EXPLORING RELATIVITY WITH COSMIC RAY AND g-RAY SPACE OBSERVATIONS F. W. STECKER NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER.

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Transcript EXPLORING RELATIVITY WITH COSMIC RAY AND g-RAY SPACE OBSERVATIONS F. W. STECKER NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER.

EXPLORING RELATIVITY
WITH COSMIC RAY AND g-RAY
SPACE OBSERVATIONS
F. W. STECKER
NASA GODDARD SPACE
FLIGHT CENTER
Beyond Einstein (?)

Group of Lorentz boosts (just like the group
of Galilean transformations) is open at the
high end (Planck scale?) – possible
modifications by quantum gravity, extra
dimensions, string theory, etc.

The cosmic background radiation is only
isotropic in one preferred frame (may not be
significant).
Testing Lorentz Invariance with GLAST

Some classes of quantum gravity models imply a photon velocity dispersion
relation which may be linear with energy (e.g. , Amelino-Camelia et al. 1998).
V  c (1   
E
 ...)
EQG
Using GLAST data for distant g-ray bursts the difference in arrival times of
g-rays of different energies could be > 100 ms. But ?? effects intrinsic to
bursts?? Look for systematic change with distance.
The GLAST Mission
Two GLAST instruments:
LAT: 20 MeV – >300 GeV
GBM: 10 keV – 25 MeV
Launch: 2007
5-year mission (10-year goal)
Large Area Telescope
(LAT)
GLAST Burst Monitor
(GBM)
GRBs and Instrument Deadtime
Distribution for the 20th brightest burst in a year (Norris et al)
LAT will open
a wide window
on the study of
the high energy
behavior of
bursts.
Time between consecutive arriving photons
Time resolution: <10 microsec; Simple deadtime per event:<30 microsec
g-Ray Astrophysics Limit on LIV from
Blazar Absorption Features
Let us characterize Lorentz invariance violation by the
parameter  such that
ce  cg (1   )
(Coleman & Glashow 1999). If  > 0, the g-ray photon
propagator in the case of pair production
g  g  e  e
is changed by the quantity
 pg2  2Eg2
so that the threshold energy condition is now given by
2 Eg2 (1  cos )  4me2  2Eg2.
g-Ray Astrophysics Limit on LIV from
Blazar Absorption Features (continued).
Thus, the pair production threshold is raised significantly if

2me2
2
Eg
.
The existence of electron-positron pair production for g-ray
energies up to ~20 TeV in the spectrum of Mkn 501
therefore gives an upper limit on  at this energy scale of
  1.3 1015
(Stecker & Glashow 2001).
Limit on the Quantum Gravity Scale
For pair production, g + g e+ + e- the electron (& positron)
energy Ee ~ Eg / 2. For a third order QG term in the
dispersion relation, we find

Eg
2MQG

2m2
2
Eg
,
And the threshold energy from Stecker and Glashow
(2001)
Eg2
2

reduces to
MQG 
m2
Eg
Eg3
8m2
Limit on the Quantum Gravity Scale (continued)
Since pair production occurs for energies of at least Eg =
20 TeV, we then find the numerical constraint on the
quantum gravity scale
MQG  0.3MPlanck ,
Arguing against some TeV scale quantum gravity
models involving extra dimensions!
Previous constraints on MQG from limits on an energy
dependent velocity dispersion of g-rays from a TeV flare in
Mkn 412 (Biller, et al. 1999) and g-ray bursts (Schaefer
1999) were of order
MQG  (5  7)  103 MPlanck .
AGN: What GLAST will do
• EGRET has detected ~ 90 AGN.
• GLAST should expect to see dramatically
more – many thousands
(Stecker & Salamon 1996)
Integral Flux (E>100 MeV) cm-2s-1
• Probe absorption cutoffs with distance (gIR/UV attenuation).
Two Telescope Operation
Mkn 501 Spectrum (Stecker & De Jager 1998)
Mkn 501 Intrinsic with SSC Fit Using X-ray Data
(Konopelko et al. 1999)
Photomeson Production off the Cosmic
Microwave Background Radiation
gCMB + p → Δ → N + π
Produces “GZK Cutoff” Effect
Shutting off Interactions with LIV

With LIV, different particles, i, can have different
maximum attainable velocities ci.

Photomeson production interactions of ultrahigh
energy cosmic rays are disallowed if
cp – cp > 5 x 10-24(/TCBR)2

Electron-positron pair production interactions of
ultrahigh energy cosmic rays can be suppressed if
ce – cp > [(mp + me)mp]/Ep2
UHECR Spectra with Photomeson Production Both On (Dark)
and Turned off by LIV (Light)
High Energy Astrophysics Tests of
Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV)







Energy dependent time delay of g-rays from GRBs & AGN
(Amelino-Camelia et al. 1997; Biller et al 1999).
Cosmic g-ray decay constraints (Coleman & Glashow 1999,
Stecker & Glashow 2001).
Cosmic ray vacuum Cherenkov effect constraints (Coleman &
Glashow 1999; Stecker & Glashow 2001).
Shifted pair production threshold constraints from AGN g-rays
(Stecker & Glashow 2001).
Long baseline vacuum birefringence constraints from GRBs
(Jacobson, Liberati, Mattingly & Stecker 2004).
Electron velocity constraints from the Crab Nebula g-ray
spectrum (Jacobson, Liberati & Mattingly 2003).
Ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum GZK effect (Coleman &
Glashow 1999; Stecker & Scully 2005).
OWL : ORBITING WIDE-ANGLE LIGHT COLLECTORS
Orbiting Wide-angle Light-collector
• Air fluorescence imagery, night
atmosphere
• Stereo viewing unambiguously
determines shower height and
isolates external influences (e.g.,
cloud effects, surface light sources)
• Large Field-of-View (~ 45O ) reflective
optics at a ~1000 km orbit in a stereo
configuration ≈ an asymptotic
• Instantaneous aperture ~ 2.3 x 106
km2-sr
OWL Deployment
Schmidt Optics
Mechanical Configuration
“Jiffy-Pop” Light Shield
Capabilities of OWL

Energy resolution – 15% @ 1020 eV and improves with energy

Angular resolution – 0.2 - 1 degree

Longitudinal profile – Locate shower max within 50 g cm-2


Able to statistically identify protons, nuclei, and photons

Perform event by event identification of near horizontal and
earth skimming neutrinos)
Instantaneous stereo aperture AI ≈ 2.3x106 km2 sr, duty cycle of
~11.5 % defined by requirement of moonless nightside viewing
conditions. Cloud cover reduces the duty cycle to ~3.5%.
OWL Instantaneous Proton Aperture
Schmidt Optics, 1000 km Orbits
UHE Cosmic Rays: Status and Prospects
HiRes
Auger
Ground (Hybrid)
EUSO
1 ISS
Instrument
OWL
2 Satellites
Running
Running
Energy
Range (eV)
1017 - 4 x 1020
1019 - 1021
5 x 1019 – 3 x 1021
3 x 1019 – 1022
Incident 
Resolution
0.6O
(E = 1018 eV)
1.3O (0.3O)
(E = 1020 eV)
0.2 O - 3 O
0.2O - 1O
Energy
Resolution
< 20%
(E = 1018 eV)
25% (10%)
(E = 1019 eV)
< 20%
(E = 1020 eV)
~ 15%
(E = 1020 eV)
Status
Instantaneous
Aperture
(km2-ster)
Duty Cycle
104
7000 /site
5 x 105
2 x 106
10%
100% (Hybrid 10%)
11.5%
11.5%
Time-Averaged
1000
7000 /site
(700 /site (hybrid))
58,000
230,000
Aperture
(km2-ster)
Crucial Role of Stereo-viewing from Space
Monocular Events Demonstrate Significant Systematic Errors
•Simulated “data” of 1021 eV EAS events in an atmosphere with clouds
• are reconstructed as either stereo events or monocular events.
•The presence of clouds does not bias the stereo event reconstruction.
•However, monocular events demonstrate significant systematic errors.
Tareq Abu Zayad Astroparticle Phys. 21, (2004) 163
Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino-Induced Horizontal Showers
Detected via Air Fluorescence
OWL
Large Detecting Volume (1012 tons of
atmospheric target atoms) opens the door
for observing ultra-high energy neutrino
Interactions.
Horizontal n-initiated airshowers start
deep (> 1500 g/cm2) in the atmosphere,
providing a unique signature for
ultrahigh energy neutrinos.
Instantaneous Electron Neutrino Aperture
Schmidt Optics, 1000 km Orbits OWL
UHE-Neutrino Physics: Status and Prospects
Reference Material for OWL
F.W. Stecker, J.F. Krizmanic, L.M. Barbier, E.
Loh, J.W. Mitchell, P. Sokolsky and R.E.
Streitmatter
Nucl. Phys. B 136C, 433 (2004),
e-print astro-ph/0408162
THE TRUE CONQUESTS, THE
ONLY ONES THAT LEAVE NO
REGRET, ARE THOSE THAT ARE
WRESTED FROM IGNORANCE----------------------------
NAPOLEON
----------------------------
Backup Slides
Minimum Source Spectrum Local Power
Density Requirements in W Mpc-3 for E >
3 EeV




With source evolution and including pair
production energy losses: 1.5 x 1031
With source evolution and no pair production
energy losses: 1.2 x 1030
With no source evolution and including pair
production energy losses: 2.2 x 1031
With no source evolution and no pair
production energy losses: 7.7 x 1030
UHECR Spectra with Pair Production Turned Off and with Photomeson
Production both On (Light) and Off (Dark)
OWL Major Requirements Overview
• Large Aperture (effective aperture ≈ 100,000 km2-sr)
• Wide-angle optics ( ≈ 25 degree half-angle)
• Stereo viewing of EAS
• Photonics (single photoelectron sensitivity, large focal plane
detector)
• Trigger. space-time pattern recognition
• Ability to handle background light
• Deal with signal distortion by clouds, atmospheric conditions,
lights
Observing EAS from Space: TWO CRUCIAL POINTS
(1)
THE INSTANTANEOUS APERTURE (AI) IS NOT
THE TIME-AVERAGED EFFECTIVE APERTURE (AE)
AE = AI • D • 
Efficiency,  , involves fractional cloud cover, atmospheric conditions.
The maximum achievable efficiency for space observation of EAS is ≈
0.30 *.
D •  ≈ 0.035
= = > AE ≈ AI • 0.035, general approximation
AE ≈ 80,000 km2-sr for OWL specifically
* J.K. Krizmanic et al., Proc. 28th-ICRC (2003), 2, 639
(2) For observation from space, stereo viewing is essential for good
energy resolution and neutrino-event characterization.
OWL Mission Overview
* Launch: Delta IV Heavy, dual spacecraft, 5 meter fairing
* Orbit: LEO, 1000 km initial, move to 500 km before end of mission; controlled re-entry
* Life: 3 years minimum, 5 year goal
* Mass / size one satellite: 1730 kg / 8 meter diameter / low density
* ACS: 3-axis stabilized, 2 degree control, 0.01 degree knowledge
* Power: 712 watts, including cloud monitor, 11 m2 solar panels, flat panel, fixed
* Data system: dual redundant, 150 kbits / sec average, 110 Gbit onboard storage,