Simulation of dark matter events detected by the AMS-02 experiment

• Grant number: 15/13533-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: September 04, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - General Physics
• Principal Investigator: Manuela Vecchi
• Grantee: Eduardo Ferronato Bueno
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/19149-7 - Indirect dark matter search with the AMS-02 detector, AP.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/20749-1 - Study of cosmic ray positrons with the AMS-02 detector, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

AMS-02 is a particle physics detector operating in space, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), since May 2011. In four years of data taking, AMS has collected more than 60 billion cosmic rays: this is much more than all the cosmic rays collected in the past 100 years. The production of simulated events is very important to perform AMS measurements. A complete simulation of the AMS-02 detector is necessary to evaluate the detector geometrical acceptance and sub-detector efficiencies, to study the detector resolution and to qualify the selection criteria of every measurement. Simulated events are even more important for antimatter studies, since the the above mentioned studies cannot be performed on data-driven bases, given the low abundance of these particles. The main objective of the proposed activity is to introduce the student to the context of research, by means of the study of one of the leading topics in high energy physics: the detection of antimatter in cosmic rays.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

AGUILAR, M.; CAVASONZA, L. ALI; AMBROSI, G.; ARRUDA, L.; ATTIG, N.; AUPETIT, S.; AZZARELLO, P.; BACHLECHNER, A.; BARAO, F.; BARRAU, A.; et al. Precision Measurement of the Boron to Carbon Flux Ratio in Cosmic Rays from 1.9 GV to 2.6 TV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station. Physical Review Letters, v. 117, n. 23, NOV 28 2016. (15/13533-2, 15/50378-5, 16/10222-9)

BOUDAUD, M.; BUENO, E. F.; CAROFF, S.; GENOLINI, Y.; POULIN, V.; POIREAU, V.; PUTZE, A.; ROSIER, S.; SALATI, P.; VECCHI, M.. The pinching method for Galactic cosmic ray positrons: Implications in the light of precision measurements. Astronomy & Astrophysics, v. 605, SEP 2017. (15/13533-2, 14/50747-8, 14/19149-7)