0000000000003017
AUTHOR
Tie-kuang Dong
The on-orbit calibration of DArk Matter Particle Explorer
Abstract The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), a satellite-based cosmic ray and gamma-ray detector, was launched on December 17, 2015, and began its on-orbit operation on December 24, 2015. In this work we document the on-orbit calibration procedures used by DAMPE and report the calibration results of the Plastic Scintillator strip Detector (PSD), the Silicon-Tungsten tracKer-converter (STK), the BGO imaging calorimeter (BGO), and the Neutron Detector (NUD). The results are obtained using Galactic cosmic rays, bright known GeV gamma-ray sources, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each sub-detector. The determination of the boundary of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA…
Search for gamma-ray spectral lines with the DArk Matter Particle Explorer
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is well suitable for searching for monochromatic and sharp $\gamma$-ray structures in the GeV$-$TeV range thanks to its unprecedented high energy resolution. In this work, we search for $\gamma$-ray line structures using five years of DAMPE data. To improve the sensitivity, we develop two types of dedicated data sets (including the BgoOnly data which is the first time to be used in the data analysis for the calorimeter-based gamma-ray observatories) and adopt the signal-to-noise ratio optimized regions of interest (ROIs) for different DM density profiles. No line signals or candidates are found between 10 and 300 GeV in the Galaxy. The constraints o…
Direct detection of a break in the teraelectronvolt cosmic-ray spectrum of electrons and positrons
High energy cosmic ray electrons plus positrons (CREs), which lose energy quickly during their propagation, provide an ideal probe of Galactic high-energy processes and may enable the observation of phenomena such as dark-matter particle annihilation or decay. The CRE spectrum has been directly measured up to $\sim 2$ TeV in previous balloon- or space-borne experiments, and indirectly up to $\sim 5$ TeV by ground-based Cherenkov $\gamma$-ray telescope arrays. Evidence for a spectral break in the TeV energy range has been provided by indirect measurements of H.E.S.S., although the results were qualified by sizeable systematic uncertainties. Here we report a direct measurement of CREs in the …
Measurement of the cosmic ray proton spectrum from 40 GeV to 100 TeV with the DAMPE satellite
DAMPE satellite has directly measured the cosmic ray proton spectrum from 40 GeV to 100 TeV and revealed a new feature at about 13.6 TeV.
Comparison of proton shower developments in the BGO calorimeter of the Dark Matter Particle Explorer between GEANT4 and FLUKA simulations
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a satellite-borne detector for high-energy cosmic rays and $\gamma$-rays. To fully understand the detector performance and obtain reliable physical results, extensive simulations of the detector are necessary. The simulations are particularly important for the data analysis of cosmic ray nuclei, which relies closely on the hadronic and nuclear interactions of particles in the detector material. Widely adopted simulation softwares include the GEANT4 and FLUKA, both of which have been implemented for the DAMPE simulation tool. Here we describe the simulation tool of DAMPE and compare the results of proton shower properties in the calorimeter from t…
Observations of Forbush Decreases of cosmic ray electrons and positrons with the Dark Matter Particle Explorer
The Forbush Decrease (FD) represents the rapid decrease of the intensities of charged particles accompanied with the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or high-speed streams from coronal holes. It has been mainly explored with ground-based neutron monitors network which indirectly measure the integrated intensities of all species of cosmic rays by counting secondary neutrons produced from interaction between atmosphere atoms and cosmic rays. The space-based experiments can resolve the species of particles but the energy ranges are limited by the relative small acceptances except for the most abundant particles like protons and helium. Therefore, the FD of cosmic ray electrons and positrons have …
Measurement of the Cosmic Ray Helium Energy Spectrum from 70 GeV to 80 TeV with the DAMPE Space Mission
The measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic ray helium nuclei from 70 GeV to 80 TeV using 4.5 years of data recorded by the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is reported in this work. A hardening of the spectrum is observed at an energy of about 1.3 TeV, similar to previous observations. In addition, a spectral softening at about 34 TeV is revealed for the first time with large statistics and well controlled systematic uncertainties, with an overall significance of $4.3\sigma$. The DAMPE spectral measurements of both cosmic protons and helium nuclei suggest a particle charge dependent softening energy, although with current uncertainties a dependence on the number of nucleons canno…
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer mission
The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), one of the four scientific space science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is a general purpose high energy cosmic-ray and gamma-ray observatory, which was successfully launched on December 17th, 2015 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The DAMPE scientific objectives include the study of galactic cosmic rays up to $\sim 10$ TeV and hundreds of TeV for electrons/gammas and nuclei respectively, and the search for dark matter signatures in their spectra. In this paper we illustrate the layout of the DAMPE instrument, and discuss the results of beam tests and calib…