Orientador: José Augusto Chinellato / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T02:47:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vicente_ElaineCristinaFarinchondePadua_M.pdf: 2256081 bytes, checksum: b35748a03035f4aa2a7be12161501597 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Neste trabalho apresentamos a importância das câmaras de fotoemulsão que continuam, após décadas de uso, a oferecer atrativos para a física de partículas elementares. Citamos o detector OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus), que é o maior detector de câmara de fotoemulsão-chumbo já construído (nove milhões de filmes de emulsão nuclear) como exemplo de sua aplicação na atualidade. Ele está presente no experimento de fluxo de neutrinos CNGS. Apresentamos também o detector CASTOR (Centauro And STrange Objects Research), que é um calorímetro hadrônico e eletromagnético de tungstênio e quartzo, desenvolvido para aprimorar o desempenho do experimento CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) do LHC na região frontal. O CASTOR foi criado entre outras coisas, para o estudo de hádrons de longa penetração, observado em eventos de raios cósmicos ricos em hádrons. Estes foram identificados e chamados de strangelets. A proposta dos strangelets é que estes seriam produtos de decaimento de matéria de quarks rica em bárions, penetrariam grandes profundidades no chumbo e sairiam do detector quase não atenuados. Introduzimos os conceitos de chuveiros extensos atmosféricos e a técnica de câmara de fotoemulsão usada para o estudo destes. Ao mencionarmos o uso de câmaras de fotoemulsão em experimentos de montanha, não podemos deixar de citar a colaboração Brasil-Japão que detectou um evento exótico que passou a ser chamado de Centauro, por ter grande momento transversal. Além disso, a ausência de píons neutros é uma característica marcante deste tipo de evento. Vários outros eventos de mesmo tipo foram encontrados e a busca continua até hoje. Ainda falando sobre chuveiros atmosféricos, citamos como era feita a classificação de cascatas locais originadas pelas partículas da frente do chuveiro, na literatura das câmaras de fotoemulsões. O perfil longitudinal (em profundidade) de cada cascata local é usado para se determinar a energia da partícula incidente e também é um indicativo da sua natureza ¿ se faz parte da componente eletromagnética (elétron, pósitron ou gama) ou componente hadrônica. Cada cascata local observada é associada a um desses dois grupos. Apresentamos o software Geant como ferramenta de simulação deste trabalho. Originalmente desenvolvido no CERN para experimentos da física de altas energias, atualmente Geant é utilizado em outros campos como medicina e astrofísica. A versão mais recente (Geant4) também inclui tratamento de nêutrons de baixa energia (< 20 MeV) e de íons. Para a física de nêutrons, o Geant4 possui implementação de modelos de nêutrons de alta precisão que incluem os processos de colisões elásticas e inelásticas, captura e fissão. Para o tratamento de íons, foram implementados processos de colisão inelástica, decaimento radioativo e dissociação eletromagnética implementados para simulações. Apresentamos a geometria dos detectores tipo CBJ e tipo Pamir implementada com os recursos do Geant4. O detector tipo CBJ foi construído para o estudo de cascatas locais, produzidas em chumbo ou em carbono, no caso em que uma camada de ar serve como meio onde os secundários propagam-se e separam-se de modo a serem identificados a distâncias de centenas de micra ou mais; o perfil longitudinal é sempre usado para a análise. O detector tipo Pamir, composto somente de chumbo e filmes fotossensíveis, foi construído para o estudo de partículas de longa penetração e para analisar as profundidades em que os nêutrons podem iniciar cascatas em seu interior. Com os resultados obtidos, percebemos que há hádrons que podem interagir em grandes profundidades no chumbo, como o nêutron, em situações que poderiam ser erroneamente identificados como strangelets. Para determinar as características das cascatas assim produzidas, usamos o tratamento de colisões hadrônicas recentemente implantado no GEANT4. Este é um resultado importante deste trabalho ¿ mostramos que há uma probabilidade de identificação falsa de partículas / Abstract: This work introduces the importance of photoemulsion chambers that remain in use after decades and still offer many advantages for elementary particle physics. We cite OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) detector that is the greatest lead photoemulsion chamber detector ever constructed as an example of its application nowadays (nine million nuclear emulsion films). We also introduce the CASTOR detector (Centauro And STrange Objects Research) that is a hadronic and electromagnetic calorimeter of tungsten and quartz developed to improve the performance of CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment of LHC in its frontal region. One of most important features of Castor is its long dimension in the frontal region, which is suited to study long penetrating hadrons, as they appear in hadron-rich cosmic rays events. These hadrons were identified and called strangelets. The proposal of strangelets is that they were a result of baryon-rich quark matter decay and that they would penetrate great depth in lead and would leave the detector almost unattenuated. We presented the basic concepts of extensive air shower and the photoemulsion chamber technique used for its study. We introduce the use of photoemulsion chambers in mountain experiments and cited the Brasil-Japão Collaboration that detected an exotic event called Centauro for having large cross section. Besides, the absence of neutral pions is a remarkable feature of this type of event. Many other events of this type were detected and its search remains until today. Still talking about atmospheric showers, we cited how the classification of local cascades originated by frontal particles of shower were made in photoemulsion chamber literature. The longitudinal profile (in depth) of each local cascade is used to determine the energy of entering particle and it is also a signal of its nature ¿ if it is a part of electromagnetic component (electron, positron or gamma) or hadronic component. Each local cascade is observed is associated to one of these groups. We present Geant software as the simulation tool of this work. Originally developed at CERN for experiments of high energy physics, presently Geant is used in others fields as medicine and astrophysics. The most recent version of Geant is Geant4 and also includes low energy neutrons (< 20 MeV) and ion treatment. For neutron physics, Geant4 has the implementation of very high precision neutron models that include elastic and inelastic collision process, capture and fission. For ion treatment, we have inelastic collisions, radioactive decay and electromagnetic dissociation implemented for simulations. We introduce the CBJ and Pamir detectors geometry implemented with Geant4 resources. The CBJ detector was constructed to study local cascades produced in lead or carbon when an air layer is used as a mean where secondary particles propagates and are separated in distances of micra or greater. The longitudinal profile is always used for the analysis. The Pamir detector, made of only lead and photosensitive films, was constructed to study long penetrating particles and to study the depths that neutrons begins its cascade. The results obtained show that there are hadrons, for instance neutrons, interacting in great depths of lead in cases that it could be misidentified as strangelet. To determine the features of cascades produced this way, we used the hadronic collision treatment recently implemented in Geant4. This is an important result because we showed that there is a probability of false identification of particles / Mestrado / Física / Mestra em Física

AMANDA-II est un télescope à neutrinos composé d'un réseau tri-dimensionnel de senseurs optiques déployé dans la glace du Pôle Sud.<p>Son principe de détection repose sur la mise en évidence de particules secondaires chargées émises lors de l'interaction d'un neutrino de haute énergie (> 100 GeV) avec la matière environnant le détecteur, sur base de la détection de rayonnement Cerenkov.<p><p>Ce travail est basé sur les données enregistrées par AMANDA-II entre 2000 et 2006, afin de rechercher des sources cosmiques de neutrinos.<p>Le signal recherché est affecté d'un bruit de fond important de muons et de neutrinos issus de l'interaction du rayonnement cosmique primaire dans l'atmosphère. En se limitant à l'observation de l'hémisphère nord, le bruit de fond des muons atmosphériques, absorbés par la Terre, est éliminé.<p>Par contre, les neutrinos atmosphériques forment un bruit de fond irréductible constituant la majorité des 6100 événements sélectionnés pour cette analyse.<p>Il est cependant possible d'identifier une source ponctuelle de neutrinos cosmiques en recherchant un excès local se détachant du bruit de fond isotrope de neutrinos atmosphériques, couplé à une sélection basée sur l'énergie, dont le spectre est différent pour les deux catégories de neutrinos.<p><p>Une approche statistique originale est développée dans le but d'optimiser le pouvoir de détection de sources ponctuelles, tout en contrôlant le taux de fausses découvertes, donc le niveau de confiance d'une observation.<p>Cette méthode repose uniquement sur la connaissance de l'hypothèse de bruit de fond, sans aucune hypothèse sur le modèle de production de neutrinos par les sources recherchées. De plus, elle intègre naturellement la notion de facteur d'essai rencontrée dans le cadre de test d'hypothèses multiples.La procédure a été appliquée sur l'échantillon final d'évènements récoltés par AMANDA-II.<p><p>---------<p><p>MANDA-II is a neutrino telescope which comprises a three dimensional array of optical sensors deployed in the South Pole glacier. <p>Its principle rests on the detection of the Cherenkov radiation emitted by charged secondary particles produced by the interaction of a high energy neutrino (> 100 GeV) with the matter surrounding the detector.<p><p>This work is based on data recorded by the AMANDA-II detector between 2000 and 2006 in order to search for cosmic sources of neutrinos. A potential signal must be extracted from the overwhelming background of muons and neutrinos originating from the interaction of primary cosmic rays within the atmosphere.<p>The observation is limited to the northern hemisphere in order to be free of the atmospheric muon background, which is stopped by the Earth. However, atmospheric neutrinos constitute an irreducible background composing the main part of the 6100 events selected for this analysis.<p>It is nevertheless possible to identify a point source of cosmic neutrinos by looking for a local excess breaking away from the isotropic background of atmospheric neutrinos;<p>This search is coupled with a selection based on the energy, whose spectrum is different from that of the atmospheric neutrino background.<p><p>An original statistical approach has been developed in order to optimize the detection of point sources, whilst controlling the false discovery rate -- hence the confidence level -- of an observation. This method is based solely on the knowledge of the background hypothesis, without any assumption on the production model of neutrinos in sought sources. Moreover, the method naturally accounts for the trial factor inherent in multiple testing.The procedure was applied on the final sample of events collected by AMANDA-II. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Galactic cosmic rays are the high-energy particles that stream into our solar system from distant corners of our Galaxy. The Earth's atmosphere serves as an ideal detector for the high energy cosmic rays which interact with the air molecule nuclei causing propagation of extensive air showers. The primary cosmic ray particles interact with the molecules in the atmosphere and produce showers of secondary particles (mainly pions) at about 15 km altitude. These pions decay into muons which are the dominant particles of radiation (about 80%) at the surface of the Earth. In recent years, there are growing interests in the applications of the cosmic ray measurements such as space/earth weather monitoring, homeland security activities based on the cosmic ray muon tomography, radiation effects on health via air travel, etc. A simulation program (based on the Geant4 software package developed at CERN) has been developed at Georgia State University for studying cosmic ray showers in the atmosphere. The results of this simulation study will provide unprecedented knowledge of geo-position-dependent cosmic ray shower profiles and will significantly advance cosmic ray applications. Simulation results are critically important for determining the temperature coefficients in every pressure layer in the atmosphere in order to calculate the temperature variations using the cosmic ray data. Using a single particle shower simulation, the weighted particle altitude distributions on a global scale are calculated with geomagnetic field implementation. The results of the simulation can aid the computation of the effective temperature in stratosphere.

Plus d'un siècle après leur découverte, les rayons cosmiques continuent d'intriguer les physiciens. Le flux de ces particules d'origine extraterrestre décroît fortement en fonction de leur énergie. Au-delà de 1 PeV(10¹⁵ eV), le flux devient trop faible pour permettre la détection directe sur des échelles de temps raisonnables. Cependant, les cascades de particules secondaires créées après l'interaction des rayons cosmiques avec les constituants de l'atmosphère sont détectables depuis le sol, c'est la détection indirecte. A partir de 100 PeV, le nombre d'observations est trop faible pour estimer de manière précise la masse des rayons cosmiques et ainsi contraindre les modèles de mécanismes d'accélération, de propagation et de type de sources. La détermination de la composition est effectuée à l'Observatoire Pierre Auger par les télescopes de fluorescence via la mesure de la variable Xmax avec un cycle utile de 14%. Xmax est la profondeur d'atmosphère traversée à laquelle le nombre de particules secondaires atteint sa valeur maximale. Cette observable est fortement corrélée à la masse du rayon cosmique qui a initié la gerbe. Un grand nombre d'observations est requis pour effectuer une détermination précise de la masse car les fluctuations statistiques de Xmax sont importantes. La radio détection apparaît alors comme une excellente alternative à la détection par fluorescence, puisque la technique mesurant ce signal a un cycle utile proche de 100%. Cette thèse propose une méthode d'estimation de la masse des rayons cosmiques d'ultra haute énergie basée seulement sur l'étude des signaux radio et leur simulation, afin de reconstruire de manière systématique l’énergie, le cœur et la profondeur Xmax des gerbes détectées par l’expérience AERA sur le site de l'Observatoire Pierre Auger en Argentine. L'influence de la modélisation de l'atmosphère dans le code de simulation SELFAS sur les valeurs reconstruites est étudiée. Notamment la géométrie des couches atmosphériques, la manière de traiter l'indice de réfraction et la densité de l'air ainsi que leurs variations journalières et saisonnières. / More than a century after their discovery, cosmic-raysare still puzzling physicists. The flux of these particlescoming from extraterrestrial sources strongly decreasesas a function of their energy. Above 1 PeV (10¹⁵ eV), theparticle flux becomes too low to allow a direct detectionon a reasonable time scale. However, the cascades ofsecondary particles produced after the interaction ofcosmic-rays with the constituents of the atmosphere aredetectable at the ground level; it is the indirect detection.Above 100 PeV, the number of observations is too lowto accurately estimate the mass of the cosmic rays andthen to constrain the prediction models of accelerationmechanisms, propagation and type of sources. Thedetermination of their composition is achieved at thePierre Auger Observatory using fluorescencetelescopes from the measurement of the Xmaxobservable with a duty cycle of 14%. Xmax, defined asthe atmosphere depth at which the number ofsecondary particles reaches its maximal value, is highlycorrelated to the mass of the cosmic ray that hascreated the air shower. A large number of observationsis required for a precise estimation of the mass as theXmax statistical fluctuations are important. The radiodetection is a perfect alternative to the fluorescencemethod as the duty cycle of a typical radio detector isclose to 100%. This thesis proposes a method toestimate the mass of ultra-high energy cosmic raysusing only the radio signals and their simulation. Thegoal is to systematically reconstruct the Xmax depth ofeach air shower detected by the AERA experimentwithin the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory inArgentina. The influence of the description of theatmosphere on the reconstructed shower parameters, inthe SELFAS code, has been studied. It includes thegeometry of the atmospheric layers, the way to calculatethe air refractive index and density, as well as their dailyand seasonal fluctuations.

Orientador: Ernesto Kemp / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T11:18:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida_RogerioMenezesde_D.pdf: 29880310 bytes, checksum: a6d709505699fa646136930c8822d569 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Quase um século após o descobrimento da radiação cósmica, sua origem, composilção, mecanismos de aceleração e propagação pelo universo são ainda desconhecidos para a faixa de energia ultra-alta (E >~ 10 18 eV). O mistério torna-se ainda maior devido à supressão (corte GZK) no uxo dos raios cósmicos com energias E >~ 6 × 10 19 eV, devido à interação destas partículas com a radiação cósmica de fundo, previsto há cerca de 40 anos. Assim, espera-se que os raios cósmicos com energia acima deste limiar sejam provenientes de fontes distantes em até ~ 200 Mpc. Uma vez que nosso universo local é bastante heterogêneo e a rigidez magnética destas partículas é bastante elevada, espera-se que a distribuição das direções de chegada dos raios cósmicos de energia ultra-alta possa ser correlacionada com as direções de suas fontes, refletindo a anisotropia do universo local. Neste sentido, estudos de anisotropias nas direções de chegadas de tais partículas desempenham papel crucial na investigação da radiação cósmica e compreensão do universo. Este trabalho dedica-se ao estudo de anisotropias de pequena e larga escalas. No primeiro caso, procuramos UHECR¿s correlacionados com o surto gigante de radiação gama emitido pelo SGR 1806-20 em dezembro de 2004. Outro caso estudado é a análise de direções da esfera celeste com excessos de raios gama com significâncias estatísticas maiores que 4s, não associadas a fontes conhecidas, reportadas pela Colaboração JANZOS. Ainda com relação a anisotropias de pequena escala, são estudadas aplicações de filtros de wavelets para detecção de fontes pontuais. No contexto de anisotropias de larga escala, relacionadas a grandes distribuições de matéria, desenvolvemos um método de identificação de anisotropias independente de catálogos de objetos celestes, chamado MIIE. Testamos sua eficiência através de testes de hipóteses e o aplicamos a conjunto de eventos com energia extrema obtidos de dados do Observatório Pierre Auger / Abstract: Almost a century after the discovery of cosmic radiation, their origin, composition, acceleration and propagation mechanisms in the universe is still unknown for the ultra-high energy component ( > ~ 1018 eV). The mystery grows due to the suppression (GZK cutoff) in the ux of cosmic rays with energies E >~ 6 × 10 19 eV, caused by the interaction of these particles and the cosmic microwave background, predicted ~ 40 years ago. Thus, it is expected that cosmic rays with energy above this threshold are produced in sources within ~ 200 Mpc. Since our local universe is very inhomogeneous and the magnetic rigidity of these particles is very high, it is expected that the distribution of the arrival directions of ultra-high energy cosmic rays can be correlated with the directions of their sources, reflecting the anisotropy of our local universe. In this way, anisotropy studies play crucial role in the research of cosmic radiation and understanding of the universe. In this work, small-scale anisotropy, related to the study of point sources, are studied searching for UHECR¿s correlated with the giant are from SGR 1806-20 in December 2004. We have also analized directions with an excess of gamma rays with statistical significance S > 4s, not associated with any known sources, reported by the JANZOS Collaboration. Also, in this thesis wavelets are applied in the detection of point sources. In the context of anisotropy related to large distributions of matter, called large scale anisotropy, we propose a new anisotropy identification method independent of catalogs, so-called MIIE. We test its efficiency through hipothesis tests and apply it to events set obtained from the Pierre Auger data / Doutorado / Física das Particulas Elementares e Campos / Doutor em Ciências

Orientador: Ernesto Kemp / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T11:36:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nunes_MonicaSoares_M.pdf: 4211832 bytes, checksum: 7414fb6290c92c79d1f11b0fdd3707db (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O estudo da radiação cósmica é de extrema importância para a astrofísica. Partículas oriundas de diferentes locais, tanto do sistema solar, quanto fora dele, chegam constantemente à Terra, carregando muitas informações a respeito da sua origem. Quando essas partículas encontram a atmosfera terrestre da-se início a uma cascata de partículas secundárias resultantes da interação do raio cósmico primário com a atmosfera. Dessa chuva de partículas secundárias, os múons são as partículas carregadas mais abundantes que chegam à superfície da Terra. Múons são altamente penetrantes, o que pode representar um problema muito grande em ex- perimentos, mesmo que subterrâneos, de outras partículas. Devido ao seu grande número, eles se tornam extremamente necessários em reconstruções de chuveiros atmosféricos para obtenção de informações a respeito da partícula primária. Tendo conhecimento de suas características, como por exemplo fluxo, ruídos em experimentos podem ser tratados e outros estudos podem ser otimizados. A intensidade de múons na superfície terrestre é bem conhecida como sendo anisotrópica e com uma dependência do ângulo zenital da forma ? (?) = ?0?osn(?). Por simplicidade nos cálculos, este expoente n é freqüentemente utilizado com valor igual a 2, mas estudos mostram que este parâmetro possui dependência com a posição geográfica e com a faixa de energia dos múons em questão. Esta dissertação propõe um método simples para a precisa determinação do expoente n e da intensidade vertical de múons simultaneamente, que pode ser realizado de maneira rá- pida em qualquer laboratório de raios cósmicos, utilizando detectores de partículas, que juntos formam o chamado Telescópio de Múons. Como resultado da aplicação do método no Laboratório de Léptons em Campinas - SP, foi obtido um valor de n de aproximadamente 2.30 e um valor para a intensidade vertical de múons em torno de 146.40? z/m2sr. Dados muito satisfatórios e de acordo com outros experimentos semelhantes já realizados anteriormente no Laboratório. O método também foi aplicado no Fermilab, localizado nos Estados Unidos. Nesta outra loca- lização geográfica, os resultados diferiram bastante dos obtidos em Campinas, com n aproxima- damente 3.66 e intensidade vertical de múons em torno de 158.33 ? zm-2sr-1. O mesmo experimento com o telescópio será realizado em outras posições geográficas afim de se verificar o comportamento do expoente n e da intensidade vertical de múons em diferentes locais / Abstract: The study of cosmic radiation is of utmost importance to astrophysics. Particles from different locations, from inside the solar system, and outside it, constantly arrive on Earth, carrying a lot of information about its origin. When these particles arrives to Earth¿s atmosphere they initiate a cascade of secondary particles resulting from the interaction of the primary cosmic ray with the atmosphere. From this rain of secondary particles, muons are the most abundant charged particles that reach the Earth¿s surface.Muons are highly penetrating, which can be a very big problem in some experiments, even if underground, of other particles. Because of their large number, they become extremely necessary in reconstructions of air showers to obtain information about the primary particle. Having knowledge of its characteristics, such as flux and distribution, noise in some experiments can be treated and other studies can be optimized.Muon intensity in the Earth¿s surface is well known to be anisotropic and has dependence on the zenith angle of ? (?) = ?0 cosn(?). For simplicity in the calculations, this n exponent is often used with a value of 2, but studies show that this parameter has dependence on the geographical position and on the energy range of muons in question. This dissertation proposes a simple method for accurate determination of the exponent n and muon vertical intensity simultaneously, that can be determined quickly in any laboratory cosmic rays using a particle detector, which was called Muon Telescope. As a result of the application of the method on the Leptons Laboratory, in Campinas - SP - Brazil, the value for n that was obtained is about 2.30 and a value for the vertical intensity of muons around 146.40? z/m2sr. This data is very satisfactory and according to similar experiments previously conducted at the Laboratory.This method was applied on Fermilab, located at the United States. On this new geographical location, the results were different from that obtained at Campinas, with n about 3.66 and the vertical intensity around 158.33 ? zm-2sr-1.The same experiment with the telescope will be held in other geographical locations in order to check the n exponent behavior and the muon intensity at different locations / Mestrado / Física / Mestra em Física

Orientadores: Edmilson José Tonelli Manganote, José Augusto Chinellato / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-31T19:37:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_AndreVieirada_M.pdf: 2116619 bytes, checksum: 5594853aef0531bf0dd2835de169710d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Resumo: Nesse trabalho, estudamos os processos difrativos nos eventos de interação hadrônica, observados pelos experimentos dos aceleradores HERA, TEVATRON e LHC. Analisamos uma categoria específica de eventos, os chamados eventos C-jatos, observados pela CBJ através exposição de detectores (Câmara de Emulsão Nuclear) à radiação cósmica, no Monte Chacaltaya. Nessa análise foram obtidas as distribuições de multiplicidade e energia em função do ângulo azimutal e a pseudorapidez, a partir dos dados de posição e energia dos eventos C-jatos. Essas distribuições são fundamentais na busca por uma compreensão dos processos de interação que deram origem aos eventos C-jatos. Os resultados da análise mostram as características de uma partícula líder nos eventos C-jatos, numa região frontal em alta pseudorapidez (6 ? ? ? 15) não observada pelos detectores dos aceleradores. Essas características experimentais podem ser indícios a respeito de física difrativa em eventos da radiação cósmica. Em particular, comparamos as distribuições dos eventos C-jatos com as distribuições geradas pelo simulador PYTHIA 8 para processos elásticos e difrativos, na busca por uma caracterização dos eventos C-jatos / Abstract: In this work, we study the diffractive processes in the hadronic interaction events observed by the HERA, TEVATRON and LHC accelerator experiments. We analyzed a specific category of events, the so-called C-jets events, observed by CBJ through exposure of detectors (Nuclear Emulsion Chamber) to cosmic radiation in Mount Chacaltaya. In this analysis the multiplicity and energy distributions were obtained as a function of the azimuth angle and the pseudorapidity, from the position and energy data of the C-jets events. These distributions are fundamental in the search for an understanding of the interaction processes that gave rise to the C-jets events. The results of the analysis show the characteristics of an leading particle in the C-jets events, in a front region in high pseudorapidity (6 ? ? ? 15) not observed by the accelerator detectors. These experimental features may be clues about diffractive physics in events of cosmic radiation. In particular, we compared the distributions of C-jets events with the distributions generated by the PYTHIA 8 simulator for elastic and diffractive processes, in the search for a characterization of C-jets events / Mestrado / Física / Mestre em Física / 165762/2014-4 / CNPQ

L’origine et la composition des rayons cosmiques demeurent, presque un siècle après leur découverte, une question ouverte, certains résultats des expériences de détection des rayons cosmiques se contredisant même, aux énergies supérieures à 10¹⁸ eV. A ces énergies, le flux reçu sur Terre est si faible qu’une détection directe est impossible sur une échelle de temps raisonnable. La collaboration Pierre Auger a ainsi construit dans la Pampa argentine, un observatoire couvrant une surface de 3000 km² afin de déterminer les énergies, les masses et les directions d’arrivée des rayons cosmiques. Les techniques de détection déployées font de l’Observatoire Pierre Auger une référence dans le domaine des Ultra-Hautes Énergies. Durant les trois années de mon doctorat, il m’a été donné l’opportunité d’étudier les méthodes de détection déployées par cette expérience et de m’intéresser spécialement à son détecteur de surface dont l’extraction du signal jusqu’à la reconstruction des directions d’arrivée et des énergies des rayons cosmiques sont présentées dans ce manuscrit avec les optimisations développées, permettant l’établissement du spectre des rayons cosmiques. L’étude de ce spectre, combinée à celle des observables de composition, obtenues par le détecteur de fluorescence, permet son interprétation en terme de masse afin de contraindre les modèles d’accélération et de propagation dans le milieu Galactique ou extragalactique. / The origin and the composition of the cosmic rays, almost one century after their discovery, remain an open question. Results of some experiments dedicated to their detection are even contradicting themselves at energies above 10¹⁸ eV. At these energies, the flux of the cosmic rays reaching the Earth is so low that direct detection is unthinkable in a reasonable time scale. The collaboration Pierre Auger has thus built, in the Argentine Pampa, an observatory covering an area of 3000 km² to determine the energies, masses and arrival directions of cosmic rays. Deployed detection techniques make the Pierre Auger Observatory a reference in the field of Ultra-High Energy. During the three years of my thesis, I had the chance to study the detection methods deployed by this experiment, focusing on its surface detector from the extraction of its signal to the reconstruction of the arrival direction and energy of the cosmic ray, which are presented in this manuscript along with the optimizations developed. The energy spectrum of cosmic rays is then reconstructed. The study of this spectrum, combined with the observables of composition, deduced from the fluorescence detector, allows its interpretation in term of mass. Acceleration and propagation models in Galactic or extragalactic environment can then be constrained by this combined study.

As space technologies continue to develop rapidly, there is a common desire to launch astronauts beyond the ISS to return to the Moon and put human footsteps on Mars. One of the largest hurdles that still needs to be addressed is the protection of astronauts from the radiation environment seen in deep space. The most effective way to defend against radiation is increasing the thickness of the shield, however this is limited by strict mass requirements. In order to increase the thickness of the shield, it is beneficial to make mission critical items double as shielding material. The human rated Orion spacecraft has procedures in place for astronauts to create an emergency bunker using food and water in the event of a forewarned radiation storm. This can provide substantial support to defend against radiation storms when there is an adequate amount of warning time, however, fails to protect against Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) or Solar Particle Events (SPE) without sufficient warning. Utilizing these materials as a permanent shielding method throughout the mission could be a beneficial alternative to the Orion programs current protection plan to provide constant safety to the crew. This thesis analyzes the effect in the radiation dosage seen by astronauts in the Orion Crew Module through use of on-board water as a permanent shielding fixture. The primary method used to analyze radiation is NASA’s OLTARIS (On-Line Tool for the Assessment of Radiation In Space) program, which enables users to input thickness distributions to determine a mission dosage profile. In addition this thesis further develops a ray tracing code which enables users to import male and female models into the vehicle model to produce gender specific radiation dosage results. The data suggests the permanent inclusion of water as a shielding material provides added support for GCR as well as SPE radiation that can extend the mission lifetime of humans in space.

<p> Core-collapse supernovae are among the most consequential astronomical events. They impact galaxy evolution, chemical enrichment of the Universe, and the creation of exotic objects (e.g., black holes and neutron stars). However, aspects of supernovae such as explosion asymmetry and progenitor mass loss are not well understood. Young, nearby supernova remnants are excellent laboratories to uniquely constrain some these fundamental properties. In this thesis, I investigate two nearby oxygen-rich supernova remnants and measure the proper motion of their ejecta to estimate their center of expansions and explosion ages. These properties are important for determining central compact object ‘kick’ velocities, guiding searches for surviving companions, and creating 3D remnant reconstructions. </p> <p><br></p> <p>I estimate the center of expansion and age of two supernova remnants, 1E0102.2-7219 (E0102) and N132D utilizing two epochs of Hubble Space Telescope imaging to measure the proper motion of their ejecta. For E0102, the proper motions show evidence for a nonhomologous expansion, which combined with spectral observations, support the idea that this remnant is expanding into an asymmetric circumstellar environment. Using the new proper-motion derived age and center of expansion, I provide a new ‘kick’ velocity estimate for E0102’s candidate neutron star. For N132D, I measure the proper motion of the ejecta both visually and using a novel computer vision procedure which identifies and measures the proper motions of the knots. I find that N132D’s ejecta are still ballistic, along with evidence of explosion asymmetry. My results represent the first proper-motion derived center of expansion and age of N132D. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Finally, I investigate diffuse interstellar bands observed towards progenitor candidates of core-collapse supernovae to test whether time variability can be a possible probe of the mass loss and surrounding environments of these systems. I find evidence of time variability in diffuse interstellar band carriers located in two of these environments. This is especially unusual as diffuse interstellar bands are normally attributed to the interstellar medium. These findings imply that the sources of these bands are closer to the stellar objects than previously thought and can provide insight into the currently unknown sources of diffuse interstellar bands. </p>