On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events
Abstract The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) detector has observed several radio pulses coming from the surface of the ice cap at the South Pole. These pulses were attributed to upward-going atmospheric particle showers instead of the downward-going showers induced by cosmic rays that...
Published in: | Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics |
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crioppubl:10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 2024-06-02T07:55:34+00:00 On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events Ammerman-Yebra, Juan Alvarez-Muñiz, Jaime Zas, Enrique 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030/pdf unknown IOP Publishing https://iopscience.iop.org/page/copyright https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics volume 2024, issue 04, page 030 ISSN 1475-7516 journal-article 2024 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 2024-05-07T14:04:30Z Abstract The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) detector has observed several radio pulses coming from the surface of the ice cap at the South Pole. These pulses were attributed to upward-going atmospheric particle showers instead of the downward-going showers induced by cosmic rays that exhibit a characteristic polarity inversion of the radio signal due to reflection in the ice. Coherent transition radiation from cosmic-ray showers developing in the atmosphere and intercepting the ice surface has been suggested as a possible and alternative explanation of these so-called “anomalous” events. To test this interpretation, we have developed an extension of ZHS, a program to calculate coherent pulses from electromagnetic showers, to deal with showers that transit a planar interface between two homogeneous and dielectric media, including transition radiation. By considering different geometries, it is found that all pulses from air showers intercepting the ice surface and detected at the height of ANITA, display the same polarity as pulses emitted by ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray showers that fully develop in the atmosphere and are reflected on the ice. We find that transition radiation is disfavored as a possible explanation of the anomalous ANITA events. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap South pole South pole IOP Publishing Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 2024 04 030 |
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Abstract The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) detector has observed several radio pulses coming from the surface of the ice cap at the South Pole. These pulses were attributed to upward-going atmospheric particle showers instead of the downward-going showers induced by cosmic rays that exhibit a characteristic polarity inversion of the radio signal due to reflection in the ice. Coherent transition radiation from cosmic-ray showers developing in the atmosphere and intercepting the ice surface has been suggested as a possible and alternative explanation of these so-called “anomalous” events. To test this interpretation, we have developed an extension of ZHS, a program to calculate coherent pulses from electromagnetic showers, to deal with showers that transit a planar interface between two homogeneous and dielectric media, including transition radiation. By considering different geometries, it is found that all pulses from air showers intercepting the ice surface and detected at the height of ANITA, display the same polarity as pulses emitted by ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray showers that fully develop in the atmosphere and are reflected on the ice. We find that transition radiation is disfavored as a possible explanation of the anomalous ANITA events. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ammerman-Yebra, Juan Alvarez-Muñiz, Jaime Zas, Enrique |
spellingShingle |
Ammerman-Yebra, Juan Alvarez-Muñiz, Jaime Zas, Enrique On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
author_facet |
Ammerman-Yebra, Juan Alvarez-Muñiz, Jaime Zas, Enrique |
author_sort |
Ammerman-Yebra, Juan |
title |
On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
title_short |
On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
title_full |
On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
title_fullStr |
On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous ANITA events |
title_sort |
on the transition radiation interpretation of anomalous anita events |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030/pdf |
geographic |
Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic South Pole The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice cap South pole South pole |
op_source |
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics volume 2024, issue 04, page 030 ISSN 1475-7516 |
op_rights |
https://iopscience.iop.org/page/copyright https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/030 |
container_title |
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics |
container_volume |
2024 |
container_issue |
04 |
container_start_page |
030 |
_version_ |
1800749718453616640 |