Yuvaraj Elangovan, Shashwat Kakkad, B Satyanarayana
Abstract In this paper, we present development of a portable cosmic muon tracker tailored for both on-site measurements of cosmic muon flux as well as for outreach activities. The tracker comprises of two 70 mm × 70 mm plastic scintillators, wavelength shifting (WLS) fibres, and Hamamatsu made silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) S13360-2050VE. The detector uses plastic scintillator panels optically coupled to WLS fibres, which transmit scintillation light to the SiPMs. SiPM signals are routed to an electronics board equipped with op-amp amplifiers and a peak-hold circuit connected to an ESP32 microcontroller module. When muons traverse through both scintillators the light emitted is collected by the SiPMs, and thus generating signals proportional to the incident light intensity. These signals are then amplified and the pulse peak is held for 500 µ s. A high speed discriminator is used to generate trigger logic signals. The peak analogue voltage is digitized using the onboard ADC of the ESP32 when a coincident trigger occurs. The SiPMs are powered by a high voltage bias supply module while an onboard BMP180 module measures temperature and pressure. For real-time event tagging, a GPS module is interfaced with the ESP-32. Housed within an acrylic box measuring 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm the detector can be powered using a 5 V 1 A USB power bank. An open source mobile application was used for real-time monitoring. This versatile and cost-effective portable detector facilitates cosmic muon research in various experimental settings. Its portability and low power requirements enable on-site measurements in environments such as tunnels, caves as well as high altitudes.
Small-scale oil spills can exert substantial ecological impacts on pristine coastal environments, even when the discharged volume is relatively limited. This study investigates a diesel oil spill that occurred on 4 July 2022 along the coast of Jeju Island, Korea, following a fire on moored fishing vessels. Using high-resolution Sentinel-2 optical imagery, we developed a remote sensing-based framework to detect, quantify, and analyze the dispersion of the oil spill. Nonocean pixels, including land, ships, and clouds, were first removed through spectral thresholding. A spectral unmixing algorithm was then applied to extract endmembers representing oil and seawater. The spectral angle mapper method was used to delineate the spatial extent of the spill and a two-beam interference model was employed to estimate oil thickness and total volume. The resulting oil-covered area and volume estimates showed reasonable consistency with reported values. A particularly notable observation was the bifurcation of the oil slick into two distinct branches after exiting the harbor. Hydrodynamic simulations, combined with near-surface wind data, revealed a strong temporal correlation between surface current direction and oil advection, with statistical significance. In addition, bathymetric analysis derived from Sentinel-2 imagery identified two small seamounts near the harbor outlet, which contributed to the divergence of the oil’s trajectory. This study demonstrates the utility of high-resolution optical satellite data for detecting thin oil sheens and highlights the combined influence of wind, surface currents, and local bathymetry on oil dispersion dynamics in shallow, environmentally sensitive coastal waters.
Instance segmentation performance in remote sensing images (RSIs) is significantly affected by two issues: how to extract accurate boundaries of objects from remote imaging through the dynamic atmosphere, and how to integrate the mutual information of related object instances scattered over a vast spatial region. In this study, we propose a novel shape guided transformer network (SGTN) to accurately extract objects at the instance level. Inspired by the global contextual modeling capacity of the self-attention mechanism, we propose an effective transformer encoder termed LSwin, which incorporates vertical and horizontal 1-D global self-attention mechanisms to obtain better global-perception capacity for RSIs than the popular local-shifted-window based swin transformer. To achieve accurate instance mask segmentation, we introduce a shape guidance module (SGM) to emphasize the object boundary and shape information. The combination of SGM, which emphasizes the local detail information, and LSwin, which focuses on the global context relationships, achieve excellent RSI instance segmentation. Their effectiveness was validated through comprehensive ablation experiments. Especially, LSwin is proven better than the popular ResNet and swin transformer encoders at the same level of efficiency. Compared to other instance segmentation methods, our SGTN achieves the highest average precision scores on two single-class public datasets (WHU dataset and BITCC dataset) and a multiclass public dataset (NWPU VHR-10 dataset).
Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is a fundamental theory describing quark interactions. Thus far, various quark models based on QCD have been widely used to study the properties of hadrons, including their structures and mass spectra. However, unlike quantum electrodynamics and Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom, a direct classical analogy is lacking for hadronic structures. This paper presents a classical interpretation of the nonrelativistic quark potential model, providing a more intuitive and visualizable description of strong interactions through the quantitative formulation of color charge and color flux. In addition, we establish the relationship between meson mass and its structural radius in the nonrelativistic framework and estimate key parameters of our model using available data from and . Subsequently, we extend this relationship to a broader range of excited meson states and obtain their structural radii, which show good agreement with the root mean square radius or charge radius predicted by QCD calculations.
Transport models are the main method to obtain physics information from low to relativistic-energy heavy-ion collisions. The Transport Model Evaluation Project (TMEP) has been pursued to test the robustness of transport model predictions in reaching consistent conclusions from the same type of physical model. Calculations under controlled conditions of physical input and set-up were performed with various participating codes. These included both calculations of nuclear matter in a box with periodic boundary conditions, and more realistic calculations of heavy-ion collisions. In this intermediate review, we summarize and discuss the present status of the project. We also provide condensed descriptions of the 26 participating codes, which contributed to some part of the project. These include the major codes in use today. We review the main results of the studies completed so far. They show, that in box calculations the differences between the codes can be well understood and a convergence of the results can be reached. These studies also highlight the systematic differences between the two families of transport codes, known as BUU and QMD type codes. However, when the codes were compared in full heavy-ion collisions using different physical models, as recently for pion production, they still yielded substantially different results. This calls for further comparisons of heavy-ion collisions with controlled models and of box comparisons of important ingredients, like momentum-dependent fields, which are currently underway. We often indicate improved strategies in performing transport simulations and thus provide guidance to code developers. Results of transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions from a given code will have more significance if the code can be validated against benchmark calculations such as the ones summarized in this review.
Euan J. F. Mutch, Megan E. Newcombe, John F. Rudge
Abstract Olivine‐hosted melt inclusions are an important archive of pre‐eruptive processes such as magma storage, mixing and subsequent ascent through the crust. However, this record can be modified by post‐entrapment diffusion of H+ through the olivine lattice. Existing studies often use spherical or 1D models to track melt inclusion dehydration that fail to account for complexities in geometry, diffusive anisotropy and sectioning effects. Here we develop a finite element 3D multiphase diffusion model for the dehydration of olivine‐hosted melt inclusions that includes natural crystal geometries and multiple melt inclusions. We use our 3D model to test the reliability of simplified analytical and numerical models (1D and 2D) using magma ascent conditions from the 1977 eruption of Seguam volcano, Alaska. We find that 1D models underestimate melt inclusion water loss, typically by ∼30%, and thus underestimate magma decompression rates, by up to a factor of 5, when compared to the 3D models. An anisotropic analytical solution that we present performs well and recovers decompression rates within a factor of 2, in the situations in which it is valid. 3D models that include multiple melt inclusions show that inclusions can shield each other and reduce the amount of water loss upon ascent. This shielding effect depends on decompression rate, melt inclusion size, and crystallographic direction. Our modeling approach shows that factors such as 3D crystal geometry and melt inclusion configuration can play an important role in constraining accurate decompression rates and recovering water contents in natural magmatic systems.
At present, one of the methods used to determine the height of points on the Earth's surface is Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) leveling. It is possible to determine the orthometric or normal height by this method only if there is a geoid or quasi-geoid height model available. This paper proposes the methodology for local correction of the heights of high-order global geoid models such as EGM08, EIGEN-6C4, GECO, and XGM2019e_2159. This methodology was tested in different areas of the research field, covering various relief forms. The dependence of the change in corrected height accuracy on the input data was analyzed, and the correction was also conducted for model heights in three tidal systems: “tide free”, “mean tide”, and “zero tide”. The results show that the heights of EIGEN-6C4 model can be corrected with an accuracy of up to 1 cm for flat and foothill terrains with the dimensionality of 1°×1°,2°×2°,and3°×3°. The EGM08 model presents an almost identical result. The EIGEN-6C4 model is best suited for mountainous relief and provides an accuracy of 1.5 cm on the 1°×1° area. The height correction accuracy of GECO and XGM2019e_2159 models is slightly poor, which has fuzziness in terms of numerical fluctuation.
Abstract Bursts of electron butterfly distributions at 10s keV correlated with chorus waves are frequently observed in the Earth's magnetosphere. Strictly ducted (parallel) upper‐band chorus waves are proposed to cause them by nonlinear cyclotron trapping. However, chorus waves in these events are probably nonducted or not strictly ducted. In this study, test‐particle simulations are conducted to investigate electron scattering driven by ducted (quasi‐parallel) and nonducted upper‐band chorus waves. Simulation results show butterfly distributions of 10s keV electrons can be created by both ducted and nonducted upper‐band chorus waves in seconds. Ducted upper‐band chorus waves cause these butterfly distributions mainly by accelerating electrons due to cyclotron phase trapping. However, nonducted waves tend to decelerate electrons to form these butterfly distributions via cyclotron phase bunching. Our study provides new insights into the formation mechanisms of electron butterfly distributions and demonstrates the importance of nonlinear interactions in the Earth's magnetosphere.
Fully updated for the second edition, this book introduces the growing and dynamic field of particle astrophysics. It provides an overview of high-energy nuclei, photons and neutrinos, including their origins, their propagation in the cosmos, their detection on Earth and their relation to each other. Coverage is expanded to include new content on high energy physics, the propagation of protons and nuclei in cosmic background radiation, neutrino astronomy, high-energy and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, sources and acceleration mechanisms, and atmospheric muons and neutrinos. Readers are able to master the fundamentals of particle astrophysics within the context of the most recent developments in the field. This book will benefit graduate students and established researchers alike, equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed to design and interpret their own experiments and, ultimately, to address a number of questions concerning the nature and origins of cosmic particles that have arisen in recent research.
The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) project is a new generation multi-component instrument, to be built at 4410 meters of altitude in the Sichuan province of China, with the aim to study with unprecedented sensitivity the spec trum, the composition and the anisotropy of cosmic rays in the energy range between 10$^{12}$ and 10$^{18}$ eV, as well as to act simultaneously as a wide aperture (one stereoradiant), continuously-operated gamma ray telescope in the energy range between 10$^{11}$ and $10^{15}$ eV. The experiment will be able of continuously surveying the TeV sky for steady and transient sources from 100 GeV to 1 PeV, t hus opening for the first time the 100-1000 TeV range to the direct observations of the high energy cosmic ray sources. In addition, the different observables (electronic, muonic and Cherenkov/fluorescence components) that will be measured in LHAASO will allow to investigate origin, acceleration and propagation of the radiation through a measurement of energy spec trum, elemental composition and anisotropy with unprecedented resolution. The remarkable sensitivity of LHAASO in cosmic rays physics and gamma astronomy would play a key-role in the comprehensive general program to explore the High Energy Universe. LHAASO will allow important studies of fundamental physics (such as indirect dark matter search, Lorentz invariance violation, quantum gravity) and solar and heliospheric physics. In this document we introduce the concept of LHAASO and the main science goals, providing an overview of the project.
We evaluate the neutron and muon fluxes produced in the ILC beam dumps by Monte Carlo simulations and discuss their potential use in irradiation fields. We show that the beam dumps can provide high-intensity neutron and muon fluxes with spectra quite similar to secondary cosmic rays, which are suitable for soft error studies. The beam dumps deliver neutrons about $10^{11}$ times the secondary cosmic rays on spaces perpendicular to the beam axis and muons $10^8$ times downstream of the beam dumps in the initial phase of the ILC. Large-area irradiation of 1\,m$^2$ or more is possible. Differences in the energy distribution of muons in electron and positron beam dumps are also discussed for particle physics experiments.
Measurements of the isotopic composition of single-charged cosmic rays provide important insights in the propagation processes. However, the isotopic identification is challenging due to the one hundred times greater abundance of protons when compared to deuterons, the only stable isotope of hydrogen. Taking advantage of the precise measurements of the velocity and momentum in the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a particle physics detector operating aboard the International Space Station since May 2011, we describe a parametric template fit method, which takes into account systematic uncertainties such as the fragmentation of particles inside AMS-02 and eventual differences between data and simulation through the use of nuisance parameters. With this method we are also able to assess the AMS-02 performance in terms of mass resolution, showing that it is able to separate the isotopes of hydrogen up to 10 GeV/n.
We study the spherically symmetric collapse of a cloud of dust in VCDM, a class of gravitational theories with two local physical degrees of freedom. We find that the collapse corresponds to a particular foliation of the Oppenheimer-Snyder solution in general relativity (GR) which is endowed with a constant trace for the extrinsic curvature relative to the time t constant foliation. For this solution, we find that the final state of the collapse leads to a static configuration with the lapse function vanishing at a radius inside the apparent horizon. Such a point is reached in an infinite time-t interval, t being the cosmological time, i.e. the time of an observer located far away from the collapsing cloud. The presence of this vanishing lapse endpoint implies the necessity of a UV completion to describe the physics inside the resulting black hole. On the other hand, since the corresponding cosmic time t is infinite, VCDM can safely describe the whole history of the universe at large scales without knowledge of the unknown UV completion, despite the presence of the so-called shadowy mode.
Noemi Vergopolan, Justin Sheffield, Nathaniel W. Chaney
et al.
Abstract Soil moisture (SM) spatiotemporal variability critically influences water resources, agriculture, and climate. However, besides site‐specific studies, little is known about how SM varies locally (1–100‐m scale). Consequently, quantifying the SM variability and its impact on the Earth system remains a long‐standing challenge in hydrology. We reveal the striking variability of local‐scale SM across the United States using SMAP‐HydroBlocks — a novel satellite‐based surface SM data set at 30‐m resolution. Results show how the complex interplay of SM with landscape characteristics and hydroclimate is primarily driven by local variations in soil properties. This local‐scale complexity yields a remarkable and unique multi‐scale behavior at each location. However, very little of this complexity persists across spatial scales. Experiments reveal that on average 48% and up to 80% of the SM spatial information is lost at the 1‐km resolution, with complete loss expected at the scale of current state‐of‐the‐art SM monitoring and modeling systems (1–25 km resolution).
William J. Longley, Anthony A. Chan, Allison N. Jaynes
et al.
Efforts to model and predict energetic electron fluxes in the radiation belts are highly sensitive to local wave-particle interactions. In this study, we use multi-point measurements of precipitating and trapped electron fluxes to investigate the dynamic variation of chorus wave-particle interactions during the 17 March 2013 storm. Quasilinear theory characterizes the chorus wave-particle interaction as a diffusive process, with the diffusion coefficients depending on the particle energy and pitch angle, as well as the background plasma parameters such as the wave intensity and plasma density. These plasma parameters in the radiation belts are spatially localized and time-varying, so we construct event-specific diffusion coefficients using MEPED (onboard POES/MetOp) measurements of electron fluxes at low Earth orbit. This new method provides realistic diffusion coefficients for chorus waves that account for changes in the wave intensity, the plasma density, and the magnetic field strength in the outer radiation belt. We show that the inferred chorus intensity is significantly lower than previous estimates that use MEPED observations since the same amount of increased precipitation by 30–300 keV electrons can be explained by a change in the plasma density. This technique therefore allows for us to create time varying, global maps of the plasma-gyrofrequency ratio (fpe/fce), and therefore plasma density, in the outer radiation belts using the MEPED measurements. The global density estimates compare reasonably well to in situ density measurements from RBSP-B.
GRAND is designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic particles – specially neutrinos, cosmic rays and gamma rays using radio antennas. With ~20 mountainous sites around the world it will cover a total area of 200,000 km^{2}2. The planned sensitivity of 10^{-10}−10 GeV cm^{-2}−2 s^{-1}−1 sr^{-1}−1 above 5\times10^{17}5×1017 eV will likely ensure the detection of cosmogenic neutrinos predicted by most common scenarios enabling neutrino astronomy. Furthermore, PeV–EeV neutrinos can test particle interactions at energies above those achieved in accelerators. The pathfinder stage GRANDProto300 is planned to start taking data in 2021. We present the current overall status of the project with emphasis on the neutrino physics.
Purpose: Solar eclipses pertain to high-energy sources of disturbance in the subsystems of the Sun–interplanetary-medium–magnetosphere–ionosphere–atmosphere–Earth and the Earth–atmosphere–ionosphere–magnetosphere systems. During the solar eclipse, the coupling between the subsystems in these systems activates, and the parameters of the dynamic processes become disturbed. Investigation of these processes contributes to understanding of the structure and dynamics of the subsystems. The ionospheric response to the solar eclipse depends on the season, local time, magnitude of the solar eclipse, phase of the solar cycle, the observation site, the state of space weather, etc. Therefore, the study of the effects, which each new solar eclipse has on the ionosphere remains an urgent geophysics and radio physics problem. The purpose of this paper is to describe the radio wave characteristics and ionospheric parameters, which accompanied the partial solar eclipse of 10 June 2021 over the City of Kharkiv. Design/methodology/approach: To make observations, the means of the HF Doppler measurements at vertical and oblique incidence available at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Radiophysical Observatory were employed. The data obtained at the “Lviv” Magnetic Observatory were used for making intercomparison. Findings: The radiophysical observations have been made of the dynamic processes acting in the ionosphere during the solar eclipse of 10 June 2021 and on the reference days. The temporal variations in the Doppler frequency shift observed at vertical and oblique radio paths have been found to be, as a whole, similar. Generally speaking, the Doppler spectra over these radio propagation paths were different. Over the oblique radio paths, the number of rays was greater. The solar eclipse was accompanied by wave activity enhancement in the atmosphere and ionosphere. At least three wave trains were observed. The values of the periods (about 5–12 min) and the relative amplitudes of perturbations in the electron density (δN≈0.3–0.6 %) give evidence that the wave disturbances were caused by atmospheric gravity waves. The amplitude of the 6–8-min period geomagnetic variations has been estimated to be 0.5–1 nT. Approximately the same value has been recorded in the X component of the geomagnetic field at the nearest Magnetic Observatory. The aperiodic effect of the solar eclipse has appeared to be too small (less than 0.01 Hz) to be observed confidently. The smallness of the effect was predetermined by an insignificant magnitude of the partial eclipse over the City of Kharkiv (no more than 0.11). Conclusions: The features of the solar eclipse of 10 June 2021 include an insignificant magnitude of the aperiodic effect and an enhancement in wave activity in the atmosphere and ionosphere. Key words: solar eclipse; ionosphere; Doppler spectrum; Doppler frequency shift; electron density; geomagnetic field; atmospheric gravity wave
Telescope Array Collaboration R.U. Abbasi, M. Abe, T. Abu-Zayyad
et al.
Telescope Array (TA) is the largest ultrahigh energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) observatory in the Northern Hemisphere. It explores the origin of UHECRs by measuring their energy spectrum, arrival-direction distribution, and mass composition using a surface detector (SD) array covering approximately 700 km and fluorescence detector (FD) stations. TA has found evidence for a cluster of cosmic rays with energies greater than 57 EeV. In order to confirm this evidence with more data, it is necessary to increase the data collection rate. We have begun building an expansion of TA that we call TAx4. In this paper, we explain the motivation, design, technical features, and expected performance of the TAx4 SD. We also present TAx4’s current status and examples of the data that have already been collected.