Trigger and aperture of the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

0355333 - FZÚ 2011 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Abraham, J. - Abreu, P. - Aglietta, M. - Boháčová, Martina - Chudoba, Jiří - Kárová, Tatiana - Mandát, Dušan - Nečesal, Petr - Nožka, Libor - Nyklíček, Michal - Palatka, Miroslav - Pech, Miroslav - Prouza, Michael - Řídký, Jan - Schovancová, Jaroslava - Schovánek, Petr - Šmída, Radomír - Trávníček, Petr
Trigger and aperture of the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory.
Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A. Roč. 613, č. 1 (2010), s. 29-39. ISSN 0168-9002. E-ISSN 1872-9576
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC527; GA MŠMT(CZ) 1M06002; GA AV ČR KJB100100904; GA AV ČR KJB300100801; GA MŠMT(CZ) LA08016
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100502; CEZ:AV0Z10100522
Keywords : cosmic rays * trigger * Pierre Auger Observatory
Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics
Impact factor: 1.142, year: 2010

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory consists of 1600 water-Cherenkov detectors, for the study of extensive air showers (EAS) generated by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.We describe the trigger hierarchy, from the identification of candidate showers at the level of a single detector, amongst a large background (mainly random single cosmic ray muons), up to the selection of real events and the rejection of random coincidences. Such trigger makes the surface detector array fully efficient for the detection of EAS with energy above 3 x 1018 eV, for all zenith angles between 0° and 60°, independently of the position of the impact point and of the mass of the primary particle. In these range of energies and angles, the exposure of the surface array can be determined purely on the basis of the geometrical acceptance.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0194129