Speaker
Description
We can understand cosmic-ray sources by measuring the energy of these particles and building models that describe the energy spectrum. However, at the highest end of the spectrum, energy scales between experiments are inconsistent. Comparing energy scales of different experiments has proven to be difficult, given that uncertainties on energy measurements depend on the location, technique, and equipment used. In this contribution we discuss a radio-based technique which will be used to build a universal cosmic-ray energy scale. A portable array of broadband antennas will be used to measure the radiation energy in air showers, which scales quadratically with the electromagnetic energy, yielding a complete, calorimetric energy reconstruction. Once the local magnetic field strength is accounted for, radiation energy can be directly compared at different locations.The array will be deployed at different experiments, measuring radiation energy contemporaneously with the experiments’ existing methods. The energy measured by each experiment can then be directly compared using the universal radiation energy measurements as a standard candle. Using radiation energy to compare the energy scales eliminates uncertainties due to different measurement techniques and locations, and using the same detection system at each experiment eliminates the uncertainties associated with the equipment and calibration. The result will be a cross-calibration of the energy scales of different experiments with minimal uncertainty. Here we present the technique, prospects for event reconstruction, and plans for implementation.
