Time dependence of the flux of helium nuclei in cosmic rays measured by the PAMELA experiment between July 2006 and December 2009

Abstract

Precise time-dependent measurements of the Z = 2 component in the cosmic radiation provide crucial information about the propagation of charged particles through the heliosphere. The PAMELA experiment, with its long flight duration (15th June 2006 - 23rd January 2016) and the low energy threshold (80 MeV/n) is an ideal detector for cosmic ray solar modulation studies. In this paper, the helium nuclei spectra measured by the PAMELA instrument from July 2006 to December 2009 over a Carrington rotation time basis are presented. A state-of-the-art three-dimensional model for cosmic-ray propagation inside the heliosphere was used to interpret the time-dependent measured fluxes. Proton-to-helium flux ratio time profiles at various rigidities are also presented in order to study any features which could result from the different masses and local interstellar spectra shapes.

References in corpus (5)

• PAMELA - A Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics
• New very local interstellar spectra for electrons, positrons, protons and light cosmic ray nuclei
• Time dependence of the electron and positron components of the cosmic radiation measured by the PAMELA experiment between July 2006 and December 2015
• Testing diffusion of cosmic rays in the heliosphere with proton and helium data from AMS
• New evidence for charge-sign dependent modulation during the solar minimum of 2006 to 2009

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Time and Charge-Sign Dependence of the Heliospheric Modulation of Cosmic Rays
• Helium fluxes measured by the PAMELA experiment from the minimum to the maximum solar activity for solar cycle 24
• A cosmic-ray database update: CRDB v4.1
• Galactic Cosmic-Ray Propagation in the Inner Heliosphere: Improved Force-Field Model
• Time variation of the atmospheric neutrino flux at dark matter detectors
• Current status and new perspectives on cosmic ray deuterons
• A forecasting framework for galactic cosmic ray flux in space weather applications
• Dispersion and focusing of cosmic rays in magnetospheres