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Observation of Anisotropy of TeV Cosmic Rays with Two Years of HAWC

  • A. U. Abeysekara
    ,
  • R. Alfaro
    ,
  • C. Alvarez
    ,
  • J. D. Alvarez
    ,
  • R. Arceo
    ,
  • J. C. Arteaga-Velázquez
  • University of Utah
    ,
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    ,
  • Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas
    ,
  • Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo
    ,
  • Pennsylvania State University
    ,
  • University of Rochester
Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
Peer-review

Open access

Publication metrics

Metrics

SciVal
FWCI
1.64
SciVal
Author count
101
SciVal
Paper percentile
83
SciVal
Citations
65
Scopus
Citations

Abstract

After two years of operation, the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory has analyzed the TeV cosmic-ray sky over an energy range between 2.0 and 72.8 TeV. Like other detectors in the northern and southern hemispheres, HAWC observes an energy-dependent anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays. This anisotropy is dominated by a dipole moment with phase in R.A. α ≈ 40° and amplitude that slowly rises in relative intensity from 8 ×10-4 at 2 TeV to 14 ×10-4 around 30 TeV, above which the dipole decreases in strength. A significant large-scale (>60° in angular extent) signal is also observed in the quadrupole and octupole moments, and significant small-scale features are also present, with locations and shapes consistent with previous observations. Compared to previous measurements in this energy range, the HAWC cosmic-ray sky maps improve on the energy resolution and fit precision of the anisotropy. These data can be used in an effort to better constrain local cosmic-ray accelerators and the intervening magnetic fields.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
Peer-review

Original language

English

Article number

57

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 57

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Astrophysical Journal (Volume 865, Issue 1)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 20/09/2018

Publication status

Published - 20/09/2018

ISSN

0004-637X

Publication IDs

  • Scopus: 85053925000

Funding Details

Dedicated to the memory of our honorable colleague, beloved mentor, and dear friend Stefan Westerhoff. We acknowledge support from the US National Science Foundation (NSF); the US Department of Energy Office of High-Energy Physics; the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program of Los Alamos National Laboratory; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), México (grants 271051, 232656, 260378, 179588, 239762, 254964, 271737, 258865, 243290, 132197, 281653), Laboratorio Nacional HAWC de rayos gamma; L‘OREAL Fellowship for Women in Science 2014; Belgian American Educational Foundational Fellowship; Wallonie-Bruxelles International; Red HAWC, México; DGAPA-UNAM (grants IG100317, IN111315, IN111716-3, IA102715, 109916, IA102917); VIEP-BUAP; PIFI 2012, 2013, PROFOCIE 2014, 2015; the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; the Institute of Geophysics, Planetary Physics, and Signatures at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Polish Science Centre grant DEC-2014/13/B/ ST9/945; Coordinación de la Investigacíon Científica de la Universidad Michoacana. We thank Markus Ahlers for help with the implementation of the maximum-likelihood method. We gratefully acknowledge Scott DeLay for his dedicated efforts in the construction and maintenance of the HAWC experiment. Additional thanks to Luciano Díaz and Eduardo Murrieta for technical support. Software:HEALPix (Gorski et al. 2005).
FundersFunding numbers
Coordinación de la Investigación Científica de la Universidad Michoacana
-
DGAPA-UNAM
IA102917, IA102715, IN111716-3, 109916, IN111315, IG100317
Institute of Geophysics
-
Planetary Physics
-
Polish Science Centre
DEC-2014/13/B/ ST9/945
US Department of Energy Office of High-Energy Physics
-
University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
-
VIEP-BUAP
-
NSF
1806408, 1806854
NSF
-
LDRD
-
LANL
-
CONACYT
239762, 271051, 254964, 258865, 281653, 260378, 132197, 179588, 232656, 243290, 271737
CONACYT
-