Measurement of high-energy cosmic-ray electrons with a Polar Patrol Balloon

概要

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One of the major purpose of recent cosmic-ray studies is to know the origin, acceleration mechanism and propagation properties inside the Galaxy. Along this line many efforts have been spent to observe a precise spectrum of the electron component of cosmic-rays. The main difficulty to study high-energy electrons is the detection of these electrons. The flux is much lower than the abundant proton component, and we need an observation of long duration and a detector with a high rejection power against the background protons. We propose to carry a newly developed scintillating-fiber detector on the Polar Patrol Balloon (PPB) and to expose it for 30 days. The goal of this observation is to determine a definite electron energy-spectrum ranging from 10 GeV to TeV region based on a high statistical accuracy with a long exposure by the PPB. In the result, we can expect to obtain direct evidence for the origin of high-energy electrons and a precise knowledge of their propagation in the Galaxy including solar modulation effects on the electron flux.
国立極地研究所の論文