arXiv subjects

Ritabrata Sarkar

Publications and source records attributed to Ritabrata Sarkar.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Origin of Multi-TeV Gamma-rays in LHAASO J0341+5258 via Cosmic Ray Illumination of Molecular Clouds

We investigate the origin of the ultra-high-energy $γ$-ray emission detected by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) from the source LHAASO J0341+5258, which has not yet been associated with any known astrophysical object within the detector's field of view. The observed UHE emission is modelled within two independent frameworks: initially with a time-dependent, source-independent hadronic scenario implemented with the numerical package GAMERA, where particles propagate through the interstellar medium and subsequently interact with the molecular gas observed in the region and finally with an analytical description of the interaction between the accelerated cosmic-ray population from a supernova remnant (SNR) and the molecular gas around it. The relevant parameter space for the hypothetical past SNR is explored using the observed TeV $γ$-rays. We show that, for physically plausible source-cloud separations and propagation timescales, GAMERA provides a first-order approximation to the spectral modifications induced by particle transport and yields an adequate fit to the ultra-high-energy $γ$-ray data. Within the framework of our analytical approach, we demonstrated that the observed GeV emission can plausibly originate from the SNR itself, while the TeV emission detected by LHAASO can be consistently interpreted as arising from particles that have escaped from the SNR and are illuminating nearby molecular clouds. We invoke a spatio-temporally evolved SNR-molecular cloud interaction scenario to account self-consistently for the entire $γ$-ray spectrum from GeV to TeV energies. Despite the remaining uncertainty regarding the nature of the acceleration source, we conclude that the TeV emission detected by LHAASO can be consistently interpreted within the framework of an illumination scenario.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Charge-dependent spectral softenings of primary cosmic-rays below the knee

In most particle acceleration or propagation theories, the characteristic features of the cosmic ray spectra due to acceleration limits or propagation phase changes are charge dependent. Alternatively, the interaction scenario would expect mass dependent spectral features in general. The observational verification of which relation takes effect in nature is still lack due to the difficulty of measuring the spectra of individual particles up to very high energies. Here we report direct measurements of the carbon, oxygen, and iron spectra from ~20 gigavolts to ~100 teravolts (~60 teravolts for iron) with 9 years of on-orbit data collected by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer. Distinct spectral softenings have been directly detected in these spectra for the first time. Combined with the updated proton and helium spectra, the spectral softening appears universally at a rigidity of ~15 teravolts. A nuclei mass dependent softening is rejected at a confidence level of >99.999%. Possible interpretations of these results, including a nearby cosmic ray source and other models such as the propagation effect, are discussed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Monitoring Gamma Ray Bursts with the Zirè instrument onboard the NUSES space mission

The Zirè experiment onboard NUSES space mission has several science goals, including the measurements of charged particles and light nuclei from few up to hundreds of MeVs, for the study of low-energy cosmic rays, space weather phenomena, and possible magnetosphere-lithosphere-ionosphere coupling signals. Furthermore, the experiment intends to test new tools for the detection of photons in the energy range of about 0.03-50 MeV, allowing the investigation of transient phenomena like gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). A high-density segmented calorimeter exploiting novel scintillator crystals and silicon photomultiplier technology for the readout system will serve this purpose along its main task of calorimetric energy measurement of the cosmic-ray charged particles. In this work, we discuss the functionality of the calorimeter as a GRB monitor through the calculation of its performance in terms of effective area, sensitivity, and timing response for the transient outbursts.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Crystal Eye: all sky MeV monitor with high precision real-time localization

Crystal Eye is a space-based all-sky monitor optimized for the autonomous detection and localization of transients in the 10 keV to 30 MeV energy range, a region where extensive observations and monitoring of various astrophysical phenomena are required. By focusing on the operating environment and its impact on the observation process, we optimized the detector design and assessed its scientific potential. We explored the use of novel techniques to achieve the science goals of the experiment. We assumed the orbit of a potential future mission at approximately 550 km altitude near the equatorial region with a 20° inclination. In such an orbit, the main background contributions for this kind of detector are from different particles and radiation of cosmic origin and secondaries produced by their interaction in the Earth's atmospheric and geomagnetic environment. We studied the response of the detector in this background environment, using the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit. We also calculated other detector performance parameters to estimate its scientific capabilities. The detector effective area and efficiency are calculated for low energy gamma-ray sources and used to estimate its sensitivity to short-duration transient sources. The calculation shows a better effective area and sensitivity by several factors compared to existing instruments of similar type. A method is also developed and discussed to estimate the online transient-localization performance of the detector, suggesting a better localization precision by about an order of magnitude than those typically reported by existing gamma-ray monitors. We present here the simulation study and results of an innovative detector design concept that can make a significant contribution in the multi-messenger era. Moreover, this study can be useful as a technical reference for similar future experiments.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Gamma-rays and Neutrinos from Giant Molecular Cloud Populations in the Galactic Plane

The recent IceCube detection of significant neutrino flux from the inner Galactic plane has provided us valuable insights on the spectrum of cosmic rays in our Galaxy. This flux can be produced either by a population of Galactic point sources or by diffused emission from cosmic ray interactions with the interstellar medium or by a mixture of both. In this work, we compute diffused gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes produced by a population of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in our Galaxy, assuming different parametrizations of the Galactic diffused cosmic ray distribution. In particular, we take into account two main cases: (I) constant cosmic ray luminosity in our Galaxy, and (II) space-dependent cosmic ray luminosity, based on the supernovae distribution in our Galaxy. For Case-I, we found that the neutrino flux from GMCs is a factor of $\sim 10$ below compared to $π^0$ and KRA$_γ$ best-fitted models of IceCube observations at $10^5$ GeV. Instead, for Case-II the model can explain up to $\sim 90 \%$ of the neutrino flux at that energy. Moreover, for this last scenario IceCube detector could be able to detect neutrino events from the Galactic centre regions. We then calculated gamma-ray and neutrino fluxes from individual GMCs and noticed that several current and future Cherenkov telescopes and neutrino observatories have the right sensitivities to study these objects. In particular, very neutrino-bright region such as Aquila Rift is favourable for detection by the IceCube-Gen2 observatory.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Interpreting the GeV-TeV Gamma-Ray Spectra of Local Giant Molecular Clouds using GEANT4 Simulation

Recently, the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray satellite has detected six Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) located in the Gould Belt and the Aquila Rift regions. In half of these objects (Taurus, Orion A, Orion B), the observed gamma-ray spectrum can be explained using the Galactic diffused Cosmic Ray (CR) interactions with the gas environments. In the remaining three GMCs (Rho Oph, Aquila Rift, Cepheus), the origin of the gamma-ray spectrum is still not well established. We use the GEometry ANd Tracking (GEANT4) simulation framework in order to simulate gamma-ray emission due to CR/GMC interaction in these three objects, taking into account the gas density distribution inside the GMCs. We find that propagation of diffused Galactic CRs inside these GMCs can explain the Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray spectra. Further, our estimated TeV-PeV fluxes are consistent with the HAWC upper limits, available for the Aquila Rift GMC. As last step, we compute the total neutrino flux estimated for these GMCs and compare it with the IceCube detection sensitivity.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Simulation of Cosmic Rays in the Earth's Atmosphere and Interpretation of Observed Counts in an X-ray Detector at Balloon Altitude Near Tropical Region

The study of secondary particles produced by the cosmic-ray interaction in the Earth's atmosphere is very crucial as these particles mainly constitute the background counts produced in the high-energy detectors at balloon and satellite altitudes. In the present work, we calculate the abundance of cosmic-ray generated secondary particles at various heights of the atmosphere by means of a Monte Carlo simulation and use this result to understand the background counts in our X-ray observations using balloon-borne instruments operating near the tropical latitude (geomagnetic latitude: $\sim 14.50^{\circ}$ N). For this purpose, we consider a 3D description of the atmospheric and geomagnetic field configurations surrounding the Earth, as well as the electromagnetic and nuclear interaction processes using Geant4 simulation toolkit. Subsequently, we use a realistic mass model description of the detector under consideration, to simulate the counts produced in the detector due to secondary cosmic-ray particles.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

Monte Carlo Simulation of CRAND Protons Trapped at Low Earth Orbits

The Cosmic Ray Albedo Neutron Decay (CRAND) is believed to be the principal mechanism for the formation of inner proton radiation belt -- at least for relatively higher energy particles. We implement this mechanism in a Monte Carlo simulation procedure to calculate the trapped proton radiation at the low Earth orbits, through event-by-event interaction of the cosmic ray particles in the Earth's atmosphere and their transportation in the magnetosphere. We consider the generation of protons from subsequent decay of the secondary neutrons from the cosmic ray interaction in the atmosphere and their transport (and/or trapping) in the geomagnetic field. We address the computational challenges for this type of calculations and develop an optimized algorithm to minimize the computation time. We consider a full 3D description of the Earth's atmospheric and magnetic-field configurations using the latest available models. We present the spatial and phase-space distribution of the trapped protons considering the adiabatic invariants and other parameters at the low Earth orbits. We compare the simulation results with the trapped proton flux measurements made by PAMELA experiment at low Earth orbit and explain certain features observed by the measurement.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

Background model of Phoswich X-ray detector on board small balloon

We performed a detailed modelling of the background counts observed in a phoswich scintillator X-ray detector at balloon altitude, used for astronomical observations, on board small scientific balloon. We used Monte Carlo simulation technique in Geant4 simulation environment, to estimate the detector background from various plausible sources. High energy particles and radiation generated from the interaction of Galactic Cosmic Rays with the atmospheric nuclei is a major source of background counts (under normal solar condition) for such detectors. However, cosmogenic or induced radioactivity in the detector materials due to the interaction of high energy particles and natural radioactive contamination present in the detector can also contribute substantially to the detector background. We considered detailed 3D modelling of the earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere to calculate the radiation environment at the balloon altitude and deployed a proper mass model of the detector to calculate the background counts in it. The calculation satisfactorily explains the observed background in the detector at 30 km altitude (atmospheric depth: 11.5 $g/cm^{2}$) during the balloon flight experiment from a location near 14.5$^{\circ}$N geomagnetic latitude.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

Extensive study of radiation dose on human body at aviation altitude through Monte Carlo simulation

The diverse near-Earth radiation environment due to cosmic rays and solar radiation has direct impact on human civilization. In the present and upcoming era of increasing air transfer, it is important to have precise idea of radiation dose effects on human body during air travel. Here, we calculate the radiation dose on the human body at the aviation altitude, also considering the shielding effect of the aircraft structure, using Monte Carlo simulation technique based on Geant4 toolkit. We consider proper 3D mathematical model of the atmosphere and geomagnetic field, updated profile of the incoming particle flux due to cosmic rays and appropriate physics processes. We use quasi-realistic computational phantoms to replicate the human body (male/female) for the effective dose calculation and develop a simplified mathematical model of the aircraft (taking Boeing 777--200LR as reference) for the shielding study. We simulate the radiation environment at the flying altitude (considering geomagnetic latitude in the range of 45-50$^{\circ}$), as well as at various locations inside the fuselage of the aircraft. Then, we calculate the dose rates in the different organs for both male and female phantoms, based on latest recommendations of International Commission on Radio logical Protection. This calculation shows that the sex-averaged effective dose rate in human phantom is 5.46 $μ$Sv/h, whereas, if we calculate weighted sum of equivalent dose contributions separately in female and male body: total weighted sum of equivalent dose rate received by the female phantom is 5.72 $μ$Sv/h and that by the male phantom is 5.20 $μ$Sv/h. From the simulation, we also calculate the numerous cosmogenic radionuclides produced inside the phantoms through activation or spallation processes which may induce long-term biological effects.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2021

Relation Between Quiescence and Outbursting Properties of GX 339-4

Galactic black hole candidate (BHC) GX~339-4 underwent several outbursting phases in the past two and a half decades at irregular intervals of $2-3$ years. Nature of these outbursts in terms of the duration, number of peaks, maximum peak intensity, etc. varies. We present a possible physical reason behind the variation of outbursts. From a physical point of view, if the supply of matter from the companion is roughly constant, the total energy release in an outburst is expected to be proportional to the quiescence period prior to the outburst when the matter is accumulated. We use archival data of RXTE/ASM from January 1996 to June 2011, and MAXI/GSC from August 2009 to July 2020 data. Initial five outbursts of GX~339-4 between 1997 and 2011 were observed by ASM and showed a good linear relation between the accumulation period and the amount of energy released in each outburst, but the outbursts after 2013 behaved quite differently. The 2013, $2017-18$, and $2018-19$ outbursts were of short duration, and incomplete or `failed' in nature. We suggest that the matter accumulated during the quiescence periods prior to these outbursts were not cleared through accretion due to lack of viscosity. The leftover matter was cleared in the immediate next outbursts. Our study thus sheds light on long term accretion dynamics in outbursting sources.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Detection of Crab radiation with a meteorological balloon borne phoswich detector

We use existing light weight balloon facility of Indian Centre for Space Physics to detect the X-ray radiation from Crab pulsar with a phoswich detector. We present the design considerations and characterization of the detector used for this purpose. We model the background radiation in the detector environment at various altitudes and use this in spectral analysis. The background radiation level and limitations on the detector allowed us to calculate minimum detection limit for extrasolar radiation sources with our set up.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Development of Instruments for Space Exploration Using Meteorological-balloons

Indian Centre for Space Physics is engaged in studying terrestrial and extra-terrestrial high energy phenomena from meteorological balloon borne platforms. A complete payload system with such balloons is at the most about five kilograms of weight. One has to adopt innovative and optimal design for various components of the experiment, so that the data can be procured at decent heights of ~ 35-42 km and at the same time, some scientific goals are achieved. In this paper, we mainly describe the instruments in detail and present their test and calibration results. We discuss, how we implemented and tested three major instruments, namely, a Geiger-Müller counter, a single crystal scintillator detector and a phoswich type scintillator detector for our missions. We also present some flight data of a few missions to demonstrate the capability of such experiments.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Study of high energy phenomena from near space using low-cost meteorological balloons

Indian Centre for Space Physics has taken a novel strategy to study low energy cosmic rays and astrophysical X-ray sources which involve very light weight payloads up to about five kilograms on board a single or multiple balloons which are usually used for meteorological purposes. The mission duration could be anywhere from 3-12 hours. Our strategy provides extreme flexibility in mission preparation and its operation using a very economical budget. There are several limitations but our innovative approach has been able to extract significant amount of scientific data out of these missions. So far, over one hundred missions have been completed by us to near space and a wealth of data has been collected. The payloads are recovered and are used again. Scientific data is stored on board computer and the atmospheric data or payload location is sent to ground in real time. Since each mission is different, we present here the general strategy for a typical payload and provide some results we obtained in some of these missions.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Measurement of secondary cosmic ray intensity at Regener-Pfotzer height using low-cost weather balloons and its correlation with solar activity

Cosmic ray flux in our planetary system is primarily modulated by solar activity. Radiation effects of cosmic rays on the Earth strongly depend on latitude due to the variation of the geomagnetic field strength. To study these effects we carried out a series of measurements of the radiation characteristics in the atmosphere due to cosmic rays from various places (geomagnetic latitude: ~ 14.50 deg N) in West Bengal, India, located near the Tropic of Cancer, for several years (2012-2016) particularly covering the solar maximum in the 24th solar cycle. We present low energy ($15-140$ keV) secondary radiation measurement results extending from the ground till the near space (~ 40 km) using a scintillator detector on board rubber weather balloons. We also concentrate on the cosmic ray intensity at the Regener-Pfotzer maxima and find a strong anti-correlation between this intensity and the solar activity even at low geomagnetic latitudes.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2010

Instruments of RT-2 Experiment onboard CORONAS-PHOTON and their test and evaluation IV: Background Simulations using GEANT-4 Toolkit

Hard X-ray detectors in space are prone to background signals due to the ubiquitous cosmic rays and cosmic diffuse background radiation that continuously bombards the satellites which carry the detectors. In general, the background intensity depends on the space environment as well as the material surrounding the detectors. Understanding the behavior of the background noise in the detector is very important to extract the precise source information from the detector data. In this paper, we carry out Monte Carlo simulations using the GEANT-4 toolkit to estimate the prompt background noise measured with the detectors of the RT-2 Experiment onboard the CORONAS-PHOTON satellite.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Fresnel zone plate telescopes for X-ray imaging I: experiments with a quasi-parallel beam

Combination of Fresnel Zone Plates (FZP) can make an excellent telescope for imaging in X-rays. We present here the results of our experiments with several pairs of tungsten made Fresnel Zone plates in presence of an X-ray source kept at a distance of about 45 feet. The quasi-parallel beam allowed us to study sources placed on the axis as well as off the axis of the telescope. We present theoretical study of the fringe patterns produced by the zone plates in presence of a quasi-parallel source. We compare the patterns obtained from experiments with those obtained by our Monte-Carlo simulations. The images are also reconstructed by deconvolution from both the patterns. We compare the performance of such a telescope with other X-ray imaging devices used in space-astronomy.

astro-ph.IM↗