeV CR particles. We can numerically calculate the pristine TeV CR distribution in the local ISM with state-of-the-art heliosphere models. Only by subtracting the heliospheric influence is it possible to use TeV CR observations to infer propagation properties and the characteristics of magnetic turbulence in the ISM. Numerical calculations of CR particle trajectories through heliospheric models provide a complementary tool to probe the boundary region properties. A program boosting heliospheric modeling with emphasis on the boundary region and promoting combined CR experimental data analyses from multiple experiments benefits CR astrophysics and provides additional data and tools to explore the interaction between the heliosphere and the local ISM.

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arXiv2021

Observation of Cosmic Ray Anisotropy with Nine Years of IceCube Data

The IceCube Observatory has collected over 577 billion cosmic-ray induced muon events in its final configuration from May 2011 to May 2020. We used this data set to provide an unprecedented statistically accurate map of the cosmic ray arrival direction distribution in the TeV-PeV energy range scale in the Southern Hemisphere. Such an increase in event statistics makes it possible to extend the sensitivity to anisotropies at higher cosmic ray energies and smaller angular scales. It will also facilitate a more detailed assessment of the observatory stability over both short- and long-time scales. This will enable us to study the time variability of the cosmic ray anisotropy on a yearly-base and over the entire data sample period covering most of the solar cycle 24. We present the preliminary results from the study with the extended event sample.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Cosmic-ray propagation around the Sun: investigating the influence of the solar magnetic field on the cosmic-ray Sun shadow

The cosmic-ray Sun shadow, which is caused by high-energy charged cosmic rays being blocked and deflected by the Sun and its magnetic field, has been observed by various experiments, such as Argo-YBJ, HAWC, Tibet, and IceCube. Most notably, the shadow's size and depth was recently shown to correlate with the 11-year solar cycle. The interpretation of such measurements, which help to bridge the gap between solar physics and high-energy particle astrophysics, requires a solid theoretical understanding of cosmic-ray propagation in the coronal magnetic field. It is the aim of this paper to establish theoretical predictions for the cosmic-ray Sun shadow in order to identify observables that can be used to study this link in more detail. To determine the cosmic-ray Sun shadow, we numerically compute trajectories of charged cosmic rays in the energy range of 5-316 TeV for five different mass numbers. We present and analyze the resulting shadow images for protons and iron, as well as for typically measured cosmic-ray compositions. We confirm the observationally established correlation between the magnitude of the shadowing effect and both the mean sunspot number and the polarity of the magnetic field during the solar cycle. We also show that during low solar activity, the Sun's shadow behaves similarly to that of a dipole, for which we find a non-monotonous dependence on energy. In particular, the shadow can become significantly more pronounced than the geometrical disk expected for a totally unmagnetized Sun. For times of high solar activity, we instead predict the shadow to depend monotonously on energy, and to be generally weaker than the geometrical shadow for all tested energies. These effects should become visible in energy-resolved measurements of the Sun shadow, and may in the future become an independent measure for the level of disorder in the solar magnetic field.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Snowmass 2021 LoI: Determination of cosmic ray properties in the local interstellar medium with all-sky anisotropy observations

Propagation of Galactic cosmic rays (CR) in the interstellar medium (ISM) is among the unsolved problems in particle astrophysics. Interpretation of CR spectrum and composition measurements and their possible link to dark matter crucially relies on our understanding of CR propagation in the Galaxy. Several air shower experiments have measured a significant anisotropy of CRs in the TeV to PeV energy range. These observations hint to a complicated overlap of more than one cause: from the distribution of the CR sources in the Milky Way to the nature of such sources, from the turbulence properties of interstellar plasmas to the inhomogeneous nature of the interstellar medium. Coherent magnetic structures such as the heliosphere greatly influence the CR arrival direction distribution. It is necessary to account for and remove the heliosphere's distortion effects if we want to determine the pristine CR arrival direction distribution in the local interstellar medium (LISM), the environment surrounding the solar system up to the distance of particle mean free path. The recent availability of accurate all-sky maps of CR arrival direction distribution and the latest advancements in heliospheric modeling, make it possible to infer the CR pitch angle distribution in the LISM using a Liouville mapping technique. With the interstellar CR distribution, we can study the global characteristics of CR diffusion, tap into the properties of interstellar plasma turbulence, test the recent and local CR source hypothesis, and whether clumps of dark matter have a role in the observed CR observations. The study can lead to developments aiming to a better understanding of the heliosphere, particularly the boundary region with the ISM, and additional constraints on the LISM properties.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Seasonal variation of atmospheric muons in IceCube

After more than seven years of data taking with the full IceCube detector triggering at an average rate of 2.15 kHz, a sample of half a trillion muon events is available for analysis. The extreme temperature variations in the stratosphere together with the high data rate reveal features on both long and short time scales with unprecedented precision. In this paper we report an analysis in terms of the atmospheric profile for production of muons from decay of charged pions and kaons. We comment on the implications for seasonal variations of neutrinos, which are presented in a separate paper at this conference.

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arXiv2019

Studying the Temporal Variation of the Cosmic-Ray Sun Shadow Using IceCube Data

The shadowing effect of the Moon and Sun in TeV cosmic rays has been measured with high statistical significance by several experiments. Unlike particles from directions close to the Moon, however, charged particles passing by the neighborhood of the Sun are affected not only by the geomagnetic but also by the solar near- and interplanetary-magnetic field. Since the latter undergoes a well-known 11-year cycle -- during which it can become highly disordered -- the cosmic-ray shadow cast by the Sun as observed on Earth is expected to change over time. We present an update of the analysis of the cosmic-ray Moon and Sun shadows using data taken with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. With a median energy after quality cuts of approximately $50-60\,$TeV, depending on the cosmic-ray flux model used, primary cosmic rays inducing events which pass IceCube's Sun shadow filter have a comparatively high energy. While the results for the Moon shadow confirm the stability of the IceCube observatory, the results for the Sun shadow exhibit a clear variation correlating with solar activity and theoretical models of the solar magnetic field.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Chaotic Effects on Cosmic Ray Anisotropy in a Heliosphere-inspired Model

Cosmic rays propagate through the Galaxy and encounter systems that may trap them temporarily, as well as magnetic field structures that induce chaotic behavior on their trajectories. In particular, this is the case for particles that propagate in the local interstellar medium and interact with the heliospheric magnetic field before being detected on Earth. As a consequence, the observed cosmic-ray arrival direction distribution is affected by the heliosphere as long as their gyro-radius is smaller or comparable with the heliospheric size, i.e. in the TeV energy range. The chaotic nature of those cosmic-ray particle trajectories that are temporarily trapped inside the heliosphere can be characterized using the Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponents. Specifically, we will delve into the case of particles trapped in a heliospheric-inspired toy model of a static magnetic bottle configuration and the presence of temporal magnetic perturbations. In this work, we also suggest that a time-variability could prove to be important in the understanding of the TeV cosmic-ray anisotropy at Earth.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Experimental biases on the heliospheric contribution to the observed TeV cosmic ray anisotropy

The arrival direction distribution of cosmic ray particles observed on Earth is shaped by the cumulative effects of their galactic source locations and of trajectory bending in the turbulent interstellar magnetic field. Coherent magnetic structures are expected to disrupt particle trajectories and their observed distribution, as well. The heliosphere, the large magnetic bubble generated by the sweeping effect of solar wind on the local interstellar plasma, strongly affects the TeV cosmic ray particles detected on Earth. By unfolding the heliospheric influence on the observed anisotropy, it is possible to determine the pitch angle distribution of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium. This information makes it possible to study in detail the global diffusion properties of TeV cosmic rays in the Galaxy. However, observational blindness to key features of the cosmic ray arrival direction distribution may lead to biases in the determination of the heliospheric influence and of the interstellar CR distribution. Any inference of galactic TeV CR diffusion properties must carefully account for local propagation phenomena and observational limitations.

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