Antennas for cosmic rays
For his research relating to the search for sources of highest-energy particles of cosmic rays from the Milky Way, Dr. Frank Schröder, scientist of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and assistant professor at the University of Delaware, USA, is awarded an ERC Starting Grant. The European Research Council will fund his project with EUR 1.6 million for a period of five years. Major progress in the radio measurement technique developed by Schröder and his colleagues at KIT's Institute for Nuclear Physics enables the search for high-energy photons that accompany the massive charged particles of cosmic rays.
"It is a declared objective of KIT to offer early-stage researchers optimal conditions for work. The ERC Starting Grant for Dr. Frank Schröder is a great success for both astroparticle physics and early-stage researchers at KIT. I congratulate him cordially," says Professor Oliver Kraft, KIT Vice President for Research. Highest-energy particles from our galaxy, the Milky Way, hold many secrets. The sources and mechanisms accelerating them to such high energies are still unknown. These energies are far above those attained by man-made accelerator facilities, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the European Nuclear Research Center (CERN) in Geneva. High-energy cosmic rays are measured via particle showers that are triggered by them in the Earth's atmosphere and make their way to the Earth's surface. Usually, particle detectors and optical telescopes are used for this purpose. Long-term experiments with antenna stations in the surroundings of such particle detectors have demonstrated, however, that radio waves can also be used for studying cosmic rays.
"We can observe radio waves all around the clock, whereas optical telescopes for particle showers work in clear nights only. Moreover, measurement with antennas is cheaper," Frank Schröder lists the advantages of the new measurement method. Compared to antenna fields used so far, the future setup will also measure signals with an energy decreased by a factor of 100. "With this setup, we will search for photons originating from our galaxy. An ideal location to do this is the South Pole, from where the galactic center can be observed day and night." There, the galactic center is visible just above the horizon, which is no problem for the novel radio technology, as radio waves are hardly attenuated while passing the atmosphere. "At the location of the IceCube experiment near the South Pole, we want to arrange antennas on a measurement field of about 1 km2 in dimension. Within a measurement period of three years, I expect to obtain crucial indications as to where the highest-energy particles of our Milky Way are formed. We have a chance to find the highest-energy photons ever measured."
Provided by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
