Detection of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays and Neutrinos with Lunar Orbital Radio Telescope

Abstract

Particle cascades induced by ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic rays and neutrinos impacting on the lunar regolith usually radiate Cherenkov radio emissions due to the presence of excess negative charge, which is known as Askaryan effect. Several experiments have been carried out to detect the Cherenkov radio emissions in the lunar regolith. To prepare for future lunar Ultra-Long Wavelength (ULW, frequencies below 30 MHz) radio astronomy missions, we study the detection of the Cherenkov radio emissions with the ULW radio telescope that are operating at the lunar orbit. We have carried out instrument modelling and analytic calculations for the analysis of aperture, flux and event rate, and the analyses show the detectability of the Cherenkov radiation. Based on the properties of the Cherenkov radiation, we have demonstrated that the cosmic ray and neutrino events could be reconstructed with the three ULW vector antennas onboard the lunar satellites via measurements of the Askaryan radio pulse intensity, polarizations, etc. The results obtained by this study would be useful for future lunar radio explorer mission, where the detections of UHE cosmic rays and neutrinos could be successfully attempted.

Accepted for publication in European Physical Journal C, 18 pages, 11 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Features of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays above $2.5\times 10^{18}$ eV using the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Science with a lunar low-frequency array: from the dark ages of the Universe to nearby exoplanets
• The sensitivity of the next generation of lunar Cherenkov observations to UHE neutrinos and cosmic rays
• Prospects for Lunar Satellite Detection of Radio Pulses from Ultrahigh Energy Neutrinos Interacting with the Moon

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Probing superheavy dark matter through lunar radio observations of ultrahigh-energy neutrinos and the impacts of neutrino cascades
• A relook at the GZK Neutrino-Photon Connection: Impact of Extra-galactic Radio Background & UHECR properties
• Gamma rays as leptonic portals to energetic neutrinos: a new Monte Carlo approach