Project description
Square Kilometre Array to revolutionise air shower detection
Astronomers have long studied the origins of the highest-energy galactic cosmic rays. These ionised atomic nuclei, which travel near the speed of light, are detected thanks to the air showers produced by their interactions with the atmosphere. However, we are not currently able to measure these air showers with enough precision to reconstruct their features in a way that allows us to understand their sources. The ERC-funded SKA-CR project aims to use the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope to revolutionise air shower detection. To do this, it will leverage the SKA antenna density, measuring air showers with unprecedented accuracy and ultimately providing key insights into their origin.
Objective
What is the origin of the highest energy Galactic cosmic rays, ionized atomic nuclei that travel through space at nearly the speed of light? To answer this question we must detect them via the “air showers” of particles that are induced when cosmic rays interact in the atmosphere. Current experiments lack the precision needed to fully reconstruct air shower features and, consequently, to understand the cosmic rays themselves. Moreover, the hadronic interactions that shape air shower development take place
at energies beyond what we can reproduce in a laboratory setting and are not well understood. To solve this problem, we will revolutionize air shower detection by leveraging the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope as the ultimate precision cosmic-ray detector.
As the leader of the cosmic-ray detection groups at the LOFAR and SKA telescopes, I will capitalize on my expertise to implement cosmic-ray detection capabilities at the SKA. The instrument’s incredible antenna density will enable us to sample the air shower radio signal with order of magnitudes more detail than is currently possible, uniquely giving us access to fine details of the shower development. We will also install in-situ particle detectors with the capability to distinguish different air shower particles. By combining these data with radio observables, we can achieve comprehensive air shower reconstructions while refining hadronic interaction models—an essential step in advancing our understanding of high-energy cosmic-ray physics.
We will use this novel technique to do the most precise air shower reconstructions ever made over a wide energy range, allowing us to distinguish cosmic-ray acceleration models and identify sources in the energy region where cosmic rays transition from Galactic to extragalactic origin. This project will lay the groundwork for decades of cosmic-ray science at the SKA, and yield the information we need to finally understand the elusive origins of cosmic rays.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
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