Author
M.E. Ortiz
Bio: M.E. Ortiz is an academic researcher from Complutense University of Madrid. The author has contributed to research in topics: Pierre Auger Observatory & Cosmic ray. The author has an hindex of 29, co-authored 72 publications receiving 5998 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
01 Jun 2013
TL;DR: In this article, the Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies larger thanEth = 55 EeV and showed that there is a correlation above the isotropic expectation with nearby active galaxies and the largest excess is in a celestial region around the position of the radio galaxy Cen A.
Abstract: The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies larger thanEth = 55 EeV. There is a correlation above the isotropic expectation with nearby active galaxies and the largest excess is in a celestial region around the position of the radio galaxy Cen A. If these anisotropies are due to nuclei of charge Z, the protons accelerated in those sources are expected, under reasonable assumptions, to lead to excesses in the same regions of the sky at energies above Eth/Z. We here report the lack of anisotropies at these lower energies for illustrative values of Z = 6, 13 and 26. These observations set stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the sources.
868 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that there is a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above 6 x 10{sup 19} eV and the positions of active galactic nuclei lying within 75 Mpc.
Abstract: Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrate that there is a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above {approx} 6 x 10{sup 19} eV and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within {approx} 75 Mpc. We reject the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays at over 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observe is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been significantly reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.
798 citations
TL;DR: The energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 2.5 x 10;{18} eV, derived from 20,000 events recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory, is described and the hypothesis of a single power law is rejected with a significance greater than 6 standard deviations.
Abstract: The energy spectrum of cosmic rays above 2.5 x 10;{18} eV, derived from 20,000 events recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory, is described. The spectral index gamma of the particle flux, J proportional, variantE;{-gamma}, at energies between 4 x 10;{18} eV and 4 x 10;{19} eV is 2.69+/-0.02(stat)+/-0.06(syst), steepening to 4.2+/-0.4(stat)+/-0.06(syst) at higher energies. The hypothesis of a single power law is rejected with a significance greater than 6 standard deviations. The data are consistent with the prediction by Greisen and by Zatsepin and Kuz'min.
648 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reported a measurement of the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and statistics using the Pierre Auger Observatory based on fluorescence observations in coincidence with at least one surface detector.
461 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than 3.1 degrees from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the Veron-Cetty and Veron 12th catalog).
404 citations
Cited by
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the first calculations of the optical transients from compact object mergers that self-consistently determine the radioactive heating by means of a nuclear reaction network; using this heating rate, they model the light curve with a one-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer calculation.
Abstract: The most promising astrophysical sources of kHz gravitational waves (GWs) are the inspiral and merger of binary neutron star(NS)/black hole systems. Maximizing the scientific return of a GW detection will require identifying a coincident electromagnetic (EM) counterpart. One of the most likely sources of isotropic EM emission from compact object mergers is a supernova-like transient powered by the radioactive decay of heavy elements synthesized in ejecta from the merger. We present the first calculations of the optical transients from compact object mergers that self-consistently determine the radioactive heating by means of a nuclear reaction network; using this heating rate, we model the light curve with a one-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer calculation. For an ejecta mass ~ 10 -2 M ⊙ (10 -3 M ⊙ ) the resulting light-curve peaks on a time-scale ~1 d at a V-band luminosity vL v ~ 3 x 10 41 (10 41 )erg s -1 [M V = -15(-14)]; this corresponds to an effective 'f' parameter ~3 × 10- 6 in the Li-Paczynski toy model. We argue that these results are relatively insensitive to uncertainties in the relevant nuclear physics and to the precise early-time dynamics and ejecta composition. Since NS merger transients peak at a luminosity that is a factor of ~10 3 higher than a typical nova, we propose naming these events 'kilo-novae'. Because of the rapid evolution and low luminosity of NS merger transients, EM counterpart searches triggered by GW detections will require close collaboration between the GW and astronomical communities. NS merger transients may also be detectable following a short-duration gamma-ray burst or 'blindly' with present or upcoming optical transient surveys. Because the emission produced by NS merger ejecta is powered by the formation of rare r-process elements, current optical transient surveys can directly constrain the unknown origin of the heaviest elements in the Universe.
1,021 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize the observed metal-poor star abundances, contrasting them with the Solar-system values, comparing them to theoretical predictions, and using them to assess the types of stars responsible for their specific anomalies, and speculating on the timing and nature of early Galactic nucleosynthesis.
Abstract: The content of neutron-capture (trans-iron-peak) elements in the lowmetallicity Galactic halo varies widely from star to star. The differences are both in bulk amount of the neutron-capture elements with respect to lighter ones and in element-to-element ratios among themselves. Several well-defined abundance distributions have emerged that reveal characteristic rapid and slow neutron-capture nucleosynthesis patterns. In this review we summarize these observed metal-poor star’s abundances, contrasting them with the Solar-system values, comparing them to theoretical predictions, using them to assess the types of stars responsible for their specific anomalies, and speculating on the timing and nature of early Galactic nucleosynthesis.
901 citations
01 Jun 2013
TL;DR: In this article, the Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies larger thanEth = 55 EeV and showed that there is a correlation above the isotropic expectation with nearby active galaxies and the largest excess is in a celestial region around the position of the radio galaxy Cen A.
Abstract: The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energies larger thanEth = 55 EeV. There is a correlation above the isotropic expectation with nearby active galaxies and the largest excess is in a celestial region around the position of the radio galaxy Cen A. If these anisotropies are due to nuclei of charge Z, the protons accelerated in those sources are expected, under reasonable assumptions, to lead to excesses in the same regions of the sky at energies above Eth/Z. We here report the lack of anisotropies at these lower energies for illustrative values of Z = 6, 13 and 26. These observations set stringent constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the sources.
868 citations
TL;DR: Basic diagnostics aspects of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy are focused on and a review of the past and recent LIBS literature pertinent to this topic is presented and previous research on non-laser-based plasma literature, and the resulting knowledge, is emphasized.
Abstract: Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has become a very popular analytical method in the last decade in view of some of its unique features such as applicability to any type of sample, practically no sample preparation, remote sensing capability, and speed of analysis The technique has a remarkably wide applicability in many fields, and the number of applications is still growing From an analytical point of view, the quantitative aspects of LIBS may be considered its Achilles' heel, first due to the complex nature of the laser–sample interaction processes, which depend upon both the laser characteristics and the sample material properties, and second due to the plasma–particle interaction processes, which are space and time dependent Together, these may cause undesirable matrix effects Ways of alleviating these problems rely upon the description of the plasma excitation-ionization processes through the use of classical equilibrium relations and therefore on the assumption that the laser-induced
835 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In particular, the role of mesons, isobars and quarks in nuclear structure and the use of complex nuclei for probing fundamental symmetries is discussed in this paper.
665 citations