This award will fund the participation of the University of Chicago in the Pierre Auger Observatory and related particle astrophysics. The Observatory is designed to discover the origin of the highest energy particles ever observed and to study their interactions. Located in Malargue, Argentina, it observes cosmic rays with energies from about 10^17 eV to above 10^20 eV.
The Chicago group has made essential contributions to the design and installation of observatory elements, to the development of the online software, to monitoring functions, to the data analysis, to implications of the spectrum, anisotropy, and shower properties results for finding the sources of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). These include the effects of propagation through space, the role of galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields, and the possibility of testing fundamental physics with UHECRs and neutrinos. The integration of the theoretical and phenomenological studies of UHECRs and the implications of Auger data to multi-wavelength and multi-messenger particle astrophysics with the observations and data anlysis into a single effort has greatly benefited both the research goals and the training of postdocs and students.
Broad Impacts: The discovery of the origin of the highest energy particles would impact particle astrophysics. The Observatory has a major impact on public education and outreach across the globe: from Argentina to Vietnam. In collaboration with the Auger Visitors Center, the Malargue Planetarium, and the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago effort will enlarge the public reach and strengthen the depth of physics and astrophysics content of the public outreach efforts by promoting the 3D and 2D visualizations of the highest energy showers, their detection methods and possible cosmic origins. They will expand the reach of the Science Bulletin video developed in collaboration with the American Natural History Museum.
This award supported ground-breaking research in understanding the origin of the highest energy particles ever observed, the ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The University of Chicago group studied these puzzling UHECR particles by analyzing data from the largest cosmic ray observatory, the 3,000 km2 Pierre Auger Observatory, and through theoretical models of possible cosmic accelerators. The group also studied the next generation observatories by developing and testing new observational techniques using radio, microwave, and ultraviolet detectors, and designed a space mission for increasing the number of observed UHECRs by an order of magnitude. Of the four graduate students involved in this project, Christopher Williams graduated in 2013 with a thesis entitled: A Search For Microwave Emission From Cosmic Ray Air Showers. One graduate student will graduate in 2015 and another is a member of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge program for underrepresented minorities. Eight undergraduates and one postdoctoral fellow worked with the team who presented impactful results in a number of important conferences. Work supported by this award produced 86 published journal articles during the award years. Our group brought forefront research and positive role models to the public especially via a long-term collaboration with the Adler Planetarium. We have made quarterly presentations reaching over 1,000 museum visitors via "Astronomy Conversations", a highly successful program where a scientist interacts directly with visitors in the Adler Space Visualizations Lab, answering questions and displaying data and visuals related to high energy astrophysics. Visualizations tools – 2D and 3D – for detectors and UHECRs showers, previously developed by our group, have been extensively used to engage audiences at Adler, at other planetaria, and at public talks. Olinto gave the prestigious Victor Hess lecture to an audience of a few hundred in-the-dome of the Rio de Janeiro Planetarium, Brazil. The high definition documentary, "Aiming High: Probing the Mystery of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays," developed with the American Museum of Natural History is now available on YouTube. Finally, Cronin, Olinto and Privitera also appear in a 25-minute documentary "Voices of the Universe" (publicly available at the Auger Observatory website) which emphasize the cultural diversity of the Auger Collaboration.
