Karlsruhe 2024 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 107: Cosmic rays 7
T 107.2: Talk
Friday, March 8, 2024, 09:15–09:30, Geb. 20.30: 2.059
Enhanced photon triggers using the underground muon detector of AugerPrime — Linda Hofmann and •David Schmidt for the Pierre-Auger collaboration — Institute for Astroparticle Physics (IAP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
We present a method for increasing the aperture of the Pierre Auger Observatory for ultra-high-energy photons with energies exceeding a couple dozen PeV. The method involves lowering the trigger thresholds of individual water-Cherenkov detector stations when their partner underground muon detectors measure below a certain number of muons. This increases the detection efficiency for muon-poor photon primaries while mitigating otherwise significant increases in the total rate of event-level triggers due to the steep fall off of the cosmic ray energy spectrum. A detailed evaluation of the method is presented for the 23.5 km2 dense sector of the observatory’s surface detector array, where the spacing between individual 12-ton water-Cherenkov detectors is 750 m, and where each detector position is currently also being equipped with a 30 m2 buried muon counter.
Keywords: photons; triggers; muons; veto