Cosmic rays are highly energetic sub-atomic particles from space that travel at velocities near the speed of light. The origin of cosmic rays and their acceleration mechanisms are unknown, but they likely originate in extreme astrophysical phenomena both within and beyond our galaxy. The Pierre Auger Observatory is the largest cosmic ray detector ever operated, with an instrumented area of more than 3000 square kilometers. Built in Malargue, Argentina by an international collaboration, the Pierre Auger Observatory was designed to study the origin and interactions of the highest energy particles in the Universe. This award supports scientists at the University of Chicago in their work with Auger. The group will work on enhancements to the telescope systems as well as the scientific analysis of the data. The group is also working on projects to cross-calibrate and integrate data from Auger with data from another cosmic ray observatory, the Telescope Array, in Utah. This award will support the University of Chicago group's involvement in the "Array of Things" project, an urban sensing program that will engage students and the general public in cosmic ray science.
This award will support hardware and data analyses efforts. Hardware efforts include extending the duty cycle of the Auger Florescence Detectors to substantially increase the rate of high energy event data. The group will conduct scientific analyses of the Auger data focused on studying the cosmic ray energy spectrum and anisotropy. The group will expand the scientific collaboration between Auger and Telescope Array through cross-calibration of the energy scales and through joint full sky anisotropy analyses.
