The FORTE VHF instrument as a high-energy cosmic ray detector

Nikolai G. Lehtinen; Peter W. Gorham; Abram R. Jacobson; Robert A. Roussel-Dupre

doi:10.1117/12.458545

3 March 2003 The FORTE VHF instrument as a high-energy cosmic ray detector

Nikolai G. Lehtinen, Peter W. Gorham, Abram R. Jacobson, Robert A. Roussel-Dupre

Proceedings Volume 4858, Particle Astrophysics Instrumentation; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458545
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

The FORTE satellite records bursts of electromagnetic waves arising from near the Earth's surface in the radio frequency (RF) range of 30 to 300 MHz with a polarization-selective antenna. We investigate possible RF signatures of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR), including Cherenkov radiation in ice, UHECR-triggered lightning emission, incoherent bremsstrahlung of the ionization trail, and direct geomagnetic synchrotron radiation from the high-energy particles in the shower. The FORTE database consists of over 4 million recorded events to date, and may include a significant number associated with cosmic rays near or beyond the Greisen-Zatsemin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff. As a first stage of investigation, we search for FORTE events in the period from September 1997 to December 1999 which can have been produced by Cherenkov VHF radiation from a UHE neutrino shower in the Greenland ice sheet. After application of several background rejection methods, one event is left that requires further investigation.

Citation Download Citation

Nikolai G. Lehtinen, Peter W. Gorham, Abram R. Jacobson, and Robert A. Roussel-Dupre "The FORTE VHF instrument as a high-energy cosmic ray detector", Proc. SPIE 4858, Particle Astrophysics Instrumentation, (3 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.458545

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