The energy spectrum of the highest-energy particles in the Universe, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, has been measured with the Pierre Auger Observatory with an unprecedented precision. In addition to the well-known kink in the energy spectrum, typically referred to as the ankle, a new spectral break is found at somewhat higher energy. This new break in the energy spectrum can be explained by an energy-dependent mass composition of cosmic rays. The results are published in two related papers (Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 121106 (2020) and Phys. Rev. D 102, 062005 (2020)). This determination of the energy spectrum is unique in having an unprecedented exposure of more than 60,000 km2 sr yr, in its method of determining the spectrum free of assumptions about the mass composition of the initial cosmic ray particle, and about details of the hadronic physics of air showers.

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are particles that reach energies of up to 1020 eV, the highest energies of individual particles known in the Universe. With our currently available technology, the LHC accelerator would have to be scaled to the size of the orbit of the planet Mercury to reach this energy. The flux of these particles is extremely small. Less than one particle per century arrives on an area of a square-kilometer. There is a long-standing quest to identify the sources of these particles and the processes that give them such exceptional energies.

The Pierre Auger Collaboration, a group of about 400 scientists from 17 countries from all over the world, is operating the world’s largest observatory for cosmic rays: a hybrid detector made of more than 1600 surface water-Cherenkov stations covering a 3,000 km2 area, which is overlooked by 27 fluorescence telescopes. Together, the different instruments provide calorimetric measurements of the energies of particle cascades produced by UHECRs in the atmosphere and an indirect evaluation of the mass of the primary particle. Combining the information on the energy spectrum, mass composition and the observed arrival direction distribution, important constraints on the sources of these extraordinary particles can be derived.

Analyzing the data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory so far, the energy spectrum of UHECRs has been determined with very high statistics. Thanks to the unprecedented precision of the measurement, a new spectral feature, a break in the power law at about 1.3´1019 eV, has been identified. The results are reported in two recent publications (Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 121106 (2020) and Phys. Rev. D 102, 062005 (2020)) of the Pierre Auger Collaboration and are illustrated in Figure 1, which shows a possible interpretation of the observed flux and composition data of UHECRs in a scenario with sources that inject particles with a mass composition that changes with energy. The shown example represents a particular class of models, in which the acceleration of particles depends only on their rigidity (energy divided by charge). The abundance of nuclear elements appears to be dominated by intermediate-mass nuclei that are released from the sources with a very hard energy spectrum, which is modified by extragalactic propagation effects. In such a model scenario, the new feature in the spectrum would naturally occur due to the change of composition in the energy range of the new spectral break.

The observed energy spectrum also determines the energy density injected as UHECRs by continuously emitting sources into extragalactic space. Interestingly, some classes of Active Galactic Nuclei and Starburst Galaxies, for which indications of anisotropy have been obtained in different analyses of the Pierre Auger Collaboration, are expected to provide this energy production rate: an intriguing step forward in the quest for the UHECR sources.

The Pierre Auger Observatory is currently undergoing a large-scale upgrade by adding scintillation detectors and radio antennas on top of the existing water-Cherenkov detector stations. This will allow the scientists to obtain more information about the UHECR mass composition, extending it to the highest energies where a possible presence of light mass nuclei could open a new window to composition-sensitive searches for sources and studies of cosmic magnetic fields.

 

E3J PRLspectrum withlegend v2

All-particle flux of the highest energy cosmic rays as measured with the Pierre Auger Observatory, scaled by E3. The data are compared with a representative model scenario for sources, illustrating the correlation between the energy of the new spectral feature and the energy-dependent mass composition of the particles

DetecteurCupidMoThe CUPID-Mo experiment, installed at the Modane Underground Laboratory in the cryostat of the EDELWEISS experiment, has just released a new global limit for the detection of the 0νββ signature. CUPID-Mo is a demonstrator which has just proven its efficiency both in the measurement of energy and in the rejection of background noise. It is intended to be deployed on a large scale in the near future. With this new result, the LSM maintains its lead in terms of sensitivity to the 0νββ decay of the nucleus 100Mo, held up to now by the NEMO3 experiment.

In its standard form, double beta decay is a process by which a nucleus decays into a different nucleus and emits two electrons and two antineutrinos (2νββ). This nuclear transition is very rare, but has been detected in several nuclei thanks to complex experiments. If the neutrinos are their own antiparticles, it is possible that the antineutrinos emitted during the double beta decay destroy each other and disappear. This is called double beta decay without neutrinos (0νββ), a phenomenon never observed until now. Its detection would verify that the neutrinos are their own antiparticles, and it would be a clue to explain why they have such a tiny mass and the understand the role they might have played in the formation of our universe.

The 0νββ decay mode is an extremely rare process, but its signature is very clear and unambiguous: It is a question of finding a peak in the spectrum of the total energy deposited in the detector by the two emitted electrons. The expected position of the peak is known with an accuracy of more than 0.1%. The 0νββ experiments therefore require a large exposure, a high energy resolution and an incredibly low background in the region where the peak is expected.

The CUPID-Mo collaboration succeeded in combining the technique of scintillation bolometers with an appropriate choice of nuclei in its crystals to obtain the exceptional rejection of the background noise necessary to sign the 0νββ decay of 100Mo with unprecedented sensitivity. It operates, in the cryostat of the edelweiss experiment, a detector formed of 20 Li2MoO4 crystals enriched with 0.2 kg corresponding to 2.264 kg of 100Mo.

The experience has accumulated more than one year of data (2.17 kg × year of exposure) acquired between March 2019 and April 2020. Thanks to an effective duty cycle, an excellent analysis efficiency of 90% and above all with zero background noise in the region of interest, the researchers obtained a new global limit for the detection of the 0νββ signature: the half life of 100Mo is greater than 1.4x1024 years. The technical team of the LSM national platform of the LPSC has strongly contributed to this success. With its assistance, the experiment was able to maintain the detectors at cryogenic temperatures  over a period of 18 months starting in December 2018, making possible the operation of the detectors at a temperature of 0,022 degrees above absolute zero. This effort has been maintained even as operations were seriously constrained by the restrictions due to the COVID outbreak.The presentation of these results are available here.

Later in the decade, CUPID-Mo technology will be deployed on a large scale in the CUPID experiment, with around 1,500 crystals installed at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy in the current CUORE setup. CUPID will then be at the forefront of research on 0νββ.

5mars

Les membres du personnel du Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC) déclarent le laboratoire en lutte et appellent à la grève contre le projet de Loi de Programmation Pluriannuelle de la Recherche (LPPR). Ce projet va avoir comme conséquences directes d’institutionnaliser la précarité des travailleurs et des travailleuses de la recherche, et fragilisera encore un peu plus la recherche publique française.

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Les actes de congrès de la conférence mm Universe @ NIKA2 ont été publiés dans la revue EPJ Web of Conferences (EDP Sciences). 

 

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EPJ Web of Conferences - Volume 228 (2020)
F. Mayet, A. Catalano, J.F. Macías-Pérez and L. Perotto (Eds.)

Cette conférence est la première d'une série de conférences qui accompagneront l'utilisation de NIKA2 au télescope de 30 mètres de l'IRAM. Elle a permis des discussions sur des sujets scientifiques liés à NIKA2 : instruments, analyse des données, derniers résultats et implications cosmologiques, projets à venir. Ce fut un grand succès grâce à l'enthousiasme des participants et à la grande qualité de leurs présentations.

Le comité local d'organisation remercie le LPSC pour son soutien administratif et logisitique.

La conférence a été financée par le projet ANR NIKASky et a bénéficié d'un soutien financier du LPSC et du labex Focus.

Le comité local d'organisation 

Johana Paquien, Frédéric Mayet, Andrea Catalano, Florian Kéruzoré, Juan-Francisco Macias-Perez, Laurence Perotto 

 

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