Auger@TA: An Auger-like surface detector micro-array embedded within the Telescope Array Project
Presented by
S. Mayotte* on behalf of
S. Mayotte, J. Caraça-Valente, C.E. Covault, T. Fujii, S. Im, R. James, J. Johnsen, K. H. Kampert, H. Kern, N. Matthews, E. Mayotte, A. Bartz Mocellin, S. Quinn, H. Que, J. Rautenberg, M. Roth, H. Sagawa, T.K. Sako, F. Sarazin, R. Sato, D. Schmidt, S. B. Thomas, G. Wörner on behalf of the Pierre Auger and Telescope Array Collaborations
Pre-published on:
August 18, 2023
Published on:
September 27, 2024
Abstract
The Pierre Auger Observatory (Auger) and the Telescope Array Project (TA) are the two largest ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) observatories in the world. One obstacle in pursuing full-sky UHECR physics is the apparent discrepancy in flux measured by the two experiments. This could be due to astrophysical differences as Auger and TA observe the Southern and Northern skies, respectively. However, the scintillation detectors used by TA have very different sensitivity to the various components of extensive air showers than the water-Cherenkov detectors (WCD) used by Auger. The discrepancy could also be due to systematic effects arising from the differing detector designs and reconstruction methods. The primary goal of the Auger@TA working group is to cross-calibrate the approaches of the two observatories using in-situ methods. This is achieved by placing a self-triggering micro-array, which consists of eight Auger surface detector stations, with both WCDs and AugerPrime scintillators, within the TA array. Seven of the WCDs use a 1-PMT prototype configuration and form a hexagon with the Auger spacing of 1.5 km. The eighth station uses a standard 3-PMT Auger WCD, placed with a TA station at the center of the hexagon to form a triplet for high-statistics, low-uncertainty, cross-calibration of instrumentation. Deployment of the micro-array took place between September 2022 and August 2023, with data-taking foreseen by the Fall of 2023. Details on the instrumentation and deployment of the micro-array, as well as its expected performance, trigger efficiencies, and event rate will be presented. First data from individual stations will also be shown.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.444.0368
How to cite
Metadata are provided both in "article" format (very similar to INSPIRE) as this helps creating
very compact bibliographies which can be beneficial to authors and
readers, and in "proceeding" format
which is more detailed and complete.