arXiv subjects

S. V. Troitsky

Publications and source records attributed to S. V. Troitsky.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Constraining the photon coupling of ultra-light dark-matter axion-like particles by polarization variations of parsec-scale jets in active galaxies

Ultra-light dark matter may consist of axion-like particles with masses below 10^(-19) eV. Two-photon interactions of these particles affect the polarization of radiation propagating through the dark matter. Coherent oscillations of the Bose condensate of the particles induce periodic changes in the plane of polarisation of emission passing through the condensate. We estimate this effect and analyze MOJAVE VLBA polarization observations of bright downstream features in the parsec-scale jets of active galaxies. Through the non-observation of periodic polarization changes, we are able to constrain the photon coupling of the ultra-light dark-matter axion-like particles at the level of <~ 10^(-12)/GeV for masses between ~5*10^(-23) eV and ~1.2*10^(-21) eV.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Muon content of extensive air showers: comparison of the energy spectra obtained by the Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder and by the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder (SUGAR) measured the energy spectrum of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays reconstructed from muon-detector readings, while the Pierre Auger Observatory, looking at the same Southern sky, uses the calorimetric fluorescence method for the same purpose. Comparison of their two spectra allows us to reconstruct the empirical dependence of the number of muons in the shower on the primary energy for energies between $10^{17}$ and $10^{18.5}$ eV. We compare this dependence with the predictions of hadronic interaction models \mbox{QGSJET-II-04} and \mbox{EPOS-LHC}. The empirically determined number of muons with energies above 0.75 GeV exceeds the simulated one by the factors $\sim$1.67 and $\sim$1.28 for $10^{17}$ eV proton and iron primaries, respectively. The muon excess grows moderately with the primary energy, increasing by an additional factor of $\sim 1.2$ for $10^{18.5}$ eV primaries.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

No muon excess in extensive air showers at 100-500 PeV primary energy: EAS-MSU results

Some discrepancies have been reported between observed and simulated muon content of extensive air showers: the number of observed muons exceeded the expectations in HiRes-MIA, Yakutsk and Pierre Auger Observatory data. Here, we analyze the data of the Moscow State University Extensive Air Shower (EAS-MSU) array on E_mu>~10 GeV muons in showers caused by ~(10^17-10^18) eV primary particles and demonstrate that they agree with simulations (QGSJET-II-04 hadronic interaction model) once the primary composition inferred from the surface-detector data is assumed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Constraints on the flux of $\sim (10^{16} - 10^{17.5})$ eV cosmic photons from the EAS-MSU muon data

Results of the search for $\sim (10^{16} - 10^{17.5})$ eV primary cosmic-ray photons with the data of the Moscow State University (MSU) Extensive Air Shower (EAS) array are reported. The full-scale reanalysis of the data with modern simulations of the installation does not confirm previous indications of the excess of gamma-ray candidate events. Upper limits on the corresponding gamma-ray flux are presented. The limits are the most stringent published ones at energies $\sim 10^{17}$ eV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Full Monte-Carlo description of the Moscow State University Extensive Air Shower experiment

The Moscow State University Extensive Air Shower (EAS-MSU) array studied high-energy cosmic rays with primary energies ~(1-500) PeV in the Northern hemisphere. The EAS-MSU data are being revisited following recently found indications to an excess of muonless showers, which may be interpreted as the first observation of cosmic gamma rays at ~100 PeV. In this paper, we present a complete Monte-Carlo model of the surface detector which results in a good agreement between data and simulations. The model allows us to study the performance of the detector and will be used to obtain physical results in further studies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Search for cosmic gamma rays with the Carpet-2 extensive air shower array

The present-day status of the problem of searching for primary cosmic gamma rays at energies above 100 TeV is discussed, as well as a proposal for a new experiment in this field. It is shown that an increase of the area of the muon detector of the Carpet-2 air shower array up to 410 square meters, to be realized in 2016, will make this array quite competitive with past and existing experiments, especially at modest energies. Some preliminary results of measurements made with smaller area of the muon detector are presented together with estimates of expected results to be obtained with the coming large-area muon detector.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Constraining scenarios of the soft/hard transition for the pion electromagnetic form factor with expected data of 12-GeV Jefferson Lab experiments and of the Electron-Ion Collider

It has been shown previously [PRD 88 (2013) 093005, arXiv:1310.1770] that a non-perturbative relativistic constituent-quark model for the pi-meson electromagnetic form factor allows for a quantitative description of the soft/hard transition, resulting in the correct Quantum-Chromodynamical asymptotics, including normalization, from the low-energy data without further parameter tuning. This happens universally whenever the constituent-quark mass is switched off. The energy range where the transition happens is therefore determined by the quark-mass running at intermediate energies and is not tightly constrained theoretically. Here we consider possible ways to pin down this energy range with coming experimental data. We demonstrate that expected experimental uncertainties of the 12-GeV Jefferson-Lab data are larger than the span of predictions of the model, so these data might be used for testing the model but not for determination of the soft/hard transition scale. Contrary, the projected Electron-Ion Collider will be capable of pinning down the scale.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

IceCube astrophysical neutrinos without a spectral cutoff and (10^15-10^17) eV cosmic gamma radiation

We present a range of unbroken power-law fits to the astrophysical-neutrino spectrum consistent with the most recent published IceCube data at the 68\% confidence level. Assuming that the neutrinos originate in decays of pi mesons, we estimate accompanying gamma-ray fluxes for various distributions of sources, taking propagation effects into account. We then briefly discuss existing experimental results constraining PeV to EeV diffuse gamma-ray flux and their systematic uncertainties. Several scenarios are marginally consistent both with the KASKADE and CASA-MIA upper limits at (10^15-10^16) eV and with the EAS-MSU tentative detection at ~10^17 eV, given large systematic errors of the measurements. Future searches for the diffuse gamma-ray background at sub-PeV to sub-EeV energies just below present upper limits will give a crucial diagnostic tool for distinguishing between the Galactic and extragalactic models of the origin of the IceCube events.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Estimates of the cosmic gamma-ray flux at PeV to EeV energies from the EAS-MSU experiment data

Archival EAS-MSU data are searched for anomalous muonless events which may be caused by primary gamma rays with energies between 10^15 eV and 10^18 eV. We consider a refined sample of high-quality data and confirm the previously reported detection of a non-zero gamma-ray flux at ~5x10^16 eV with a similar flux value but at somewhat lower statistical significance, corresponding to the depletion of the sample. We present upper limits on the flux below and above these energies, including the first constraints in the range (10^17-10^18) eV never studied by any other experiment.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Breaks in gamma-ray spectra of distant blazars and transparency of the Universe

The expected opacity of the intergalactic space limits the mean free path of TeV gamma rays to dozens of Megaparsecs. However, TeV photons from numerous more distant sources have been detected. This might be interpreted, in each particular case, in terms of hardening of the emitted spectrum caused by presently unknown mechanisms at work in the sources. Here we show that this interpretation is not supported by the analysis of the ensemble of all observed sources. In the frameworks of an infrared-background model with the lowest opacity, we reconstruct the emitted spectra of distant blazars and find that upward spectral breaks appear precisely at those energies where absorption effects are essential. Since these energies are very different for similar sources located at various distances, we conclude that the breaks are artefacts of the incorrect account of absorption and, therefore, the opacity of the Universe for gamma rays is overestimated even in the most conservative model. This implies that some novel physical or astrophysical phenomena should affect long-distance propagation of gamma rays. A scenario in which a part of energetic photons is converted to an inert new particle in the vicinity of the source and reconverts back close to the observer does not contradict to our results. [abridged]

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Transition from a relativistic constituent-quark model to the quantum-chromodynamical asymptotics: a quantitative description of the pion electromagnetic form factor at intermediate values of the momentum transfer

We adopt a non-perturbative relativistic constituent-quark model for the pi-meson electromagnetic form factor, which have successfully predicted experimental results, and supplement it with the effective momentum-dependent quark mass to study quantitatively the transition to the perturbative QCD asymptotics. The required asymptotical behaviour (including both the Q^{-2} fall-off and the correct coefficient) settles down automatically when the quark mass is switched off; however, the present experimental data on the form factor suggest that this cannot happen at the values of the momentum transfer below ~10 GeV^2. The effective constituent-quark mass below this scale acquires substantial non-perturbative contributions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Estimate of the fraction of primary photons in the cosmic-ray flux at energies ~10^17 eV from the EAS-MSU experiment data

We reanalyze archival EAS-MSU data in order to search for events with anomalously low content of muons with energies E_mu>10 GeV in extensive air showers with number of particles N_e>2*10^7. We confirm the first evidence for nonzero flux of primary cosmic gamma rays at energies E~10^17 eV. The estimated fraction of primary gamma rays in the flux of cosmic particles with energies E>5.4*10^16 eV is (0.43 +0.12-0.11)%, which corresponds to the intensity of (1.2 +0.4-0.3)*10^{-16} cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1}. The study of arrival directions does not favour any particular mechanism of the origin of the photon-like events.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

Constraining holographic technicolor

We obtain a new bound on the value of Peskin-Takeuchi S parameter in a wide class of bottom-up holographic models for technicolor. Namely, we show that weakly coupled holographic description in these models implies S>>0.2. Our bound is in conflict with the results of electroweak precision measurements, so it strongly disfavors the models we consider.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Towards a model of population of astrophysical sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays

We construct and discuss a toy model of the population of numerous non-identical extragalactic sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. In the model, cosmic-ray particles are accelerated in magnetospheres of supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei, the key parameter of acceleration being the black-hole mass. We use astrophysical data on the redshift-dependent black-hole mass function to describe the population of these cosmic-ray accelerators, from weak to powerful, and confront the model with cosmic-ray data.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2012

A doublet of cosmic-ray events with primary energies >10^20 eV

The Telescope Array Collaboration has observed a cosmic-ray event with estimated primary energy of 1.38*10^20 eV whose arrival direction coincides (see arxiv:1205.5984), given the angular resolution of 1.5 deg, with that of an event with estimated primary energy of 1.23*10^20 eV observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory. The total number of events with energies >10^20 eV published by both experiments is six. I estimate the statistical significance of the doublet, which is rather weak, and point out that the arrival directions of events in the doublet coincide with the Galactic X-ray source Aql X-1.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Constraints on the flux of primary cosmic-ray photons at energies E > 10^18 eV from Yakutsk muon data

Comparing the signals measured by the surface and underground scintillator detectors of the Yakutsk Extensive Air Shower Array, we place upper limits on the integral flux and the fraction of primary cosmic-ray photons with energies E > 10^18 eV, E > 2*10^18 eV and E > 4*10^18 eV. The large collected statistics of the showers measured by large-area muon detectors provides a sensitivity to photon fractions < 10^-2, thus achieving precision previously unreachable at ultra-high energies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Sensitivity of cosmic-ray experiments to ultra-high-energy photons: reconstruction of the spectrum and limits on the superheavy dark matter

We estimate the sensitivity of various experiments detecting ultra-high-energy cosmic rays to primary photons with energies above 10^19 eV. We demonstrate that the energy of a primary photon may be significantly (up to a factor of ~ 10) under- or overestimated for particular primary energies and arrival directions. We consider distortion of the reconstructed cosmic-ray spectrum for the photonic component. As an example, we use these results to constrain the parameter space of models of superheavy dark matter by means of both the observed spectra and available limits on the photon content. We find that a significant contribution of ultra-high-energy particles (photons and protons) from decays of superheavy dark matter is allowed by all these constraints.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

On the interpretation of the cosmic-ray anisotropy at ultra-high energies

A natural interpretation of the correlation between nearby Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the highest-energy cosmic rays observed recently by the Pierre Auger Collaboration is that the sources of the cosmic rays are either AGN or other objects with a similar spatial distribution (the ``AGN hypothesis''). We question this interpretation. We calculate the expected distribution of the arrival directions of cosmic rays under the AGN hypothesis and argue that it is not supported by the data, one of manifestations of the discrepancy being the deficit of events from the direction of the Virgo supercluster. We briefly discuss possible alternative explanations including the origin of a significant part of the observed events from Cen A.

astro-ph↗