Münster 2017 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 36: Kosmische Strahlung 3

T 36.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 28, 2017, 11:20–11:35, H 3

AugerPrime - The Pierre Auger Observatory Upgrade — •Radomir Smida for the Pierre Auger collaboration — KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany

The Pierre Auger Observatory has begun a major upgrade, known as AugerPrime, of its already impressive capabilities, with an emphasis on improved mass composition determination at the highest energies. While a strong suppression of the particle flux at the highest energies has been established unambiguously, the dominant physics processes related to this suppression cannot yet be identified. Complementing the water-Cherenkov detectors of the surface array with scintillator detectors and installing new surface detector electronics will extend the composition sensitivity of the Observatory into the flux suppression region. These improvements will allow us to estimate the primary mass of the highest energy cosmic rays on a shower-by-shower basis. In addition to measuring the mass composition, AugerPrime will open the possibility to search for light primaries at the highest energies, to perform composition-selected anisotropy studies, and to search for new phenomena including unexpected changes in hadronic interactions beyond the LHC's reach.

After introducing the physics motivation for upgrading the Pierre Auger Observatory, the planned detector upgrade and the first results from the deployed Engineering Array are presented. In the second part of this contribution, the expected performance and improved physics sensitivity of the upgraded Auger Observatory are discussed.