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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

A robust excess in the cosmic-ray antiproton spectrum: Implications for annihilating dark matter

An excess of $~ 10–20 GeV$ cosmic-ray antiprotons has been identified in the spectrum reported by the AMS-02 Collaboration. The systematic uncertainties associated with this signal, however, have made it difficult to interpret these results. In this paper, we revisit the uncertainties associated with the time, charge and energy-dependent effects of solar modulation, the antiproton production cross section, and interstellar cosmic-ray propagation. After accounting for these uncertainties, we confirm the presence of a $4.7σ$ antiproton excess, consistent with that arising from a $m_χ ≈ 64–88 GeV$ dark matter particle annihilating to $\bar{bb}$ with a cross section of $σv ≃ (0.8–5.2) × 10^{-26} m^3/s$. If we allow for the stochastic acceleration of secondary antiprotons in supernova remnants, the data continue to favor a similar range of dark matter models $(m_χ ≈ 46–94 GeV, σv ≈ (0.7–3.8) × 10^{-26} cm^3/s)$ with a significance of $3.3σ$. The same range of dark matter models that are favored to explain the antiproton excess can also accommodate the excess of GeV-scale gamma rays observed from the Galactic center.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1981

A measurement of the antiproton flux in the cosmic rays

A balloon-borne instrument has been used to detect cosmic-ray antiprotons. These are identified topologically by the appearance of annihilation prongs in a thick lead-plate spark chamber. The initial recording of the data is enriched in potential antimatter events by a selective trigger. After a small subtraction for background, 14 identified antiprotons yield a flux of 1.7 plus or minus 0.00005 antiproton/(sq m ster sec MeV) between 130 and 320 MeV at the top of the atmosphere. When combined with higher energy antiproton flux measurements, this result indicates that the antiprotons have a spectrum whose shape is the same as that of the protons, but with a magnitude reduced by a factor of 1/3000.

Buffington, A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Recent observations of cosmic ray antiprotons and a critical assessment of the theories of their origin

The models proposed to explain the observed spectrum of cosmic ray antiprotons are reexamined in light of recent results from balloon-borne experiments. It is found that the prediction of modified closed galaxy model fits the observed data very well. Models in which secondary antiprotons are produced in the sources, could be made consistent with the data provided the secondary particles do not suffer considerable adiabatic deceleration. It has been shown that there cannot be any significant contribution to the observed antiprotons, from the evaporation of mini black holes or from the annihilation of dark matter like photinos. The role of extragalactic cosmic rays has been examined critically in the context of the recent data, and they are not the source of cosmic ray antiprotons. However, determination of the energy spectrum of antiprotons at least up to a few tens of GeV would be valuable to provide information on the possible existence of supersymmetric particles and on the modulation of extragalactic cosmic rays while entering the Galaxy.

Stephens, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Overview of the High Performance Antiproton (HiPAT) Experiment

The annihilation of matter with antimatter represents the highest energy density of any known reaction, producing 10(exp 8) MJ/g, approximately 10 orders of magnitude more energy per unit mass than chemical based combustion. To take the first step towards using this energy for propulsion applications the NASA MSFC Propulsion Research Center (PRC) has initiated a research activity examining the storage of low energy antiprotons. Storage was identified as a key enabling technology since it builds the experience base necessary to understand the handling of antiprotons for virtually all utilization and high-density storage concepts. To address this need, a device referred to as the High Performance Antiproton Trap (HiPAT) is under development at the NASA MSFC PRC. The HiPAT is an electromagnetic system (Penning-Malmberg design) consisting of a 4 Tesla superconductor, a high voltage confinement electrode system (operation up to 20 KV), and an ultra high vacuum test section (operating in the 10(exp -12) torr range). The system was designed to be portable with an ultimate goal of maintaining 10(exp 12) charged particles with a half-life of 18 days. Currently, this system is being experimentally evaluated using normal matter ions which are cheap to produce and relatively easy to handle. These normal ions provide a good indication of overall trap behavior, with the exception of assessing annihilation losses. The ions are produced external to HiPAT using two hydrogen ion sources, with adjustable beam energy and current. Ion are transported in a beam line and controlled through the use of electrostatic optics. These optics serve to both focus and gate the incoming ions, providing microsecond-timed pulses that are dynamically captured by cycling the HiPAT electric containment field like a 'trap door'. The layout of this system more closely simulates the operations expected at an actual antiproton production facility where 'packets' of antiprotons with pulse widths measured in 100's of nanoseconds could be provided. Initial dynamic capture experiments have been performed with both trap and ton source system functioning at approximately 10% of maximum levels, minimizing the potential for extraneous effects. Dynamic trapping techniques demonstrated the successful capture of millions of hydrogen ions with good agreement with the predicted loading based on the timing sequence, trap electric field, and ion beam current. These techniques will be expanded to examine multiple shot capture or 'stacking' to increase the total number of ions stored within HiPAT.

Martin, James J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Precise Measurements of the Cosmic Ray Antiproton Spectrum with BESS Including the Effects of Solar Modulation

The Balloon Borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) has measured the energy spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons between 0.18 and 4.20 GeV in eight flights between 1993 and 2002. Above about 1 GeV, models in which antiprotons are secondary products of the interactions of primary cosmic rays with the interstellar gas agree with the BESS antiproton spectrum. Below 1 GeV, the data show a possible excess antiproton flux compared to secondary model predictions, suggesting the presence of an additional source of antiprotons. The antiproton/proton ratios measured between 1993 and 1999, during the Sun's positive-polarity phase, are consistent with simple models of solar modulation. However, results from the 2000 flight, following the solar magnetic field reversal, show a sudden increase in the antiproton/proton ratio and tend to favor a charge-sign-dependent drift model. To extend BESS measurements to lower energies, an evolutionary instrument, BESS-Polar, is under construction for polar flight in 2004.

Mitchell, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Modified Penning-Malmberg Trap for Storing Antiprotons

A modified Penning-Malmberg trap that could store a small cloud of antiprotons for a relatively long time (weeks) has been developed. This trap is intended for use in research on the feasibility of contemplated future matter/antimatter-annihilation systems as propulsion sources for spacecraft on long missions. This trap is also of interest in its own right as a means of storing and manipulating antiprotons for terrestrial scientific experimentation. The use of Penning-Malmberg traps to store antiprotons is not new. What is new here is the modified trap design, which utilizes state-of-the-art radiofrequency (RF) techniques, including ones that, heretofore, have been used in radio-communication applications but not in iontrap applications. A basic Penning-Malmberg trap includes an evacuated round tube that contains or is surrounded by three or more collinear tube electrodes. A steady axial magnetic field that reaches a maximum at the geometric center of the tube is applied by an external source, and DC bias voltages that give rise to an electrostatic potential that reaches a minimum at the center are applied to the electrodes. The combination of electric and magnetic fields confines the charged particles (ions or electrons) for which it was designed to a prolate spheroidal central region. However, geometric misalignments and the diffusive cooling process prevent the steady fields of a basic Penning- Malmberg trap from confining the particles indefinitely. In the modified Penning-Malmberg trap, the loss of antiprotons is reduced or eliminated by use of a "rotating-wall" RF stabilization scheme that also heats the antiproton cloud to minimize loss by matter/antimatter annihilation. The scheme involves the superposition of a quadrupole electric field that rotates about the cylindrical axis at a suitably chosen radio frequency. The modified Penning-Malmberg trap (see Figure 1) includes several collinear sets of electrodes inside a tubular vacuum chamber. Each set comprises either a single metal tube or else a tube that is segmented into four electrodes that subtend equal angles about the cylindrical axis. The output of an RF signal generator is fed through a 90 hybrid coupler and then through two baluns to generate four replicas of the signal at relative phase shifts of 0 , 90 , 180 , and 270 (see Figure 2). These signal replicas are fed through 6-dB directional couplers, then via coaxial cables to the vacuum chamber. The signal is then routed to a phase cancellation network, which filters out the drive signal with the difference representing the plasma interaction. Inside the vacuum chamber, twisted-pair wires feed the signals from the coaxial cables to the four electrodes of each segmented electrode tube.

Sims, William H.↗
DOE OSTI2016

High Luminosity 100 TeV Proton-Antiproton Collider

The energy scale for new physics is known to be in the multi-TeV range, signaling the potential need for a collider beyond the LHC. A $10^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ luminosity 100 TeV proton-antiproton collider is explored. Prior engineering studies for 233 and 270 km circumference tunnels were done for Illinois dolomite and Texas chalk signaling manageable tunneling costs. At a $p\bar{p}$ the cross section for high mass states is of order 10x higher with antiproton collisions, where antiquarks are directly present rather than relying on gluon splitting. The higher cross sections reduce the synchrotron radiation in superconducting magnets, because lower beam currents can produce the same rare event rates. In our design the increased momentum acceptance (11 $\pm$ 2.6 GeV/c) in a Fermilab-like antiproton source is used with septa to collect 12x more antiprotons in 12 channels. For stochastic cooling, 12 cooling systems would be used, each with one debuncher/momentum equalizer ring and two accumulator rings. One electron cooling ring would follow. Finally antiprotons would be recycled during runs without leaving the collider ring, by joining them to new bunches with synchrotron damping.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Antiproton signatures from astrophysical and dark matter sources at the galactic center

The center of our Galaxy is a complex region characterized by extreme phenomena. The presence of the supermassive Sagittarius A* black hole, a high dark matter density and an even higher baryonic density are able to produce very energetic processes. Indeed, high energetic gamma-rays have been observed by different telescopes, although their origin is not clear. In this work, we estimate the possible antiproton flux component associated with this signal. The expected secondary astrophysical antiproton background already saturates the observed data. It implies that any other important astrophysical source leads to an inconsistent excess. We estimate the sensitivity of PAMELA to this new primary antiproton source, which depends on the diffusion model and its spectral features. In particular, we consider antiproton spectra described by a power-law, a monochromatic signal and a Standard Model particle-antiparticle channel production. This latter spectrum is typical in the production from annihilating or decaying dark matter. We pay particular attention to the case of a heavy dark matter candidate, which could be associated with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) data observed from the J1745-290 source.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Experimental and computational study of the injection of antiprotons into a positron plasma for antihydrogen production

One of the goals of synthesizing and trapping antihydrogen is to study the validity of charge-parity-time symmetry through precision spectroscopy on the anti-atoms, but the trapping yield achieved in recent experiments must be significantly improved before this can be realized. Antihydrogen atoms are commonly produced by mixing antiprotons and positrons stored in a nested Penning-Malmberg trap, which was achieved in ALPHA by an autoresonant excitation of the antiprotons, injecting them into the positron plasma. In this work, a hybrid numerical model is developed to simulate antiproton and positron dynamics during the mixing process. The simulation is benchmarked against other numerical and analytic models, as well as experimental measurements. The autoresonant injection scheme and an alternative scheme are compared numerically over a range of plasma parameters which can be reached in current and upcoming antihydrogen experiments, and the latter scheme is seen to offer significant improvement in trapping yield as the number of available antiprotons increases.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Closing in on mass-degenerate dark matter scenarios with antiprotons and direct detection

Over the last years both cosmic-ray antiproton measurements and direct dark matter searches have proved particularly effective in constraining the nature of dark matter candidates. The present work focusses on these two types of constraints in a minimal framework which features a Majorana fermion as the dark matter particle and a scalar that mediates the coupling to quarks. Considering a wide range of coupling schemes, we derive antiproton and direct detection constraints using the latest data and paying close attention to astrophysical and nuclear uncertainties. Both signals are strongly enhanced in the presence of degenerate dark matter and scalar masses, but we show that the effect is especially dramatic in direct detection. Accordingly, the latest direct detection limits take the lead over antiprotons. We find that antiproton and direct detection data set stringent lower limits on the mass splitting, reaching 19% at a 300 GeV dark matter mass for a unity coupling. Interestingly, these limits are orthogonal to ongoing collider searches at the Large Hadron Collider, making it feasible to close in on degenerate dark matter scenarios within the next years.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Secondary antiprotons as a Galactic Dark Matter probe

We present a novel determination of the astrophysical uncertainties associated to the secondary antiproton flux originating from cosmic-ray spallation on the interstellar gas. We select a set of propagation models compatible with the recent B/C data from PAMELA, and find those providing minimal and maximal antiproton fluxes in different energy ranges. We use this result to determine the most conservative bounds on relevant Dark Matter (DM) annihilation channels: we find that the recent claim of a DM interpretation of a gamma-ray excess in the Galactic Center region cannot be ruled out by current antiproton data. Finally, we discuss the impact of the recently released preliminary data from AMS-02. In particular, we provide a reference model compatible with proton, helium and B/C spectra from this experiment. Remarkably, the main propagation parameters of this model are in agreement with the best fit presented in our earlier statistical analyses. We also show that the antiproton-to-proton ratio does not exhibit any significant anomaly at high energy with respect to our predictions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Long-lived states of antiprotonic lithium pLi {sup +} produced in p+ Li collisions

Antiproton capture by lithium atoms (p+Li{yields}pLi{sup +}+e) is investigated at collision energies from 0.01 to 10 eV by using a semiclassical (also know as quantum-classical hybrid) method, in which the radial distance between the antiproton and the Li{sup +} ion is treated as a classical variable, and the other degrees of freedom are described by quantum mechanics. Analyzing the wave packet of the emitted electrons and making use of the energy conservation rule enable us to calculate the state distribution of the produced antiprotonic lithium pLi{sup +} atoms and also to distinguish between the capture and ionization ({yields}p+Li{sup +}+e) channels at collisional energies above the ionization threshold. This method is tested for the capture of negative muons by hydrogen atoms, which was rigorously investigated in previous quantum mechanical studies. Most of the pLi{sup +} atoms produced in p+Li are found to be sufficiently stable against Auger decays and are experimentally observable as long-lived states. The present system bears close similarities to the system of p+He(2S). It is therefore expected that long-lived antiprotonic helium pHe{sup +} atoms can be efficiently produced in the p capture by metastable He(2 {sup 3}S) atoms.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Antiproton bounds on dark matter annihilation from a combined analysis using the DRAGON2 code

Abstract Early studies of the AMS-02 antiproton ratio identified a possible excess over the expected astrophysical background that could be fit by the annihilation of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). However, recent efforts have shown that uncertainties in cosmic-ray propagation, the antiproton production cross-section, and correlated systematic uncertainties in the AMS-02 data, may combine to decrease or eliminate the significance of this feature. We produce an advanced analysis using the DRAGON2 code which, for the first time, simultaneously fits the antiproton ratio along with multiple secondary cosmic-ray flux measurements to constrain astrophysical and nuclear uncertainties. Compared to previous work, our analysis benefits from a combination of: (1) recently released AMS-02 antiproton data, (2) updated nuclear fragmentation cross-section fits, (3) a rigorous Bayesian parameter space scan that constrains cosmic-ray propagation parameters.We find no statistically significant preference for a dark matter signal and set strong constraints on WIMP annihilation tobb̅, ruling out annihilation at the thermal cross-section for dark matter masses below ∼ 200 GeV. We do find a positive residual that is consistent with previous work, and can be explained by a ∼ 70 GeV WIMP annihilating below the thermal cross-section. However, our default analysis finds this excess to have a local significance of only 2.8σ, which is decreased to 1.8σwhen the look-elsewhere effect is taken into account.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2018

Production cross sections of cosmic antiprotons in the light of new data from the NA61 and LHCb experiments

The cosmic-ray flux of antiprotons is measured with high precision by the space-borne particle spectrometers AMS-02. Its interpretation requires a correct description of the dominant production process for antiprotons in our Galaxy, namely, the interaction of cosmic-ray proton and helium with the interstellar medium. In light of new cross section measurements by the NA61 experiment of p + p → $\bar{p}$ + X and the first ever measurement of p + He → $\bar{p}$ + X by the LHCb experiment, we update the parametrization of proton-proton and proton-nucleon cross sections. We find that the LHCb p He data constrain a shape for the cross section at high energies and show for the first time how well the rescaling from the p p channel applies to a helium target. By using p p , p He and p C data we estimate the uncertainty on the Lorentz invariant cross section for p + He → $\bar{p}$+ X . We use these new cross sections to compute the source term for all the production channels, considering also nuclei heavier than He both in cosmic rays and the interstellar medium. The uncertainties on the total source term are up to ± 20 % and slightly increase below antiproton energies of 5 GeV. This uncertainty is dominated by the p + p → $\bar{p}$ + X cross section, which translates into all channels since we derive them using the $pp$ cross sections. In conclusion, the cross sections to calculate the source spectra from all relevant cosmic-ray isotopes are provided in Supplemental Material. We finally quantify the necessity of new data on antiproton production cross sections, and pin down the kinematic parameter space which should be covered by future data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Acceptance dependence of factorial cumulants, long-range correlations, and the antiproton puzzle

We analyze joint factorial cumulants of protons and antiprotons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and point out that they obey the scaling Ĉnmp,p¯∝〈Np〉n〈Np¯〉m as a function of acceptance when only long-range correlations are present in the system, such as global baryon conservation and volume fluctuations. This hypothesis can be directly tested experimentally without the need for corrections for volume fluctuations. We show that if correlations among protons and antiprotons are driven by global baryon conservation and volume fluctuations only, the equality Ĉ2p/〈Np〉2=Ĉ2p¯/〈Np¯〉2 holds for large systems created in central collisions. We point out that the experimental data of the STAR Collaboration from phase I of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) beam energy scan (BES) are approximately consistent with the scaling Ĉnmp,p¯∝〈Np〉n〈Np¯〉m, but the normalized antiproton correlations are stronger than those of protons, −Ĉ2p¯/〈Np¯〉2>−Ĉ2p/〈Np〉2. Existing theoretical baselines, based on global baryon conservation and volume fluctuations, cannot explain the data, which we refer to as the antiproton puzzle. We also discuss high-order factorial cumulants which can be measured with sufficient precision within phase II of RHIC-BES.

Bzdak, Adam↗
DOE OSTI2022

Antiproton background of the Mu2e experiment and the vertical misalignment of the Mu2e beamline

Mu2e experiment will search for the neutrinoless µ − → e − conversion in the field of an aluminum nucleus. The total expected background in Mu2e Run I is 0.11 ± 0.03 events, and the antiproton background, 0.01 ± 0.003(stat) ± 0.010(syst), is about 10% of the total. The report discusses the antiproton background of the Mu2e experiment. As it will be explained, the antiproton background is sensitive to the vertical misalignment of the Mu2e beamline. Therefore, it is important to measure the misalignment in situ. The report introduces a data-driven technique of measuring the beamline misalignment. The material is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the Mu2e experiment. Section 3 presents the antiproton background. Section 4 explains the alignment in the apparatus. Section 5 presents the vertical misalignment and a method to measure it from the data. Section 6 presents the initial simulations made and the discussion of the results.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1983

Antiprotons in the cosmic radiation

Cosmic ray antiprotons were first detected three years ago by Golden et al. (1979) and Bogomolov et al. (1979). The measured flux at about 10 GeV was found to be a factor of 5 to 10 higher than expected in the leaky box model. More recently, an unexpected high antiproton flux has been measured by Buffington et al. (1981) at about 200 MeV, well below a low energy cut-off in the spectrum expected if the antiprotons are secondary. This paper briefly reviews calculations of the flux of secondary antiprotons expected for different models of cosmic ray propagation and discusses some of the primary origin hypotheses which have been proposed to account for the data.

Protheroe, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Analysis of experimental data on interstellar antiprotons in the light of measurements of high-energy electrons and He-3 nuclei

The interstellar antiproton calculations were reexamined in view of the recent progress in measurements of interstellar electrons and He(3) nuclei. It was found that the divergence between the predicted antiproton flux and the existing datum at very low energies is increased. The proposed nonuniform galactic disk (NUGD) model qualitatively explains the unexpectedly large flux of interstellar antiprotons. Some ambiguities existed in the prototype of the model. It was unclear what fraction of observed antiprotons is of local origin. Previously the value of cosmic ray escape pathlength was suggested with quite a large arbitrariness.

Tan, L. C.↗