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Primary cosmic-ray anisotropy and composition, including gamma-ray astronomy, at energies above 10-14 eV

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Primary cosmic rays (PCR) comprise an isotropic flux of very energetic nuclei in the galaxy. The energy spectrum of PCR is known to have a power law form extending up to values of the order of 1020 eV. The existence of a sharp change of power law exponent at 3 1015 eV, the so-called knee is a rather well-established experimental fact. The charge composition of PCR nuclei is very well measured at low energies. The small anisotropy of PCR is shown to be constant in the energy range 1012 - 1013 eV but no reliable data are available for the composition and anisotropy of PCR around the 'knee' region, where it would be particularly interesting.

The aim of this project is to measure both composition and anisotropy using the set of facilities of the Baksan neutrino observatory. They are the Baksan underground scintillation telescope (BUST) and two shower arrays: the Andyrchi air shower array just above the BUST, and Kovyor air shower array 1 km distant from it. The analysis of muon bundles recorded by the BUST underground detector with simultaneous observation of accompanying extensive air shower by Andyrchi array is expected to be a very promising method of PCR composition measurement. The anisotropy of the PCR and the gamma-ray astronomy program will be the main subjects of study under the project using the Kovyor array. The presence of two neighbouring arrays will open up new possibilities for the analysis of coincidences and correlations as far as gamma-ray astronomy observations are concerned.

The raw experimental data stored up to now by the BUST and Kovyor arrays exceed 100 Gbytes. They are stored on half-inch magnetic tapes of IBM format, the total number of these antiquated tapes being 2,500. The expected flux of data from the Baksan experimental facilities (including Andyrchi and muon detector) is approximately 20 Gbytes per year. The essential point of the project at the first stage is the transfer of these archive data to a more conventional and modern data medium, such as optical compact disks. This will permit the distribution of experimental data of Baksan installations to foreign and international collaborators, and to process them much more efficiently than before. Joint processing of these data and obtaining of reliable scientific results is the ultimate goal of the project.

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University of Durham
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South Road
DH1 3LE Durham
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