Cosmic rays of energies above 1014 eV are detected mostly indirectly, by observing the extensive air showers they create in the atmosphere. Multiple experiments suggest that the current models of high-energy interactions do not describe the cosmic ray data perfectly, in particular when it comes to the prediction for the number of muons at ground. We present two models aiming to improve the description of the muon component, one based on the addition of particles with small momenta in the local center-of-mass frame of the high-energy hadronic interactions in the shower, the other on the addition of the so-called dark photons to the electromagnetic part of the shower. While we find the latter having no observable consequences, the former improves the agreement between observed and predicted amounts of muons both for the DELPHI cosmic ray data and for the measurements by the Pierre Auger Observatory. We also describe the FRAM telescope, a device used to monitor the atmosphere at the Pierre Auger Observatory, and its applications to the search for anomalous shower profiles and to the measurement of the aerosol content of the atmosphere, which is crucial for the analysis of data obtained by fluorescence detectors. 1

Le shower de bébé est une pratique rituelle très répandue dans les Cantons de l'Est. Cette recherche présente les résultats d'une étude qualitative qui porte sur six showers de bébé qui se sont déroulés dans cette région au cours de l'année 2006. L'ensemble des cas observés est l'objet d'une analyse orientée selon deux angles différents. D'abord, le déroulement de la pratique trace le cadre général d'analyse en orientant les discussions sur les trois temps forts du shower de bébé : la préparation, la pratique et l'agrégation. Ensuite, les cinq différentes structures internes du shower de bébé sont examinées selon le modèle structurel de Claude Rivière (1997). A travers plusieurs exemples empiriques, il s'agit de valider ou d'infirmer l'hypothèse de départ qui suggère que le shower de bébé dans les Cantons de l'Est est un rituel festif profane d'agrégation.

Os detectores de superfície do observatório Pierre Auger são tanques repletos de água e completamente escuros com sensores fotomultiplicadores instalados na parte interna. Quando as partículas carregadas de chuveiros atmosféricos atravessam a água com velocidade acima a da luz nesse meio, geram radiação ultravioleta devido ao efeito Cherenkov. Os sensores fotomultiplicadores desses detectores medem e convertem essa radiação em sinais elétricos que são enviados para a central de dados, registrando assim um evento. Alguns eventos apresentam comportamento incomum, caracterizado por apresentar mais de uma estrutura na série temporal, coincidentes em pelo menos dois detectores de superfície distantes. Esse trabalho se dedicou a investigar sobre as características e origens desses eventos. Devido ao grande número de dados registrados pelo Observatório Pierre Auger, foi preciso desenvolver uma ferramenta computacional para reconhecer e selecionar aqueles eventos que apresentam as estruturas desejadas de forma automática. Após, esse filtro, tentamos determinar um padrão buscando semelhanças ou tendências em variáveis dos chuveiros, como a energia e a direção de chegada. Em segunda análise olhamos para os eventos híbridos, chuveiros observados pelos detectores de superfície e pelos telescópios de fluorescência simultaneamente, de modo a analisar o desenvolvimento longitudinal do chuveiro. Na sequência, foram realizado algumas simulações de chuveiros para alguns dos eventos selecionados com o algoritmo desenvolvido. Esses eventos foram então reconstituídos, simulando uma detecção pelo observatório, com o intuito de determinar se a origem desse sinal anômalo está relacionada a uma resposta dos detectores. O último passo, foi analisar a razão entre a proporção de eventos selecionados e o número total de eventos observados em função da energia da partícula primária, o que revelou uma relação entre essas duas grandezas. / The surface detectors of Pierre Auger observatory are water filled tanks and completely dark with photomultiplier sensors installed indoors. When charged particles of air showers cross the water with velocities above that of light in this medium, ultraviolet radiation is generated due to the Cherenkov effect. The photomultiplier sensors of these detectors measure and convert this radiation into electrical signals that are sent to the data center, thus recording an event. Some events have unusual behavior, characterized by having more than one structure in its time series, coincident in at least two distant surface detectors. This work was dedicated to investigate the characteristics and origins of these events. Due to the large amount of data recorded by the Pierre Auger Observatory it was necessary to develop a computational tool to automatically recognize and select those events that present the desired structure type. After applying this filter, we tried to determine a pattern by looking for similarities or trends in air-shower variables, such as energy and direction of arrival. In a second analysis, we looked at the hybrid events, air showers observed by the surface detectors and the fluorescence telescopes simultaneously, in order to analyze the longitudinal development of air shower. In the sequence, we performed some simulations of air showers for some events selected with the developed algorithm. These events were then reconstituted, simulating a detection by the observatory for the purpose of determinin if the origin of this anomalous signal is related to a response of the detectors. The last step was to analyze the ratio between the proportion of selected events and the total number of events observed as a function of the energy of the primary particle, which revealed a relation between these two quantities.

Das IceCube-Experiment sucht nach astrophysikalischen, hochenergetischen Neutrinos, von deren Entdeckung man sich Antworten auf die seit mehr als 100 Jahren offene Frage nach dem Ursprung der kosmischen Strahlung erhofft. Zu diesem Zweck wurde ein kubikkilometergroßes Volumen tief im Antarktischen Eisschild mit optischen Sensoren instrumentiert, um die in Neutrinowechselwirkungen entstandene Cherenkov-Strahlung nachzuweisen.Diese Dissertation beschreibt eine Suche nach neutrinoinduzierten Teilchenschauern in Daten, die von April 2008 bis Mai 2009 während der Konstruktionsphase von IceCube aufgezeichnet wurden. Zu dieser Zeit war etwa die Hälfte der endgültigen Detektoranordnung in Betrieb. Das Ziel der Arbeit war die Entdeckung astrophysikalischer Neutrinos mit der Maßgabe, gleichzeitig eine Sensitivität für Neutrinos terrestrischen Ursprungs aufrecht zu erhalten. Beide Sorten von Neutrinos müssen von einem vielfach größeren Untergrund von atmosphärischen Myonen isoliert werden. Die Suche nach Teilchenschauern im Detektor bietet sich hierfür an, da diese Signatur einer Neutrinowechselwirkung eine gute Energierekonstruktion ermöglicht und sich qualitativ von der Signatur des Myonuntergrunds unterscheidet. Eine robuste Abschätzung des Myonuntergrunds wurde mittels Luftschauersimulationen gewonnen. Methoden wurden entwickelt, um Neutrinos und Myonen voneinander zu unterscheiden. Zwei verschiedene Ereignisselektionen wurden erstellt. Die erste zielt mit einer Energieschwelle von 2 TeV auf die Messung atmosphärischer Neutrinos ab und fand einen geringen Überschuss an Ereignissen der quantitativ gut mit atmosphärischen Neutrinos erklärt werden kann, jedoch nicht signifikant genug ist, um einen rein myonischen Ursprung auszuschließen. Die zweite Selektion war mit einer Energieschwelle von 100 TeV für astrophysikalische Neutrinos optimiert. Der gefundene Überschuss ist kompatibel mit einer stringenteren Flussmessung, die mit dem fertiggestellten IceCube Detektor gelang. / The IceCube experiment aims at the detection of an astrophysical high-energy neutrino flux from which answers are expected regarding the long standing question of the origin of cosmic rays. To this end, a cubic-kilometer volume deep in the glacial ice has been instrumented with digital optical sensors in order to record Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles that are generated in neutrino interactions. This dissertation presents a search for neutrino-induced particle showers, also called cascades, in data taken between April 2008 and May 2009 during IceCube’s construction phase, when about 50% of the final configuration was deployed and operational. The goal of this analysis is the detection of the astrophysical diffuse neutrino flux while maintaining sensitivity to neutrinos originating from the Earth’s atmosphere. Both neutrino fluxes must be separated from a much more abundant background of muons created in cosmic-ray-induced air showers. Good energy reconstruction and a signature in the detector that is qualitatively different from the muon background make cascade searches very well-suited for this task. A robust estimate of this background has been obtained from air-shower simulations. Techniques were developed to isolate the neutrino flux from the atmospheric muon background. Two event selections were prepared. Firstly, a low-energy sample with an energy threshold of about 2 TeV aimed at the detection of atmospheric neutrinos. A small excess above atmospheric muons was found that can be explained well by atmospheric neutrinos but is not significant enough to rule out a muon-only hypothesis. Secondly, a high-energy sample with an energy threshold of about 100 TeV targeted astrophysical neutrinos. A 2.7 sigma excess over the expectation from atmospheric muons and neutrinos was found. It is compatible with ­more stringent flux estimates obtained by measurements with the completed IceCube detector.

Orientador: José Augusto Chinellato / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-03T07:30:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Perassa_EderArnedo_D.pdf: 3556275 bytes, checksum: c4e6180df4a4a5dcbfe476b7d331bee4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 / Resumo: Neste trabalho, estudamos os métodos de estatística bayesiana e máxima entropia na análise de dados em eventos de raios cósmicos. Inicialmente, fizemos um resumo sobre o desenvolvimento da física de raios cósmicos em que descrevemos alguns resultados teóricos e experimentais recentes. A seguir, apresentamos uma breve revisão do método bayesiano e o aplicamos na determinação da composição em massa dos primários em eventos de raios cósmicos. Além disso, introduzimos o método de máxima entropia e propomos um método de parametrização do perfil longitudinal de chuveiros atmosféricos extensos. Em todas as aplicações, foram mostrados os algoritmos desenvolvidos e os resultados obtidos a partir de dados de eventos simulados. Os resultados indicaram que tais métodos podem ser utilizados satisfatoriamente como ferramentas na análise de dados em eventos de raios cósmicos / Abstract: In this work, we study bayesian statistics and maximum entropy methods in cosmic ray events data analysis. At first, we summarized developments in cosmic rays physics, describing some recent theoretical and experimental results. We present briefly a review of bayesian method and apply it to the problem of determining mass composition primary cosmic ray events. Moreover, we introduce the maximum entropy method and propose a method for the parametrization of the longitudinal profile of extensive air showers. In all applications, the algorithms developed and the results obtained from simulated event data were shown. The results suggested that such methods can be satisfactorily used as tools in cosmic rays events data analysis / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências / 277612/2007 / CAPES

<p>The Standard Model describes all elementary particles known today, but at larger energies it will have to be complemented with new particles and interactions. To be able to distinguish new physics at proton colliders such as LHC at CERN, it is essential to have an appropriate description of the colliding protons and their interactions. The study of the proton is important also in itself, to get a better understanding of the non-perturbative aspects of the strong interaction.</p><p>In paper I-IV of this thesis, a model for the non-perturbative dynamics of quarks and gluons is developed, based on quantum fluctuations in hadrons. The parton distributions of the proton are given by momentum fluctuations, with sea quark distributions generated by fluctuations into baryon-meson pairs. This model can reproduce proton structure function data, as well as measured asymmetries between up and down valence quark distributions and between the anti-up and anti-down sea. It provides an intrinsic charm quark component as indicated by data. It also predicts an asymmetry in the strange sea of the proton, which can explain the NuTeV anomaly first attributed to new physics beyond the Standard Model.</p><p>Charged Higgs bosons are predicted by several theories for new physics, including Supersymmetry. At proton colliders, the predicted dominant production mechanism is in association with top and bottom quarks. In paper V-VII, different contributions to this production are studied, and an algorithm is developed for combining the two dominant processes gb -> tH^+/- and gg -> tbH^+/-. The algorithm gives a smooth transition from small to large transverse momenta of the b-quark, which is important when the b-quark is observed. It also gives arguments for the choice of factorisation scale in the process.</p>

The Standard Model describes all elementary particles known today, but at larger energies it will have to be complemented with new particles and interactions. To be able to distinguish new physics at proton colliders such as LHC at CERN, it is essential to have an appropriate description of the colliding protons and their interactions. The study of the proton is important also in itself, to get a better understanding of the non-perturbative aspects of the strong interaction. In paper I-IV of this thesis, a model for the non-perturbative dynamics of quarks and gluons is developed, based on quantum fluctuations in hadrons. The parton distributions of the proton are given by momentum fluctuations, with sea quark distributions generated by fluctuations into baryon-meson pairs. This model can reproduce proton structure function data, as well as measured asymmetries between up and down valence quark distributions and between the anti-up and anti-down sea. It provides an intrinsic charm quark component as indicated by data. It also predicts an asymmetry in the strange sea of the proton, which can explain the NuTeV anomaly first attributed to new physics beyond the Standard Model. Charged Higgs bosons are predicted by several theories for new physics, including Supersymmetry. At proton colliders, the predicted dominant production mechanism is in association with top and bottom quarks. In paper V-VII, different contributions to this production are studied, and an algorithm is developed for combining the two dominant processes gb -&gt; tH+/- and gg -&gt; tbH+/-. The algorithm gives a smooth transition from small to large transverse momenta of the b-quark, which is important when the b-quark is observed. It also gives arguments for the choice of factorisation scale in the process.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Marcelo Augusto Leigui de Oliveira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Física, 2016. / We present in this work studies on ultra-high energy cosmic rays using the air- uorescence detection technique. The research main objective consists in event reconstructions from a fluorescence telescope, such that a simulation code has been developed taking into account the physical processes involved in the generation and the propagation of uorescence photons from an extensive air shower to a telescope. The secondary particles of air showers has been previously obtained using CORSIKA code for dierent primary energies and compositions. Furthermore, the photon generation has been calculated using Bethe and Bloch equation for the energy loss of electrons and positrons in air and the uorescence yield parameterized with air conditions at given altitudes. The attenuation of photons towards the telescope has been calculated for Rayleigh and Mie scatterings. With the developed simulation, it was possible to study the dependence of the shower maximum depth in the atmosphere, considering dierent experimental congurations for the telescopes used in the Pierre Auger Observatory, Telescope Array and MonRAt. Finally, the reconstruction of the geometric parameters of cosmic rays has been performed by the determination of the arrival directions and the angular reconstruction limits.

Os detectores de superfície do observatório Pierre Auger são tanques repletos de água e completamente escuros com sensores fotomultiplicadores instalados na parte interna. Quando as partículas carregadas de chuveiros atmosféricos atravessam a água com velocidade acima a da luz nesse meio, geram radiação ultravioleta devido ao efeito Cherenkov. Os sensores fotomultiplicadores desses detectores medem e convertem essa radiação em sinais elétricos que são enviados para a central de dados, registrando assim um evento. Alguns eventos apresentam comportamento incomum, caracterizado por apresentar mais de uma estrutura na série temporal, coincidentes em pelo menos dois detectores de superfície distantes. Esse trabalho se dedicou a investigar sobre as características e origens desses eventos. Devido ao grande número de dados registrados pelo Observatório Pierre Auger, foi preciso desenvolver uma ferramenta computacional para reconhecer e selecionar aqueles eventos que apresentam as estruturas desejadas de forma automática. Após, esse filtro, tentamos determinar um padrão buscando semelhanças ou tendências em variáveis dos chuveiros, como a energia e a direção de chegada. Em segunda análise olhamos para os eventos híbridos, chuveiros observados pelos detectores de superfície e pelos telescópios de fluorescência simultaneamente, de modo a analisar o desenvolvimento longitudinal do chuveiro. Na sequência, foram realizado algumas simulações de chuveiros para alguns dos eventos selecionados com o algoritmo desenvolvido. Esses eventos foram então reconstituídos, simulando uma detecção pelo observatório, com o intuito de determinar se a origem desse sinal anômalo está relacionada a uma resposta dos detectores. O último passo, foi analisar a razão entre a proporção de eventos selecionados e o número total de eventos observados em função da energia da partícula primária, o que revelou uma relação entre essas duas grandezas. / The surface detectors of Pierre Auger observatory are water filled tanks and completely dark with photomultiplier sensors installed indoors. When charged particles of air showers cross the water with velocities above that of light in this medium, ultraviolet radiation is generated due to the Cherenkov effect. The photomultiplier sensors of these detectors measure and convert this radiation into electrical signals that are sent to the data center, thus recording an event. Some events have unusual behavior, characterized by having more than one structure in its time series, coincident in at least two distant surface detectors. This work was dedicated to investigate the characteristics and origins of these events. Due to the large amount of data recorded by the Pierre Auger Observatory it was necessary to develop a computational tool to automatically recognize and select those events that present the desired structure type. After applying this filter, we tried to determine a pattern by looking for similarities or trends in air-shower variables, such as energy and direction of arrival. In a second analysis, we looked at the hybrid events, air showers observed by the surface detectors and the fluorescence telescopes simultaneously, in order to analyze the longitudinal development of air shower. In the sequence, we performed some simulations of air showers for some events selected with the developed algorithm. These events were then reconstituted, simulating a detection by the observatory for the purpose of determinin if the origin of this anomalous signal is related to a response of the detectors. The last step was to analyze the ratio between the proportion of selected events and the total number of events observed as a function of the energy of the primary particle, which revealed a relation between these two quantities.

Orientador: Jose Augusto Chinellato / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T22:35:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Perassa_EderArnedo_M.pdf: 7742499 bytes, checksum: 5f8e2630e2b11b5f5965e6b95c19be9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Neste trabalho são estudados os métodos de estatística bayesiana e máxima entropia na análise de dados. É feita uma revisão dos conceitos básicos e procedimentos que podem ser usados para in-ferência de distribuições de probabilidade. Os métodos são aplicados em algumas áreas de interesse, com especial atenção para os casos em que há pouca informação sobre o conjunto de dados. São apresentados algoritmos para a aplicação de tais métodos, bem como alguns exemplos detalhados em que espera-se servirem de auxílio aos interessados em aplicações em casos mais comuns de análise de dados / Abstract: In this work, we study the methods of Bayesian Statistics and Maximum Entropy in data analysis. We present a review of basic concepts and procedures that can be used for inference of probability distributions. The methods are applied in some interesting fields, with special attention to the cases where there¿s few information on set of data, which can be found in physics experiments such as high energies physics, astrophysics, among others. Algorithms are presented for the implementation of such methods, as well as some detailed examples where it is expected to help interested in applications in most common cases of data analysis / Mestrado / Física das Particulas Elementares e Campos / Mestre em Física