2016/10/20 by A. Obertacke Pollmann, Pollmann, Anna Obertacke · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Neutrino Physics Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1610.06397
Cosmic ray detectors use air as a radiator for luminescence. In water and\nice, Cherenkov light is the dominant light producing mechanism when the\nparticle's velocity exceeds the Cherenkov threshold, approximately three\nquarters of the speed of light in vacuum. Luminescence is produced by highly\nionizing particles passing through matter due to the electronic excitation of\nthe surrounding molecules. The observables of luminescence, such as the\nwavelength spectrum and decay times, are highly dependent on the properties of\nthe medium, in particular, temperature and purity. The results for the light\nyield of luminescence of previous measurements vary by two orders of magnitude.\nIt will be shown that even for the lowest measured light yield, luminescence is\nan important signature of highly ionizing particles below the Cherenkov\nthreshold. These could be magnetic monopoles or other massive and highly\nionizing exotic particles. With the highest observed efficiencies, luminescence\nmay even contribute significantly to the light output of standard model\nparticles such as the PeV IceCube neutrinos. We present analysis techniques to\nuse luminescence in neutrino telescopes and discuss experimental setups to\nmeasure the light yield of luminescence for the particular conditions in\nneutrino detectors.\n