Measurement of air and nitrogen fluorescence light yields induced by electron beam for UHECR experiments
arXiv:astro-ph/0612110 · doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2006.11.008
Abstract
Most of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) experiments and projects (HiRes, AUGER, TA, EUSO, TUS,...) use air fluorescence to detect and measure extensive air showers (EAS). The precise knowledge of the Fluorescence Light Yield (FLY) is of paramount importance for the reconstruction of UHECR. The MACFLY - Measurement of Air Cherenkov and Fluorescence Light Yield - experiment has been designed to perform such FLY measurements. In this paper we will present the results of FLY in the 290-440 nm wavelength range for dry air and pure nitrogen, both excited by electrons with energy of 1.5 MeV, 20 GeV and 50 GeV. The experiment uses a 90Sr radioactive source for low energy measurement and a CERN SPS electron beam for high energy. We find that the FLY is proportional to the deposited energy (E_d) in the gas and we show that the air fluorescence properties remain constant independently of the electron energy. At the reference point: atmospheric dry air at 1013 hPa and 23C, the ratio FLY/E_d=17.6 photon/MeV with a systematic error of 13.2%.
arXiv comment19 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics
References in corpus (4)
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- Air Fluorescence Relevant for Cosmic-Ray Detection - Summary of the 5th Fluorescence Workshop, El Escorial 2007
- Precise measurement of the absolute fluorescence yield of the 337 nm band in atmospheric gases
- Air fluorescence measurements in the spectral range 300-420 nm using a 28.5 GeV electron beam
- Temperature and Humidity Dependence of Air Fluorescence Yield measured by AIRFLY
- On the absolute value of the air-fluorescence yield
- A novel method for the absolute fluorescence yield measurement by AIRFLY
- Nitrogen fluorescence in air for observing extensive air showers
- Comparison of available measurements of the absolute fluorescence yield
- Improved model for the analysis of air fluorescence induced by electrons
- An extended universality of electron distributions in cosmic ray showers of high energies and its application
- Measurement of the near-infrared fluorescence of the air for the detection of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays
- Measurement of air fluorescence light yield induced by an electromagnetic shower
- On the energy deposition by electrons in air and the accurate determination of the air-fluorescence yield