Investigation of hadronic cross sections of cosmic ray carbon and oxygen on BGO from 200 GeV to 10 TeV energy at the DAMPE experiment

Abstract

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) has made significant progress in measuring the fluxes of cosmic rays. These new measurements are pivotal in advancing our understanding of the origins and propagation mechanisms of cosmic rays. The bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) calorimeter plays a crucial role in these measurements, particularly in the precise determination of cosmic ray fluxes. However, for a calorimetric experiment like DAMPE, uncertainties in hadronic models persist as a major barrier in achieving more accurate measurements of fluxes of cosmic ray nuclei. This study centers on the measurement of the inelastic hadronic cross sections of carbon and oxygen nuclei interacting with BGO crystals target over an extensive energy range, spanning from 200 GeV to 10 TeV. For carbon nuclei interacting with the BGO target, the measurements of the cross sections have achieved a total relative uncertainty of less than 10% below 8 TeV for carbon, and below 3 TeV for oxygen. For oxygen nuclei, the same level of precision was attained below 3 TeV. Additionally, we compare the experimental results with Geant4 and FLUKA simulations to validate the accuracy and consistency of these simulation tools. Through comprehensive analysis of the inelastic hadronic interaction cross sections, this research provides validation for the hadronic interaction models used in DAMPE's cosmic-ray flux measurements.

References in corpus (17)

• Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons
• The DArk Matter Particle Explorer mission
• Measurement of the cosmic-ray proton spectrum from 40 GeV to 100 TeV with the DAMPE satellite
• Measurement of the cosmic ray helium energy spectrum from 70 GeV to 80 TeV with the DAMPE space mission
• Detection of spectral hardenings in cosmic-ray boron-to-carbon and boron-to-oxygen flux ratios with DAMPE
• Observation of Spectral Structures in the Flux of Cosmic-Ray Protons from 50 GeV to 60 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
• The on-orbit calibration of DArk Matter Particle Explorer
• Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Carbon and Oxygen Spectra from 10 GeV$/n$ to 2.2 TeV$/n$ with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
• Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Helium Spectrum from 40 GeV to 250 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
• Search for gamma-ray spectral lines with the DArk Matter Particle Explorer
• Cosmic-ray Boron Flux Measured from 8.4 GeV$/n$ to 3.8 TeV$/n$ with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station
• Calibration and performance of the neutron detector onboard of the DAMPE mission
• Interpretations of the cosmic ray secondary-to-primary ratios measured by DAMPE
• Measurement of the cosmic p+He energy spectrum from 50 GeV to 0.5 PeV with the DAMPE space mission
• Correction Method for the Readout Saturation of the DAMPE Calorimeter
• BGO quenching effect on spectral measurements of cosmic-ray nuclei in DAMPE experiment
• Hadronic cross section measurements with the DAMPE space mission using 20GeV-10TeV cosmic-ray protons and ${}^4$He