Published April 1999 | Version v1
Report Open

Search for antimatter in 1012 eV cosmic rays using Artemis method and interpretation of the cosmic rays spectrum

Description

This thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is a review of the present knowledge of the antimatter and of the cosmic rays. Theoretical and experimental aspects are presented. It is demonstrated that a measurement of the antimatter abundance in TeV cosmic rays is of fundamental interest, and would establish the symmetric or asymmetric nature of the Universe. The second part is dedicated to the method of antimatter research through the Earth Moon ion spectrometer (ARTEMIS). The account is given of the winter 1996-97 41-nights observation campaign undertaken at the Whipple Observatory in Arizona (USA). A 109 photomultiplier camera is operated on the 40 meter telescope to detect by Cherenkov imaging the cosmic ray initiated showers. We describe the performance of an optical filter used to reduce the noise. The development and the utilization of a simulation program are described. The main work is the analysis of the data: data characterization, understanding of the apparatus, understanding of the noise and its influence, calibration, search for signals by different methods. Subtle systematic effects are uncovered. The simulations establish that the amount of data is insufficient to reveal a shadow effect in the cosmic ray flux. The conclusion of this work is that the experimental setup was not suitable, and we propose important improvements of the method based on a bigger focal plane that would allow to reach a one percent sensitivity on the antimatter content of the cosmic rays. In the third part of the thesis, an interpretation of the total cosmic ray spectrum is proposed and discussed. (author)

Availability note (English)

Also available from Biblioteque Inter Universitaire Scientifique Jussieu, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 - Paris - cedex 05 (France)

Files

46048791.pdf

Files (75.1 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:9b612c2966f33c6df8033b1ecc1b3e75
75.1 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Additional titles

Original title (French)
Recherche antimatiere dans les rayons cosmiques de 10E12 eV par la methode Artemis et interpretation du spectre des rayons cosmiques

Publishing Information

Imprint Pagination
442 p.
Report number
FRNC-TH--4852

Optional Information

Notes
383 refs.; This record replaces 33031017