Malgré la découverte des rayons cosmiques il y a plus de cent ans, de nombreuses questions restent aujourd’hui sans réponse : que sont les rayons cosmiques, comment sont-ils créés et d’où viennent-ils ? Depuis 2002, l’instrument CODALEMA, basé sur le site de l’Observatoire de radio-astronomie de Nançay, étudie les rayons cosmiques d’ultra haute énergie (RCUHE, au delà de 1017 eV) qui arrivent dans l’atmosphère terrestre. Leur faible flux rend impossible une détection directe à ces énergies. Ces rayons cosmiques vont cependant interagir avec les atomes de l’atmosphère, engendrant une cascade de particules secondaires chargées communément appelée gerbe de particules, détectable depuis le sol, et dont on va extraire des informations sur le rayon cosmique primaire. L’objectif est de remonter aux caractéristiques du primaire ayant engendré la gerbe de particules, donc de déterminer sa direction d’arrivée, sa nature et son énergie. Lors du développement de la gerbe, les particules chargées en mouvement engendrent notamment l’émission d’une impulsion de champ électrique très brève, que CODALEMA détecte au sol avec des antennes radio dédiées, sur une large bande de fréquences (entre 1 et 200 MHz). L’avantage majeur de la radio-détection est sa sensibilité au profil complet de la gerbe et son cycle utile proche des 100 %, qui pourrait permettre d’augmenter le nombre d’évènements détectés à très haute énergie, et donc de mieux contraindre les propriétés des RCUHE. Au fil des ans, des efforts importants ont été consacrés à la compréhension de l’émission radio-électrique des grandes gerbes de particules dans la gamme [20-80] MHz mais, malgré certaines études menées jusqu’aux années 90, la bande [1-10] MHz est restée inutilisée pendant près de 30 ans. L’une des contributions de cette thèse porte sur l’expérience EXTASIS, adossée à CODALEMA, qui vise à ré-investiguer cette bande et à étudier la contribution dite de ”mort subite”, impulsion de champ électrique créé par les particules de la gerbe lors de leur arrivée et de leur disparition au sol. Nous présentons la configuration instrumentale d’EXTASIS, composée de 7 antennes basses fréquences exploitées dans [1.7-3.7] MHz, couvrant environ 1 km2. Nous rapportons l’observation, sur 2 ans, de 25 évènements détectés en coïncidence par CODALEMA et EXTASIS et estimons un seuil de détection de 23±4 μV/m à partir de comparaisons avec des simulations. Nous rapportons également une forte corrélation entre l’observation du signal basse fréquence et le champ électrique atmosphérique. L’autre contribution majeure de cette thèse porte sur l’étude du champ électrique émis par les gerbes et l’amélioration des performances du détecteur dans la bande [20-200] MHz. Nous proposons dans un premier temps une méthode de calibration des antennes de CODALEMA en utilisant l’émission radio de la Galaxie. Nous investiguons aussi plusieurs algorithmes de réjection de bruit afin d’améliorer la sélectivité des évènements enregistrés. Nous présentons ensuite une méthode de reconstruction des paramètres du rayon cosmique primaire, mettant en oeuvre des comparaisons combinant des informations de polarisation et fréquentielles entre les données enregistrées et des simulations, nous menant enfin à une proposition de composition en masse des rayons cosmiques détectés. / Despite the discovery of cosmic rays there are more than one hundred years ago, many questions remain unanswered today: what are cosmic rays, how are they created and where do they come from ? Since 2002, the CODALEMA instrument, located within the Nançay Radio Observatory, studies the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR, above 1017 eV) arriving in the Earth atmosphere. Their low flux makes it impossible to detect them directly at these energies. These cosmic rays, however, will interact with the atoms of the atmosphere, generating a cascade of secondary charged particles, commonly known as extensive air shower (EAS), detectable at ground level, and from which we will extract information on the primary cosmic ray. The objective is to go back to the characteristics of the primary that generated the EAS, thus to determine its direction of arrival, its nature and its energy. During the development of the shower, these charged particles in movement generate a fast electric field transient, detected at ground by CODALEMA with dedicated radio antennas over a wide frequency band (between 1 and 200 MHz). The major advantage of radio-detection is its sensibility to the whole profile of the shower and its duty cycle close to 100 %, which could increase the number of events detected at very high energy, and thus to better constrain the properties of the RCUHE. Over the years, significant efforts have been devoted to the understanding of the radio emission of extensive air shower (EAS) in the range [20-80] MHz but, despite some studies led until the nineties, the[1-10] MHz band has remained unused for nearly 30 years. One of the contributions of this thesis concerns the EXTASIS experiment, supported by the CODALEMA instrument, which aims to reinvestigate the [1-10] MHz band and to study the so-called ”sudden death” contribution, which is the expected impulsive electric field created by the particles at their arrival and their disappearance on the ground. We present the instrumental set up of EXTASIS, composed of 7 low frequency antennas exploited in [1.7-3.7] MHz, covering approximately 1 km2. We report the observation, over 2 years, of 25 low-frequency events detected in coincidence by CODALEMA and EXTASIS and estimate a detection limit of 23±4 μV/m from comparisons with simulations. We also report a strong correlation between the observation of the low frequency signal and the atmospheric electric field. The other major contribution of this thesis concerns the study of the electric field emitted by the EAS and the improvement of the detector’s performances in the [20-200] MHz band. First, we propose a calibration method for CODALEMA antennas using the radio emission of the Galaxy. We are also investigating several noise rejection algorithms to improve the selectivity of recorded events. We then present a method for reconstructing the parameters of the primary cosmic ray, implementing systematic comparisons combing polarization and frequency information between the recorded data and simulations, leading finally to a proposal for a mass composition of cosmic rays detected.

<p>     </p> <p>This article-based dissertation provides a review of the broad subject of Neutron Star- their emission properties, plasmoids ejection events, and their proposed physical mechanisms. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to provide an extensive description of the research projects I undertook during my tenure as a Graduate Research Assistant, under the guidance of my advisor Prof. Maxim Lyutikov. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the Neutron stars, their classification, proposed emission models, and a summary of magnetars and associated observed phenomena. </p> <p><br></p> <p>In Chapter 2, I present a version of the research article published in the <em>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</em>. The work is titled "Rotating Neutron Stars Without Light Cylinders" and discusses twisted and differentially rotating neutron star magnetospheres that do not have a light cylinder, generate no wind, and thus do not spin down. The magnetosphere of such neutron stars is composed of embedded differentially rotating flux surfaces, with the angular velocity decreasing as Ω ∼ 1/r. It was found, both analytically and using numerical simulations, that for spin parameters larger than some critical value, the light cylinder appears, the magnetosphere opens up, and the wind is generated. </p> <p>In Chapter 3, I present a version of the research article published in <em>The Astrophysical Journal</em>. The work is titled "Relativistic Magnetic Explosions" and was undertaken under the supervision of Dr. Maxim Barkov, in collaboration with Dr. Konstantinos N. Gourgou- liatos and Dr. Lyutikov2 Barkov. It discusses the dynamics of magnetically driven explosive astrophysical events, like magnetar bursts and flares. We model a relativistic expansion of highly magnetized and highly magnetically over-pressurized clouds. We observe that the corresponding dynamics are qualitatively different from fluid explosions due to the topological constraint of the conservation of the magnetic flux. Using analytical, relativistic MHD as well as force-free calculations, we find that the creation of a relativistically expanding, causally disconnected flow obeys a threshold condition: it requires sufficiently high initial over-pressure and sufficiently quick decrease of the pressure in the external medium (the pre-explosion wind). In the subcritical case, the magnetic cloud just puffs up" and quietly expands with the pre-flare wind. We also find a compact analytical solution to the Prendergast problem - the expansion of force-free plasma into the vacuum. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Chapter 4 is the extension of the work in Chapter 3 and focuses on the dynamics of relativistic Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), from launching by shearing of foot-points (either slowly or suddenly), to propagation in the preceding magnetar wind. The work has been accepted to be published in <em>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</em>. For slow shear, we find that most of the energy injected into the CME is first spent on the work done on breaking through the over-laying magnetic field. At later stages, sufficiently powerful CMEs may lead to the detonation of a CME and opening of the magnetosphere beyond some equipartition radius req, where the decreasing energy of the CME becomes larger than the decreasing external magnetospheric energy. Post-CME magnetosphere relaxes via the formation of a plasmoid-mediated current sheet, initially at req, and slowly reaching the light cylinder. Both the location of the foot-point shear and the global magnetospheric configuration affect the frequent/weak versus rare/powerful CME dichotomy - to produce powerful flares the slow shear should be limited to field lines that close in near the star.  After the creation of a topologically disconnected flux tube, the tube quickly (at ∼ the light cylinder) comes into force-balance with the preceding wind and is passively advected/frozen in the wind afterward. </p> <p>For fast shear case, the shearing of foot-points leads to the generation of Alfvén wave and the pressure of such Alfvén leads to the opening of the magnetosphere. At distances much larger than the light cylinder, the resulting shear Alfvén waves propagate through the wind non-dissipatively. </p> <p><br></p> <p>In Chapter 5, I switch gears and study the optical polarization of Crab pulsar. I start by deriving a general relation for the polarization direction of the electric dipole-type radiation produced by a particle moving in an arbitrary electromagnetic field. The derived relations are then applied to reproduce optical polarization swings in Crab pulsar assuming a Michel- Bogovalov solution for the current sheet. With this, I was able to reproduce down to intricate details the spin-phase trajectory of the position angle (PA) in the Stokes parameters U-Q plane. This chapter however remains a work in progress. We still don't fully understand the physical mechanism behind the polarization characteristics of the Crab, especially the origin of the point where the inner loop connects with the bigger outer loop. I plan to fully answer these questions before sending our findings for publication. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Chapter 6 summarizes the main results and conclusions of the research projects and mentions the prospects. References are compiled after the appendices so that they are first cited, followed by a CV and a list of publications. </p>

[pt] A presença de aminoácidos em cometas e meteoritos levanta questões sobre como estes foram formados em ambientes cósmicos, bem como de que maneira eles foram capazes de sobreviver no espaço sideral; radioresistência é uma informação essencial para prever meias-vidas e avançar os estudos sobre origens da vida. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é determinar, por meio de espectroscopia no infravermelho, as seções de choque de destruição de aminoácidos comuns expostos à radiação de íons e elétrons energéticos. As forças de banda vibracionais (A-values) e a dependência do espectro infravermelho com a temperatura da amostra (10 – 400 K) foram analisadas. Seções de choque de destruição aparente (sigma)d(ap) e rendimentos de sputtering (Y0) para glicina, valina e fenilalanina irradiadas por H+, He+ e Nq+ íons de MeV e elétrons de keV foram medidos. Encontrou-se: i) uma dependência aproximadamente linear entre a seção de choque de destruição aparente e o poder de freamento eletrônico (Se): (sigma)d(ap) = (sigma)d + Y0 /N0 = a Sen (onde n aproximadamente 1) para projéteis de MeV e para amostras à temperatura ambiente; ii) resultados preliminares de σdap para feixes de nitrogênio multi-carregados; e iii) resultados de seção de choque de destruição de valina irradiada por elétrons de keV, bem como sua dependência com a energia de incidência do feixe, e com a espessura e temperatura da amostra. Como contribuição teórica, o modelo CASINO-estendido foi desenvolvido visando descrever a evolução da degradação de matéria orgânica por projéteis carregados, particularmente por feixes de elétrons. Comparadas aos resultados experimentais, as previsões do modelo subestimam o dano causado pelo feixe de elétrons, evidência de que efeitos de sputtering e provavelmente algumas características da amostra (como a estrutura cristalográfica) devem ser incluídos. Como implicações astrofísicas, meias-vidas para valina e fenilalanina irradiadas por raios cósmicos são estimadas em aproximadamente 10 milhões de anos no meio interestelar; da glicina, se irradiadas por vento solar a uma unidade astronômica do Sol, é aproximadamente 3 dias. Visando simular materiais astrofísicos realistas bombardeados por elétrons de keV, a meia-vida de valina envolta por gelos de água e CO2 e depositada sobre silicato é também prevista. / [en] The presence of amino acids in comets and meteorites raises questions about how they have been formed in cosmic environments, as well as how long they can survive in outer space; radioresistance is essential information to predict half-lives and make advances on the origins of life studies. The main objective of the current work is to determine, via infrared spectrometry, destruction cross sections of common amino acids exposed to energetic ion and electron radiation. Before sample irradiation, valine vibrational band strengths and their infrared spectral dependence on temperature (10 – 400 K) were analyzed. Apparent destruction cross sections (sigma)d(ap) and sputtering yields (Y0) for glycine, valine and phenylalanine, irradiated by MeV H+, He+ and Nq+ ions and keV electrons, were measured. From experimental data: i) an approximately linear dependence between the apparent destruction cross section and the electronic stopping power (Se) is found: (sigma)d(ap) = (sigma)d + Y0 /N0 = a Sen (where n approximately 1) for MeV projectiles and for samples at room temperature; ii) (sigma)d(ap) preliminary results relative to multi-charged nitrogen ion beams are discussed; and iii) destruction cross section of valine irradiated by keV electrons, as well as its dependence on incident beam energy, on sample thickness and on sample temperature are presented. As a theoretical contribution, the evolution of organic matter damage by charged projectiles, particularly for electron beams, the CASINO-extended model was developed. When compared to experimental results, the model predictions underestimate the damage caused by electron beams, evidence that sputtering and probably some sample characteristics (as crystallographic structure) are involved. As astrophysical implications, cosmic ray half-lives for valine and phenylalanine are estimated to be about 10 million years in the interstellar medium; solar wind half-life at 1 au from the Sun is approximately 3 days for glycine. Aiming to simulate realistic astrophysical materials bombarded by keV electrons, the half-life of valine embedded into water and CO2 ices over a silicate substrate is also predicted.

<p dir="ltr">Neutron star mergers generate powerful gravitational waves and various types of electromagnetic signals, including gamma-ray bursts (GRB), kilonovae, and their afterglows. Observing and modeling these signals help us understand the physical processes of the merger events. Radiation from mergers can also serve as probes to study nuclear physics and cosmology. In this report, I focus on two types of signals: the GRB afterglow and the kilonova. GRB afterglows are non-thermal radiation produced by the interaction of relativistic jets and circumburst material, where the jets are launched perpendicular to the merger plane. Kilonovae are the thermal radiation emitted from the hot materials ejected during the merger. Besides the modeling of these objects, I also investigate their application in multimessenger astrophysics, especially the constraint on the expansion rate of the Universe. </p><p dir="ltr">First, I developed a GRB afterglow model to account for the off-axis observation of a structured jet. Using a jet structure derived from a three-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we performed a joint analysis of the multimessenger data of the neutron star merger event GW170817, including the gravitational wave data and GRB afterglow data in the radio band. We have tightly constrained the observing angle of GW170817 and broken the degeneracy between the inclination angle and luminosity distance measured in gravitational waves. With a better constrained distance, we improved the standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant to $H_0 = 69.5\pm 4\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}\ Mpc^{-1}}$. The error bar has been reduced by a factor of 2. This work demonstrates that the modeling of off-axis GRB afterglow can significantly improve the standard siren method, provided that we have a reliable jet structure.</p><p dir="ltr">Second, I upgrade the GRB afterglow model in the first work, extending it to the late time where lateral spreading of the GRB jet becomes important. In this model, the ultra-relativistic blastwave is approximated by an infinitely thin two-dimensional surface. With this approximation, the hydrodynamic equations can be analytically integrated over the radius. Further assuming axial symmetry, the three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation can be reduced to one dimension, which significantly increases the computational efficiency. We have compared our method to full numerical simulations and existing GRB afterglow modeling tools. The comparison shows good agreement and verifies our approach. Compared to these tools, our model has better flexibility and is applicable in a broader context. This method has been developed into a numerical code, \texttt{jetsimpy}, which we have provided to the community. It will serve as a powerful tool in the era of multimessenger astrophysics.</p><p dir="ltr">Finally, I investigate the possibility of long-lived massive neutron stars as neutron star merger remnants. A long-lived massive neutron star can inject a significant amount of energy into the merger ejecta, boosting the luminosity of kilonova by several orders of magnitude. However, this type of event has not yet been observed in optical sky surveys. We developed a boosted kilonova model with a detailed calculation of the photoionization process to better describe the efficiency of energy injection from spin down power to the ejecta. Our study found that boosted kilonovae, if commonly occurring, they should have already been observed given the accumulated time in sky surveys. As a result, the absence of detection implies that long-lived massive neutron stars as neutron star merger remnants are likely to be rare in the Universe.</p>

Gammastrahlenblitze (Gamma-Ray Bursts, GRBs) gehören zu den energiereichsten transienten Ereignissen im Universum und werden als mögliche Quellen von ultra-hochenergetischen kosmischen Strahlen (Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays, UHECRs) gehandelt. Eine eindeutige Bestätigung durch UHECR-Messungen ist jedoch schwierig, da die Richtungsinformation der kosmischen Strahlen während ihrer Ausbreitung aufgrund von Ablenkung durch Magnetfelder teilweise verloren geht. In dieser Dissertation folgen wir einem alternativen multi-messenger Ansatz in welchem die Anwesenheit von kosmischen Strahlen in einem astrophysikalischen Objekt durch Neutrino- oder Photon-Signaturen angezeigt wird. Hierfür simulieren wir GRBs im Internal-Schock-Szenario, welches verschiedene Emissionszonen entlang des astrophysikalischen Jets erfasst, und berechnen nukleare Wechselwirkungen mit modernsten numerischen Codes. In diesem Rahmen diskutieren wir unter welchen Voraussetzungen die Quellklasse von GRBs UHECR-Daten beschreiben kann ohne Neutrinolimits. Letzere begründen sich im Mangel an gemessenen hoch-energetischen (High-Energy, HE) Neutrinos, die mit bekannten GRBs assoziert werden konnten. Die Neutrinolimits können alternativ in Objekten niedriger Leuchtkraft eingehalten werden, die typischerweise eine niedrige Neutrinoproduktionseffizienz haben. Wir präsentieren leptonische Strahlungsmodellierungen für die Unterklasse von GRBs niedriger Leuchktraft mit einem Fokus auf sehr hoch-energetischer (Very-High-Energy, VHE) Emission welche von aktuellen/zukünfitgen Instrumenten beobachtet werden könnte und bestimmen wir die maximalen Energien verschiedener Atomkerne. Die Präsenz von Hadronen kann alternativ durch Signaturen in verschiedenen Wellenlängen des Photonspektrums angezeigt werden. Wir erforschen diesen Ansatz in lepto-hadronischen Modellen für GRBs mit hoher Leuchtkraft, wobei wir kritisch diskutieren, welche Bedingungen erfüllt sein müssen damit typische GRB-Spektren reproduziert werden können. / Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are among the most energetic transients in the Universe and candidate sources of Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs). A clear confirmation from UHECR measurements is however challenging, as the directional information of cosmic rays is partially lost due to deflection by (inter-)galactic magnetic fields. In this dissertation we follow an alternative multi-messenger approach, in which the presence of UHECRs in an astrophysical object is indicated by neutrino or photon signatures produced in nuclear interactions. For this, we simulate GRBs in the multi-zone internal shock model, which accounts for different emission zones along the astrophysical jet and calculate nuclear interactions with state-of-the-art numerical codes. In this framework we discuss under which conditions the population of GRBs can still account for UHECR measurements while obeying current neutrino limits that stem from the lack of detected High-Energy (HE) neutrinos which could be associated with known GRBs. These neutrino limits may alternatively be met in low-luminosity objects, which typically have low neutrino production efficiency. We present leptonic radiation models of the sub-class of low-luminosity GRBs, with a focus on Very-High-Energy (VHE) emission potentially observable by current/future instruments. Connecting to UHECRs, we determine maximal energies of different cosmic-ray nuclei. The presence of nuclei may also be indicated by multi-wavelength signatures in the photon spectrum. We explore this approach in lepto-hadronic models of high-luminosity bursts, where we also critically review the conditions necessary to reproduce typical GRB spectra within our model.

<p>U ovoj disertaciji su prikazani rezultati kompleksnih istraživanja uticaja<br />kosmičkog zračenja na nuklearne spektre na nivou mora.<br />Utvrđivanje specifičnih vremenskih intervala u vremenskom spektru,<br />kojima odgovaraju tačno određene grupe događaja indukovane<br />kosmičkim mionima, omogućava adekvatno odbacivanje ometajućih<br />događaja u željenim energetskim oblastima detektovanih spektara, pri<br />antikoincidentnom režimu rada ultraniskofonskih sistema. U prvom<br />eksperimentu prikazanom u ovoj disertaciji,&nbsp; istraživana je mogućnost<br />vremenskog razlaganja detektovanih događaja,&nbsp; pomoću koincidentnog<br />sistema u čijem sklopu se nalazi HPGe detektor i&nbsp; plastični scintilator, u<br />povr&scaron;inskoj laboratoriji. Ustanovljeno je da se promptni i zakasneli<br />koincidentni događaji između plastičnog &ldquo;veto&rdquo; detektora i<br />germanijumskog detektora mogu jasno razdvojiti u dve grupe, za oko<br />100 ns. Dodatno, zakočno zračenje i&nbsp; anihilacioni događaji mogu se<br />razdvojiti u vremenu od (n,n&rsquo;) događaja, iako svi ovi događaji pripadaju<br />grupi zakasnelih događaja. Takođe, registrovani su&nbsp; i&nbsp; značajno zakasneli<br />anihilacioni događaji, koji nastaju usled raspada zaustavljenih pozitivnih<br />miona.<br />Drugi eksperiment prikazan u ovoj disertaciji baziran je na ultra-niskofonskom HPGe spektrometru relativne efikasnosti 100%.<br />Dodatkom dva plastična scintilatora i brzo-sporog koincidentnog kola,<br />istraživani su koincidentni događaji između plastičnih scintilatora i<br />HPGe spektrometra. Ovaj spektrometarski sistem MIREDO <em>(Muon<br />Induced Rare Event Dynamic Observatory</em>) prvenstveno je namenjen<br />proučavanju procesa indukovanih kosmičkim mionima u različitim<br />materijalima. Analiza ovakvih interakcija može biti od značaja za ultra-niskofonske eksperimente. Rezultati dobijeni za tri ispitivana materijala,<br />pakovana u<em> Marinelli</em> sud, prezentovani su i diskutovani.<br />U trećem eksperimentu prikazanom u ovoj disertaciji ispitan je<br />potencijalni uticaj solarnih&nbsp; neutrina&nbsp; na izmerenu brzinu&nbsp; radioaktivnog<br />raspada,&nbsp; merenjem varijacija u brzini brojanja<br />³H&nbsp; metodom tečnog&nbsp;scintilacionog brojanja. Kori&scaron;ćenjem sofisticiranog tečnog scintilacionog&nbsp;spektrometra&nbsp;<em> Quantulus</em>&nbsp; ustanovljeno je da na merenje<br />visokoenergetskog dela&nbsp;³H spektra može značajno uticati nestabilnost<br />instrumenta. Oscilatorni karakter izmerenog visokoenergetskog dela<br />³H&nbsp;spektra&nbsp; je registrovan, ali sa veoma malom amplitudom (manjom od<br />0.5%), koja se ne može jednostavno objasniti samo nestabilno&scaron;ću<br />instrumenta.&nbsp; Kada je meren ukupan&nbsp;³H spektar, nisu nađene značajne<br />varijacije u brzini brojanja.<br />Već duže vreme je poznato da je niskoenergetsko gama zračenje<br />kontinualne distribucije prisutno na otvorenom prostoru, u vazduhu na<br />povr&scaron;ini Zemlje. U prethodnim istraživanjima pretpostavljano je da&nbsp; ovo<br />zračenje potiče skoro isključivo od gama fotona koji su emitovani usled<br />prirodne radioaktivnosti i potom rasejani u nazad od strane vazduha<br />iznad zemlje. U četvrtom eksperimentu prikazanom u ovoj disertaciji<br />pokazano je da&nbsp; je&nbsp; ovo zračenje (u energetskom regionu 30 keV-300<br />keV), sa maksimumom na oko&nbsp; 90 keV, u značajnoj meri&nbsp; proizvedeno<br />kosmičkim zračenjem, sa fluksom fotona od oko 3000 m^-2s^-1. Takođe,<br />ustanovljeno je da dozama op&scaron;te populacije doprinosi ovo sveprisutno<br />niskoenergetsko gama zračenja kosmičkog porekla, zajedno sa<br />odgovarajućim fluksom niskoenergetskih elektrona i da ove komponente<br />ukupnih doza indukovanih kosmičkim zračenjem na nivou mora nisu<br />zanemarljive.</p> / <p>In this dissertation results of complex research on cosmic-ray impact on&nbsp;nuclear spectra at sea level are shown.&nbsp; The appropriate selection of&nbsp;coincidence time interval &nbsp;in low-background experiments that are based&nbsp;on the rejection of anticoincidence background events is very important&nbsp;for reducing the influence of cosmic-ray muons on acquired spectral&nbsp;data. In&nbsp; the first&nbsp; experiment&nbsp; presented in this dissertation,&nbsp; performed by&nbsp;the coincidence system of an HPGe detector and a plastic detect or&nbsp; in a&nbsp;surface laboratory, the time resolution of the detected events is explored.&nbsp;It is&nbsp; found that the prompt and delayed coincidence events between a&nbsp;plastic veto detector and a &nbsp;Ge detector can be sharply divided for&nbsp;approximately 100 ns in two groups. In addition, the bremsstrahlung&nbsp;and annihilation events can&nbsp; be time-resolved from the (n,n&rsquo;) events,&nbsp;although all of these events belong to the group of delayed events. Also,&nbsp;substantially delayed annihilation events, which are caused by the&nbsp;<br />decays of stopped positive muons, were detected.<br />The second experiment shown in this dissertation is based on the 100%&nbsp;relative efficiency ultra-low-background HPGe spectrometer. With the&nbsp;addition of two plastic scintillators and a fast-slow coincidence circuit,&nbsp;the coincidence events between the plastic detectors and the HPGe&nbsp;spectrometer have been investigated. This&nbsp; MIREDO (Muon Induced&nbsp;Rare Event Dynamic Observatory) spectrometer system is primarily&nbsp;<br />developed for the study of cosmic muon induced processes in different&nbsp;materials. Exploration of such interactions can be important for ultra-low&nbsp;background experiments. Results derived for three samples, placed in a&nbsp;Marinelli beaker, are presented and discussed.<br />In third experiment shown in this dissertation,&nbsp; the potential influence of&nbsp;solar neutrinos on measured decay rate is investigated by&nbsp; the liquid&nbsp;scintillation measurement of the count rate variations of&nbsp;³H. Making use of the sophisticated Quantulus liquid scintillation spectrometer, it is&nbsp;found that the&nbsp; measurement of the high-energy tail of&nbsp;³H spectrum may be significantly influenced by instrumental&nbsp; instability.&nbsp; The oscillatory behavior of measured high-energy tail of ³H spectrum&nbsp; is registered, but&nbsp;with very small amplitude (less than 0.5%), which cannot&nbsp; be easily&nbsp;<br />explained only by instrumental instability. When the total&nbsp;³H spectrum was measured, no significant variations in the count rate were found.&nbsp;<br />For a long time, it has been known that low-energy continuous gamma&nbsp;radiation is present in open air at the Earth&rsquo;s surface. In previous&nbsp;investigations it was assumed that this radiation is produced almost&nbsp;exclusively by gamma photons emitted due to the natural radioactivity,&nbsp;which are backscattered by air above ground.&nbsp; In the fourth experiment&nbsp;presented in this dissertation, it is&nbsp; shown&nbsp; that significant amount of this&nbsp;<br />radiation (related to energy region 30&nbsp; keV-300&nbsp; keV) that peaks at about&nbsp;90 keV, is produced by cosmic-rays, with the photon flux of about 3000&nbsp;m^-2s^-1.&nbsp; Also, it is found&nbsp; that the contribution of this omnipresent low&nbsp;energy gamma radiation of cosmic-ray origin, including the&nbsp;corresponding low-energy electron flux, to the doses of general&nbsp;<br />population are non-negligible components of overall doses induced by&nbsp;cosmic rays near sea level.</p>

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) can only be measured by the detection of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) created by the interaction of the cosmic ray particle with an atmospheric nuclei. The inference of some of the properties of UHECR, like their mass composition, is only possible by the comparison of measurements of EAS observables to predictions from Monte Carlo simulations. The most important source of uncertainties on the description of EAS by the simulations is the modeling of hadronic interactions. For many years it has been known that the hadronic interaction models fail on predicting the EAS observables related to their muonic component. The most evident manifestation of that is called muon deficit problem due to the fact that the number of muons in EAS with energies above 1018 eV predicted by simulations is smaller than the observed ones. The aim of this thesis is to approach this problem in three distinct fronts. First, a method is developed to interpret measurements of number of muons in terms of cosmic rays composition in despite of the muon deficit problem. Second, an EAS observable which is sensitive to the muon energy spectrum at ground and, consequently, can be used to constrain hadronic interaction models is proposed and tested. Third and final, the muon production in air showers is studied through measurements of hadron production spectra in pion-carbon interactions. / Raios Cósmicos Ultra Energéticos (Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays, UHECR) somente podem ser medidos através da detecção dos Chuveiros Atmosféricos Extensos (Extensive Air Showers, EAS) criados pela interação do raio cósmico primário com núcleos atmoféricos. A inferência de algumas propriedados dos UHECRs, como a composição de massa, é possível somente através da comparação entre medidas de observáveis dos EASs com predições geradas por simulações de Monte Carlo. A fonte de incerteza mais importante na descrição de EAS por simulações é a modelagem das interações hadrônicas. Por muitos anos é sabido que os modelos de interação hadrônica falham na predição de observáveis dos EASs relacionados a sua componente muônica. A manifestação mais evidente disso é chamada problema do déficit de múons devido ao fato que o número de múons em chuveiros com energias acima de 1018 eV predito por simulações é menor que os observados. O objetivo desta tese é abordar este problema através de três frentes. Primeiramente, um método é desenvolvido para interpretar as medidas do número de múons em termos de composição de raios cósmicos considerando o problema do déficit de múons. Segundo, a proposta e o teste de um observável que é sensível ao espectro de energia dos múons na superfície e, consequentemente, pode ser usado para discriminar entre os modelos de interação hadrônica. Por último, a produção de múons em chuveiros é estudada através de medidas do espectro de produção de hádrons em interações do tipo píon-carbono.

Relativity is one of the most important and well tested theories and Lorentz invariance is one of its pillars. Lorentz invariance violation (LIV), however, has been discussed in several quantum gravity and high energy models. For this reason, it is crucial to test it. Several tests, both terrestrial and astrophysical, have been performed in the last years and provide limits on the violation. This work takes part in these efforts and discuss the possibility of testing LIV with ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The effects of LIV in their propagation and the resulting changes in the spectrum of UHECRs are obtained and compared to the experimental data from the Pierre Auger Observatory. An analytical calculation for the inelasticity in the laboratory frame with LIV of any a + b &rarr; c + d interaction is presented and used to obtain the phase space and the energy losses of the pion production for protons, the photodisintegration for nuclei and the pair production for photons with LIV. A parametrization for the threshold energy of the photodisintegration with LIV is also proposed. The main effect seen is a decrease in the phase space and a resulting decrease in the energy loss. These changes have been implemented in Monte Carlo propagation codes and the resulting spectra of protons, nuclei and photons on Earth have been obtained and fitted to the data from the Pierre Auger Observatory. It is shown that upper limits on the photon LIV coefficient can be derived from the upper limits on the photon flux from the Pierre Auger Observatory. / Relatividade é uma das mais importantes e bem testadas teorias e a invariância de Lorentz é um de seus pilares. A violação da invariância de Lorentz (VIL), todavia, tem sido discutida em diversos modelos de gravidade quântica e altas energias. Por tal motivo, é crucial testá-la. Diversos testes, tanto terrestres quanto astrofísicos, foram realizados nos últimos anos e fornecem limites na violação. Este trabalho se insere nesses esforços e discute a possibilidade de testar VIL com raios cósmicos de altíssima energia. Os efeitos da VIL em sua propagação e as consequentes mudanças no espectro de raios cósmicos de altíssima energia são obtidos e comparados com os dados experimentais do Observatório Pierre Auger. Um cálculo analítico para a inelasticidade no referencial do laboratório com VIL para qualquer interação da forma a + b &rarr; c + d é apresentado e usado para obter o espaço de fase e as perdas de energia para a produção de píons para prótons, a fotodesintegração para núcleos e a produção de pares para fótons com VIL. Uma parametrização para o limiar de energia da fotodesintegração com VIL também é proposta. O principal efeito observado é uma diminuição no espaço de fase e uma consequente diminuição nas perdas de energia. Tais mudanças foram implementadas em códigos de Monte Carlo para a propagação e os espectros resultantes para prótons, núcleos e fótons na Terra foram obtidos e ajustados aos dados do Observatório Pierre Auger. É mostrado que limites superiores nos coeficientes de VIL para o fóton podem ser deduzidos dos limites superiores para o fluxo de fótons do Observatório Pierre Auger.

No estudo dos raios cósmicos de ultra alta energia utilizando detectores de superfície a energia da partícula primária é estimada pela distribuição lateral (LDF - Lateral Distribution Function), que descreve a amplitude do sinal das estações em função da distância ao centro do chuveiro. Entretanto, com exceção da estimativa do centro do chuveiro, não se utiliza a LDF para obter mais nenhuma informação sobre o chuveiro, talvez porque ela não possua uma parametrização que a descreva completamente, especialmente para os chuveiros com energias mais altas. As primeiras interações dos raios cósmicos com a atmosfera são determinantes para o desenvolvimento dos chuveiros atmosféricos extensos. Tais interações dependem, entre outras coisas, da composição química dos raios cósmicos. Diferenças nessas interações podem causar alterações nas flutuações da distribuição lateral. Através de simulações dos chuveiros com diferentes partículas primárias pode ser possível estimar a composição dos raios cósmicos de ultra alta energia, comparando as flutuações das distribuições laterais de eventos reais com as de eventos simulados. Uma das grandezas relevantes para a flutuação da LDF é a incerteza do sinal das estações. O framework de análise do Observatório Pierre Auger aplica uma correção parametrizada empiricamente à incerteza do sinal das estações. Neste trabalho foi apresentada uma justificativa estatística para esta correção, que está relacionada à distribuição do sinal não ser uma Poisson, mas uma composição de processos com diferentes distribuições. Para a realização deste trabalho foi gerada uma biblioteca de chuveiros produzidos por dois simuladores de chuveiros atmosféricos, AIRES e CORSIKA, sendo que o AIRES utilizou o SIBYLL como modelo de interação hadrônica enquanto o CORSIKA utilizou o EPOS. Foram produzidos chuveiros iniciados por prótons e núcleos de ferro com os dois simuladores, e suas distribuições angulares foram consideradas isotrópicas. A distribuição de energia desses eventos segue uma lei de potência e varia entre 1 e 200 EeV. Utilizando a função de Nishimura, Kamata e Greisen (NKG) como parametrização para a LDF se observa resíduos sistematicamente positivos nas estações mais distantes do centro do chuveiro, que também têm o sinal mais próximo do trigger. Uma das hipóteses levantadas em outros trabalhos para esse comportamento é que ele estaria relacionado à influência das estações silenciosas, mas este trabalho mostra que o uso dessas estações tem pouca influência na flutuação da LDF. Na verdade esse efeito é causado porque as parametrizações da LDF no Offline não consideram que os sinais das estações possuem um corte devido o trigger, isto é, que a função de densidade de probabilidade que descreve o sinal real não é a mesma que descreve o sinal que é observado. Neste trabalho é proposta uma correção para as parametrizações da LDF que é implementada no Offline. Como resultado desta correção é observada uma redução significativa dos resíduos que eram sistematicamente positivos e que, após a correção, passam a ser compatíveis com zero. Neste trabalho foram realizadas três análises independentes para comparar os eventos reais com os simulados, das quais duas não dependem diretamente do ajuste da LDF e também não são sensíveis à energia. Elas permitem uma comparação entre os sinais supondo uma relação simples entre eles. No primeiro caso supõe-se que a diferença no sinal é devido à componente muônica do chuveiro e no segundo supõe-se que os dois conjuntos de eventos comparados são bem descritos por funções NKG mas com parâmetros S1000 diferentes. A terceira análise utiliza os resíduos dos ajustes da LDF e permite observar a composição em função da energia da partícula primária. Essa última análise foi realizada utilizando a função NKG com e sem correção do efeito do trigger. As diferentes análises utilizadas para estimar a composição dos raios cósmicos apresentaram resultados consistentes entre si, apesar das limitações encontradas em algumas delas. Todos esses indicadores de composição da partícula primária obtidos pelo detector de superfície são consistentes com os resultados obtidos pelas análises de Xmax do detector de fluorescência, reforçando a tese de que a composição dos raios cósmicos é predominantemente de próton entre 1 e 10 EeV e entre próton e ferro para energias acima de aproximadamente 10 EeV. / The energy of ultra high energy cosmic rays can be estimated from the lateral distribution function (LDF) of the shower as measured by surface detectors. The LDF describes the particle density as a function of the distance from the shower center. However, with the exception of the position of the shower center, no other information is extracted from it, may because it does not have a parametrization or an analytic function that describes it completely. The first interactions of cosmic rays with the atmosphere are decisive for the development of the extensive air showers. Such interactions, among other things, depend on the chemical composition of comic rays. Differences in these interactions can cause changes in the fluctuation shape of lateral distribution. Through simulations of showers with different primary particles it may be possible to estimate the composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays comparing the fluctuation shape of the lateral distributions of real events with those from simulated ones. One of the quantities relevant to the fluctuation of the LDF signal is the uncertainty of the stations. The analysis framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory applies a correction to the signal uncertainty of the signal. The parameterization of this correction is obtained empirically. In this work a statistical justification for this correction is proposed and is related to distribution of the signal which is not Poisson, but a composition of processes with different distributions. For this work a library of showers using two simulators of air showers, AIRES and CORSIKA, was produced. The showers simulated with the AIRES used SIBYLL as a hadronic interaction model while COSIKA used EPOS. Showers initiated by protons and iron nuclei with the two simulators were produced, and their angular distribution was considered isotropic. The energy distribution of these events follows a power law and ranges from 1 to 200 EeV. Using the Nishimura, Kamata and Greisen (NKG) function as a parameterization for the LDF, one obtains residues that are systematically positive at stations further from the center of the shower. These stations have a signalclose to the trigger level. One of the hypothesis raised in other works for this behavior is that it is related to the influence of the silent stations, but this work shows that their use has little impact on the fluctuation shape of the LDF. In fact, this effect is caused because the parametrizations of LDF in the Offline ignore that the signals of the stations have a cut due to the trigger, ie, the probability density function that describes the real signal is not the same that describes the observed signal. This work proposes a correction to the parameterizations of the LDF and implements it in the Offline. As a result of this correction, the residues, which were always positive, are significantly reduced and compatible with zero. In this study three independent analysis were performed to compare real and simulated events, two of them not dependent directly of the LDF fit and also not sensitive to the primary particle energy. They allow a comparison between the signals assuming a simple relationship between them. The first case assumes that the difference in signal is due to the muonic component of the shower and the second assumes that the two compared sets of events are well described by NKG functions but with different S1000. The third analysis uses the residues of the LDF fits and is able to observe the composition of as a function of primary particle energy. This last analysis was performed using the NKG function with and without correction of the trigger effect. The different analysis used to estimate the composition of cosmic rays showed results consistent, despite the limitations found in some of them. The primary particle composition obtained from the surface detectors in this work is consistent with the results derived from the elongation rate measured by the fluorescence detectors, supporting the hypotesis that the composition of cosmic rays is predominantly proton becoming heavier for energies above 10 EeV.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Space Physics)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.