A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition

R. U. Abbasi; T. Abu-Zayyad; J. F. Amman; G. C. Archbold; K. Belov; S. A. Blake; J. W. Belz; S. BenZvi; D. R. Bergman; J. H. Boyer; G. W. Burt; Z. Cao; B. M. Connolly; W. Deng; Y. Fedorova; J. Findlay; C. B. Finley; W. F. Hanlon; C. M. Hoffman; M. H. Holzscheiter; G. A. Hughes; P. Hüntemeyer; C. C.H. Jui; K. Kim; M. A. Kirn; B. C. Knapp; E. C. Loh; M. M. Maestas; N. Manago; E. J. Mannel; L. J. Marek; K. Martens; J. A.J. Matthews; J. N. Matthews; A. O'Neill; C. A. Painter; L. Perera; K. Reil; R. Riehle; M. Roberts; D. Rodriguez; M. Sasaki; S. Schnetzer; M. Seman; G. Sinnis; J. D. Smith; R. Snow; P. Sokolsky; R. W. Springer; B. T. Stokes; J. R. Thomas; S. B. Thomas; G. B. Thomson; D. Tupa; S. Westerhoff; L. R. Wiencke; A. Zech

doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition

R. U. Abbasi, T. Abu-Zayyad, J. F. Amman, G. C. Archbold, K. Belov, S. A. Blake, J. W. Belz, S. BenZvi, D. R. Bergman, J. H. Boyer, G. W. Burt, Z. Cao, B. M. Connolly, W. Deng, Y. Fedorova, J. Findlay, C. B. Finley, W. F. Hanlon, C. M. Hoffman, M. H. HolzscheiterG. A. Hughes, P. Hüntemeyer, C. C.H. Jui, K. Kim, M. A. Kirn, B. C. Knapp, E. C. Loh, M. M. Maestas, N. Manago, E. J. Mannel, L. J. Marek, K. Martens, J. A.J. Matthews, J. N. Matthews, A. O'Neill, C. A. Painter, L. Perera, K. Reil, R. Riehle, M. Roberts, D. Rodriguez, M. Sasaki, S. Schnetzer, M. Seman, G. Sinnis, J. D. Smith, R. Snow, P. Sokolsky, R. W. Springer, B. T. Stokes, J. R. Thomas, S. B. Thomas, G. B. Thomson, D. Tupa, S. Westerhoff, L. R. Wiencke, A. Zech

School of Arts and Sciences, Physics & Astronomy

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4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical composition of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged slant depth of the shower maximum, X_max, as a function of energy to the slant depths expected for various hypothesized primaries. In this paper, we present a method to make a direct measurement of the expected mean number of protons and iron by comparing the shapes of the expected X_max distributions to the distribution for data. The advantages of this method includes the use of information of the full distribution and its ability to calculate a flux for various cosmic ray compositions. The same method can be expanded to marginalize uncertainties due to choice of spectra, hadronic models and atmospheric parameters. We demonstrate the technique with independent simulated data samples from a parent sample of protons and iron. We accurately predict the number of protons and iron in the parent sample and show that the uncertainties are meaningful.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	28-40
Number of pages	13
Journal	Astroparticle Physics
Volume	26
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007
State	Published - Aug 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Keywords

Acceleration of particles
Composition
Cosmic rays

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10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

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Abbasi, R. U., Abu-Zayyad, T., Amman, J. F., Archbold, G. C., Belov, K., Blake, S. A., Belz, J. W., BenZvi, S., Bergman, D. R., Boyer, J. H., Burt, G. W., Cao, Z., Connolly, B. M., Deng, W., Fedorova, Y., Findlay, J., Finley, C. B., Hanlon, W. F., Hoffman, C. M., ... Zech, A. (2006). A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition. Astroparticle Physics, 26(1), 28-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

@article{3061c2b1b6c54880b65bff01ca64a3bd,

title = "A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition",

abstract = "Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical composition of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged slant depth of the shower maximum, Xmax, as a function of energy to the slant depths expected for various hypothesized primaries. In this paper, we present a method to make a direct measurement of the expected mean number of protons and iron by comparing the shapes of the expected Xmax distributions to the distribution for data. The advantages of this method includes the use of information of the full distribution and its ability to calculate a flux for various cosmic ray compositions. The same method can be expanded to marginalize uncertainties due to choice of spectra, hadronic models and atmospheric parameters. We demonstrate the technique with independent simulated data samples from a parent sample of protons and iron. We accurately predict the number of protons and iron in the parent sample and show that the uncertainties are meaningful.",

keywords = "Acceleration of particles, Composition, Cosmic rays",

author = "Abbasi, {R. U.} and T. Abu-Zayyad and Amman, {J. F.} and Archbold, {G. C.} and K. Belov and Blake, {S. A.} and Belz, {J. W.} and S. BenZvi and Bergman, {D. R.} and Boyer, {J. H.} and Burt, {G. W.} and Z. Cao and Connolly, {B. M.} and W. Deng and Y. Fedorova and J. Findlay and Finley, {C. B.} and Hanlon, {W. F.} and Hoffman, {C. M.} and Holzscheiter, {M. H.} and Hughes, {G. A.} and P. H{\"u}ntemeyer and Jui, {C. C.H.} and K. Kim and Kirn, {M. A.} and Knapp, {B. C.} and Loh, {E. C.} and Maestas, {M. M.} and N. Manago and Mannel, {E. J.} and Marek, {L. J.} and K. Martens and Matthews, {J. A.J.} and Matthews, {J. N.} and A. O'Neill and Painter, {C. A.} and L. Perera and K. Reil and R. Riehle and M. Roberts and D. Rodriguez and M. Sasaki and S. Schnetzer and M. Seman and G. Sinnis and Smith, {J. D.} and R. Snow and P. Sokolsky and Springer, {R. W.} and Stokes, {B. T.} and Thomas, {J. R.} and Thomas, {S. B.} and Thomson, {G. B.} and D. Tupa and S. Westerhoff and Wiencke, {L. R.} and A. Zech",

note = "Funding Information: This work is supported by US NSF grants PHY-9321949, PHY-9322298, PHY-9904048, PHY-9974537, PHY-0098826, PHY-0140688, PHY-0245428, PHY-0305516, PHY-0307098, and by the DOE grant FG03-92ER40732. We are also grateful to Harrison Prosper for the many fruitful discussions about his likelihood technique.",

year = "2006",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "26",

pages = "28--40",

journal = "Astroparticle Physics",

issn = "0927-6505",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "1",

}

Abbasi, RU, Abu-Zayyad, T, Amman, JF, Archbold, GC, Belov, K, Blake, SA, Belz, JW, BenZvi, S, Bergman, DR, Boyer, JH, Burt, GW, Cao, Z, Connolly, BM, Deng, W, Fedorova, Y, Findlay, J, Finley, CB, Hanlon, WF, Hoffman, CM, Holzscheiter, MH, Hughes, GA, Hüntemeyer, P, Jui, CCH, Kim, K, Kirn, MA, Knapp, BC, Loh, EC, Maestas, MM, Manago, N, Mannel, EJ, Marek, LJ, Martens, K, Matthews, JAJ, Matthews, JN, O'Neill, A, Painter, CA, Perera, L, Reil, K, Riehle, R, Roberts, M, Rodriguez, D, Sasaki, M, Schnetzer, S, Seman, M, Sinnis, G, Smith, JD, Snow, R, Sokolsky, P, Springer, RW, Stokes, BT, Thomas, JR, Thomas, SB, Thomson, GB, Tupa, D, Westerhoff, S, Wiencke, LR & Zech, A 2006, 'A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition', Astroparticle Physics, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 28-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

TY - JOUR

T1 - A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition

AU - Abbasi, R. U.

AU - Abu-Zayyad, T.

AU - Amman, J. F.

AU - Archbold, G. C.

AU - Belov, K.

AU - Blake, S. A.

AU - Belz, J. W.

AU - BenZvi, S.

AU - Bergman, D. R.

AU - Boyer, J. H.

AU - Burt, G. W.

AU - Cao, Z.

AU - Connolly, B. M.

AU - Deng, W.

AU - Fedorova, Y.

AU - Findlay, J.

AU - Finley, C. B.

AU - Hanlon, W. F.

AU - Hoffman, C. M.

AU - Holzscheiter, M. H.

AU - Hughes, G. A.

AU - Hüntemeyer, P.

AU - Jui, C. C.H.

AU - Kim, K.

AU - Kirn, M. A.

AU - Knapp, B. C.

AU - Loh, E. C.

AU - Maestas, M. M.

AU - Manago, N.

AU - Mannel, E. J.

AU - Marek, L. J.

AU - Martens, K.

AU - Matthews, J. A.J.

AU - Matthews, J. N.

AU - O'Neill, A.

AU - Painter, C. A.

AU - Perera, L.

AU - Reil, K.

AU - Riehle, R.

AU - Roberts, M.

AU - Rodriguez, D.

AU - Sasaki, M.

AU - Schnetzer, S.

AU - Seman, M.

AU - Sinnis, G.

AU - Smith, J. D.

AU - Snow, R.

AU - Sokolsky, P.

AU - Springer, R. W.

AU - Stokes, B. T.

AU - Thomas, J. R.

AU - Thomas, S. B.

AU - Thomson, G. B.

AU - Tupa, D.

AU - Westerhoff, S.

AU - Wiencke, L. R.

AU - Zech, A.

N1 - Funding Information: This work is supported by US NSF grants PHY-9321949, PHY-9322298, PHY-9904048, PHY-9974537, PHY-0098826, PHY-0140688, PHY-0245428, PHY-0305516, PHY-0307098, and by the DOE grant FG03-92ER40732. We are also grateful to Harrison Prosper for the many fruitful discussions about his likelihood technique.

PY - 2006/8

Y1 - 2006/8

N2 - Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical composition of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged slant depth of the shower maximum, Xmax, as a function of energy to the slant depths expected for various hypothesized primaries. In this paper, we present a method to make a direct measurement of the expected mean number of protons and iron by comparing the shapes of the expected Xmax distributions to the distribution for data. The advantages of this method includes the use of information of the full distribution and its ability to calculate a flux for various cosmic ray compositions. The same method can be expanded to marginalize uncertainties due to choice of spectra, hadronic models and atmospheric parameters. We demonstrate the technique with independent simulated data samples from a parent sample of protons and iron. We accurately predict the number of protons and iron in the parent sample and show that the uncertainties are meaningful.

AB - Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical composition of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged slant depth of the shower maximum, Xmax, as a function of energy to the slant depths expected for various hypothesized primaries. In this paper, we present a method to make a direct measurement of the expected mean number of protons and iron by comparing the shapes of the expected Xmax distributions to the distribution for data. The advantages of this method includes the use of information of the full distribution and its ability to calculate a flux for various cosmic ray compositions. The same method can be expanded to marginalize uncertainties due to choice of spectra, hadronic models and atmospheric parameters. We demonstrate the technique with independent simulated data samples from a parent sample of protons and iron. We accurately predict the number of protons and iron in the parent sample and show that the uncertainties are meaningful.

KW - Acceleration of particles

KW - Composition

KW - Cosmic rays

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33747874032&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33747874032&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

DO - 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.04.007

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:33747874032

SN - 0927-6505

VL - 26

SP - 28

EP - 40

JO - Astroparticle Physics

JF - Astroparticle Physics

IS - 1

ER -

A likelihood method for measuring the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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