arXiv subjects

Tadeusz Wibig

Publications and source records attributed to Tadeusz Wibig.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Large Magellanic Cloud as a source of the highest energy cosmic rays

The Pierre Auger Observatory has published properties of the 100 highest-energy cosmic ray events (to energies above 100 EeV) which it recorded over a 17 year period. We have examined the directional properties of these events and have taken particular note of the most energetically extreme events. We find that the most energetic events have directions which are grouped in a non-random way at the 1\% level. There is an apparent clustering in a limited region of the sky. Close to that direction is found Centaurus A, which has long been considered as a source of such particles, but we also note that a close-by dwarf galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is closer in angular terms. We examine the possibility that the LMC might be a source of observed cosmic rays at the highest energies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Recent Developments within The Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO)

This contribution presents the recent research developments within the Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) in the search for resolution of various scientific puzzles, ranging from fundamental physical questions to applications like the determination of earthquake precursors. The state-of-the art theoretical, numerical and computational aspects of these phenomena are addressed, as well as recent experimental developments for detection.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Simulation of the isotropic ultra-high energy photons flux in the solar magnetic field and a comparison with observations made by the HAWC and Fermi-LAT observatories

In this contribution we study the possibility of the formation of cosmic ray ensembles (CRE) created by the interaction of ultra-high energy (UHE) photons with the magnetic field of the Sun. The lack of observation of those UHE and the difficulties for their identification given the current methodologies motivates this study. We performed simulations using the PRESHOWER program in order to simulate the expected extensive air showers which might be spatially correlated generated upon entering the Earth's atmosphere. We found characteristic features like very thing and extremely elongates cascades of secondary photons with their corresponding energies spanning the entire cosmic range spectrum. Shower footprints are as large as hundreds of kilometres. An application of this study is the scenario of gamma-ray emission from the vicinity of the Sun as a result of ultra-high energy photon cascading in the solar magnetic field in order to understand recent observations made by the HAWC and Fermi-LAT observatories.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Simulation of the isotropic ultra-high energy photons flux in the solar magnetic field

Both the lack of observation of ultra-high energy (UHE) photons and the limitations of the state-of-the-art methodology being applied for their identification motivate studies on alternative approaches to the relevant simulations and the related observational strategies. One of such new approaches is proposed in this report and it concerns new observables allowing indirect identification of UHE photons through cosmic ray phenomena composed of many spatially correlated extensive air showers or primary cosmic rays observed at one time. The study is based on simulations of interactions of UHE photons with the magnetic field of the Sun using the PRESHOWER program with some essential modifications. One of the expected results of such interactions is a generation of cosmic ray ensembles (CRE) in the form of very thin and very elongated cascades of secondary photons of energies spanning the whole cosmic ray energy spectrum. Upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, these cascades or their parts may generate uniquely characteristic walls of spatially correlated extensive air showers, and the effect is expected also in cases when primary UHE photons are not directed towards the Earth. Particle distributions in these multi-primary UHE photon footprints are expected to have thicknesses of the order of meters and elongations reaching even hundreds of millions kilometers, making them potentially observable with a global, multi-experiment approach, including re-exploring of the historical data, with the expected event rate exceeding the capabilities of even very large cosmic ray observatories. The methods described in this report allow for simulating potentially observable quantities related to CRE induced by UHE photons: densities, energy spectra and geographical orientations of particles at the top of the Earth's atmosphere.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Advancing the Landscape of Multimessenger Science in the Next Decade

The last decade has brought about a profound transformation in multimessenger science. Ten years ago, facilities had been built or were under construction that would eventually discover the nature of objects in our universe could be detected through multiple messengers. Nonetheless, multimessenger science was hardly more than a dream. The rewards for our foresight were finally realized through IceCube's discovery of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux, the first observation of gravitational waves by LIGO, and the first joint detections in gravitational waves and photons and in neutrinos and photons. Today we live in the dawn of the multimessenger era. The successes of the multimessenger campaigns of the last decade have pushed multimessenger science to the forefront of priority science areas in both the particle physics and the astrophysics communities. Multimessenger science provides new methods of testing fundamental theories about the nature of matter and energy, particularly in conditions that are not reproducible on Earth. This white paper will present the science and facilities that will provide opportunities for the particle physics community renew its commitment and maintain its leadership in multimessenger science.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Simulations of Cosmic Ray Ensembles originated nearby the Sun

Cosmic Ray Ensembles (CRE) are yet not observed groups of cosmic rays with a common primary interaction vertex or the same parent particle. One of the processes capable of initiating identifiable CRE is an interaction of an ultra-high energy (UHE) photon with the solar magnetic field which results in an electron pair production and the subsequent synchrotron radiation. The resultant electromagnetic cascade forms a very characteristic line-like front of a very small width ($\sim$ meters), stretching from tens of thousands to even many millions of kilometers. In this contribution we present the results of applying a toy model to simulate detections of such CRE at the ground level with an array of ideal detectors of different dimensions. The adopted approach allows us to assess the CRE detection feasibility for a specific configuration of a detector array. The process of initiation and propagation of an electromagnetic cascade originated from an UHE photon passing near the Sun, as well as the resultant particle distribution on ground, were simulated using the CORSIKA program with the PRESHOWER option, both modified accordingly. The studied scenario results in photons forming a cascade that extends even over tens of millions of kilometers when it arrives at the top of the Earth's atmosphere, and the photon energies span practically the whole cosmic ray energy spectrum. The topology of the signal consists of very extended CRE shapes, and the characteristic, very much elongated disk-shape of the particle distribution on ground illustrates the potential for identification of CRE of this type.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Superposition model test in small CORSIKA shower simulations

The calculation of the flux of particles reaching the earth's surface, as well as cases of simultaneous arrival at the observation level of groups of particles -- very small Extensive Air Showers, require simulation calculations and taking into account a much greater extent of fluctuations of the development of the showers generated by very low energy cosmic ray particles, much greater than usual for showers with energies near the "knee" and above due to the very steep cosmic ray energy spectrum. These fluctuation depend significantly on the mass number of the primary cosmic ray particle. Nuclei are sets of nucleons and it seems an obvious approximation to assume that the extensive air showers initiated in the upper atmosphere by atomic nuclei are a convolution of the showers generated by single nucleons. This is called the superposition hypothesis. In this paper, we test this superposition model. We will show, using results of a detailed simulation program CORSIKA, that the superposition assumption is not fulfilled for higher moments of the distributions of the main characteristics of extensive air showers. We will discussed some extensions of the simply superposition model that ensure consistency with the results of detailed simulations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory

The Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) is a newly formed, global collaboration dedicated to observing and studying cosmic rays (CR) and cosmic ray ensembles (CRE): groups of a minimum of two CR with a common primary interaction vertex or the same parent particle. The CREDO program embraces testing known CR and CRE scenarios, and preparing to observe unexpected physics, it is also suitable for multi-messenger and multi-mission applications. Perfectly matched to CREDO capabilities, CRE could be formed both within classical models (e.g. as products of photon-photon interactions), and exotic scenarios (e.g. as results of decay of Super Heavy Dark Matter particles). Their fronts might be significantly extended in space and time, and they might include cosmic rays of energies spanning the whole cosmic ray energy spectrum, with a footprint composed of at least two extensive air showers with correlated arrival directions and arrival times. Since CRE are mostly expected to be spread over large areas and, because of the expected wide energy range of the contributing particles, CRE detection might only be feasible when using available cosmic ray infrastructure collectively, i.e. as a globally extended network of detectors. Thus, with this review article, the CREDO Collaboration invites the astroparticle physics community to actively join or to contribute to the research dedicated to CRE, and in particular to share any cosmic ray data useful for the specific CRE detection strategies.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

CREDO project

The Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) is a project created a few years ago in the Institute of Nuclear Physics PAS in Kraków and dedicated is to global studies of extremely extended cosmic-ray phenomena. The main reason for creating such a project was that the cosmic-ray ensembles (CRE) are beyond the capabilities of existing detectors and observatories. Until now, cosmic ray studies, even in major observatories, have been limited to the recording and analysis of individual air showers therefore ensembles of cosmic-rays, which may spread over a significant fraction of the Earth were neither recorded nor analyzed. In this paper the status and perspectives of the CREDO project are presented.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Recognition and classification of the cosmic-ray events in images captured by CMOS/CCD cameras

Muons and other ionizing radiation produced by cosmic rays and radiative decays affect CMOS/CCD sensor. When particles colliding with sensors atoms cause specific kind of noise on images recorded by cameras. We present a concept and preliminary implementation of method for recognizing those events and algorithms for image processing and their classification by machine learning. Our method consists of analyzing the shape of traces present in images recorded by a camera sensor and metadata related to an image like camera model, GPS location of camera, vertical and horizontal orientation of a camera sensor, timestamp of image acquisition, and other events recognized near-by sensors. The so created feature vectors are classified as either a muon-like event, an electron-like event or the other event, possibly noise. For muon-like events our method estimates azimuth of a muon track. Source of the data is database of CREDO (Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory) project and ESO (European Southern Observatory) archives. The telescope dark frames from ESO are analysed. CREDO project collected so far over 2 millions images of events from many kinds of cameralike: smartphones camera, laptop webcams and Internet of Things cameras localised around the globe.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Search for ultra-high energy photons: observing the preshower effect with gamma-ray telescopes

Ultra-high energy photons constitute one of the most important pieces of the astroparticle physics problems. Their observation may provide new insight on several phenomena such as supermassive particle annihilation or the GZK effect. Because of the absence of any significant photon identification by a leading experiments such as the Pierre Auger Observatory, we consider a screening phenomenon called preshower effect which could efficiently affect ultra-high energy photon propagation. This effect is a consequence of photon interactions with the geomagnetic field and results in large electromagnetic cascade of particles several thousands kilometers above the atmosphere. This collection of particles, called cosmic-ray ensembles (CRE), may reach the atmosphere and produce the well-known air showers. In this paper we propose to use gamma-ray telescopes to look for air showers induced by CRE. Possible sources of ultra-high energy photons include the GZK effect and Super Heavy Dark Matter particles. Simulations involving the preshower effect and detectors response are performed and properties of these peculiar air showers are investigated. The use of boosted decision trees to obtain the best cosmic-ray ensemble/hadron separation, the aperture and event rate predictions for a few models of photon production are also presented.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Public engagement as a scientific tool to implement multi-messenger strategies with the Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory

The Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory (CREDO) uses the hunt for particle cascades from deep space as a vehicle for a unique "bottom-up" approach to scientific research. By engaging the non-specialist public of all ages as "citizen scientists" we create opportunities for lifelong learning for individuals as well as for cooperation and the sharing of common educational tools amongst institutions. The discoveries of these citizen scientists will feed directly into a pioneering new area of scientific research oriented on Cosmic Ray Ensembles (CRE). The detection (or non-detection) of such particle groups promises to open up a new method for exploring our universe, and a new channel on the multi-messenger stage, oriented on both astro- and geo-investigations. The opportunities this would create for cross-disciplinary research are significant and beneficial for individuals, networks of institutions and the global communities of both professional scientists and science enthusiasts.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Universal cosmic rays energy spectrum and the mass composition at the 'ankle' and above

We have used recently published data from the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array Project to conclude some inferences concerning the origin and composition of ultra high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR). We advocate for model the UHECR flux as a combination of the Galactic and Extragalactic components exchanging the dominant role at the famous feature of the energy spectrum called 'the ankle'. We put a special emphasis on the individual experiment energy resolution and possible biases it introduces. We have eventually combined the data from both big experiments to the one 'world average' UHECR spectrum and we used it, supported by the analysis of the distribution of the Extensive Air Shower (EAS) development maximum depth to find the UHECR mass composition of both: Galactic and Extragalactic components. We studied the dependence of the on mass composition on the cosmic ray source distribution in space. We present results for some models existing in the literature. We found the evidence of the deficit of Extragalactic sources in the vicinity of the Galaxy of the the UHECR, what is in concordance with the small scale anisotropy analysis results.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Cosmic Ray contribution to the WMAP polarization data on the Cosmic Microwave Background

We have updated our analysis of the 9-year WMAP data using the collection of polarization maps looking for the presence of additional evidence for a finite 'cosmic ray foreground' for the CMB. We have given special attention to high Galactic latitudes, where the recent BICEP2 findings were reported. The method of examining the correlation with the observed gamma ray flux proposed in our earlier papers and applied to the polarization data shows that the foreground related to cosmic rays is still observed even at high Galactic altitudes and conclusions about gravitational waves are not yet secure. Theory has it that there is important information about inflationary gravitational waves in the fine structure of the CMB polarization properties (polarization vector and angle) and it is necessary to examine further the conclusions that can be gained from studies of the CMB maps, in view of the disturbing foreground effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Elastic scattering at 7 TeV and high energy cross section for cosmic ray studies

The recent measurements of the elastic cross section by the TOTEM Collaboration together with the first estimations of the inelastic cross sections by other LHC detectors are used to test the simplest version of the geometrical model of the proton-proton scattering. We show that the description found for lower energy data, with the modest adjustment of the model parameter extrapolation, could be, in principle, used to describe the LHC measurement and to predict the cross sections in very high energy cosmic ray domain. However, the shape of the first elastic dip in the elastic differential scattering cross section suggests that ratio of the real to the imaginary part of the elastic amplitude is falling rather fast and the analysis of the elastic cross section fraction suggests that the geometrical picture of the proton-proton collision should be modified considerably when entering the ultra high-energy domain.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Scaling Violation and Inelasticity of Very High Energy Proton-Proton Interactions

The pseudorapidity measurements at LHC, although in the central region only, allows to perform preliminary tests of the multiparticle production extrapolation formula inspired by the recent cosmic ray data analysis. Feynman scaling violation in the form proposed originally by Wdowczyk and Wolfendale in 70s has been applied to the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Hi-Res group measurements. The consistency of the Extensive Air Shower development and anisotropy data was found for smoothly rise of the scaling violation parameter. We have shown that the longitudinal momenta of produced particles determined inclusively as rapidity (pseudorapidity) distributions measured by LHC experiments follow the some universal high energy distribution scaled respectively. The high degree of Feynman scaling violation is confirmed. The decrease of the very high energy interaction inelasticity suggested by cosmic ray data analysis is found to be consistent with LHC measurements up to 7 TeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

The knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum: a pulsar/supernova origin?

The origin of the prominent 'knee' in the cosmic ray energy spectrum at an energy of several PeV is still uncertain. A recent mechanism has shown promise, however; this involves particles from a very young pulsar interacting with the radiation field from a very young supernova remnant. The ensuing nuclear reaction of the particles with the photons by way of e+e- production then causes the characteristic knee. In an earlier paper we argued that the mechanism would imply only one source of a very rare type - if it were to explain the spectral shape. Here we examine the mechanism in more detail and conclude that for even a single source to work its characteristics would need to be so unusual that the mechanism would not be possible for any known type of pulsar-supernova combination.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2010

Young Supernova Remnants and the Knee in the Cosmic Ray Sectrum

It has recently been suggested that neutron stars inside the shells of young supernova remnants (SNR) are the sources of PeV cosmic rays and that the interaction of the particles with the radiation field in the SNR causes electron pair production, which has relevance to recent observations of 'high' positron fluxes. Furthermore, the character of the interaction is such that the well-known knee in the cosmic ray energy spectrum can be explained. Our examination of the mechanism leads us to believe that the required parameters of SN and pulses are so uncommon that the knee and positron fraction can only be explained if a single, local and recent SN - and associated pulsar - are concerned.

astro-ph.HE↗