An extremely energetic cosmic ray observed by a surface detector array

Telescope Array Collaboration*†; R U Abbasi; M G Allen; R Arimura; J W Belz; D R Bergman; S A Blake; B K Shin; I J Buckland; B G Cheon; T Fujii; K Fujisue; K Fujita; M Fukushima; G D Furlich; Z R Gerber; N Globus; K Hibino; R Higuchi; K Honda; D Ikeda; H Ito; A Iwasaki; S Jeong; H M Jeong; C H Jui; K Kadota; F Kakimoto; O E Kalashev; K Kasahara; K Kawata; I Kharuk; E Kido; S W Kim; H B Kim; J H Kim; J H Kim; I Komae; Y Kubota; M Y Kuznetsov; K H Lee; B K Lubsandorzhiev; J P Lundquist; J N Matthews; S Nagataki; T Nakamura; A Nakazawa; T Nonaka; S Ogio; M Ono; H Oshima; I H Park; M Potts; S Pshirkov; J R Remington; D C Rodriguez; C Rott; G I Rubtsov; D Ryu; H Sagawa; N Sakaki; T Sako; N Sakurai; H Shin; J D Smith; P Sokolsky; B T Stokes; T S Stroman; K Takahashi; M Takeda; A Taketa; Y Tameda; S Thomas; G B Thomson; P G Tinyakov; I Tkachev; T Tomida; S V Troitsky; Y Tsunesada; S Udo; F R Urban; T Wong; K Yamazaki; Y Yuma; Y V Zhezher; Z Zundel

doi:10.1126/science.abo5095

An extremely energetic cosmic ray observed by a surface detector array

Science. 2023 Nov 24;382(6673):903-907. doi: 10.1126/science.abo5095. Epub 2023 Nov 23.

Authors

Telescope Array Collaboration*†; R U Abbasi¹, M G Allen², R Arimura³, J W Belz², D R Bergman², S A Blake⁴, B K Shin⁵, I J Buckland², B G Cheon⁶, T Fujii^{3

7

8}, K Fujisue⁹, K Fujita⁹, M Fukushima⁹, G D Furlich², Z R Gerber², N Globus¹⁰, K Hibino¹¹, R Higuchi¹⁰, K Honda¹², D Ikeda¹¹, H Ito¹⁰, A Iwasaki³, S Jeong¹³, H M Jeong¹³, C H Jui², K Kadota¹⁴, F Kakimoto¹¹, O E Kalashev¹⁵, K Kasahara¹⁶, K Kawata⁹, I Kharuk¹⁵, E Kido¹⁰, S W Kim¹³, H B Kim⁶, J H Kim², J H Kim¹⁷, I Komae³, Y Kubota¹⁸, M Y Kuznetsov¹⁵, K H Lee¹³, B K Lubsandorzhiev¹⁵, J P Lundquist¹⁹, J N Matthews², S Nagataki¹⁰, T Nakamura¹⁸, A Nakazawa¹⁸, T Nonaka⁹, S Ogio⁹, M Ono^{10

20}, H Oshima⁹, I H Park¹³, M Potts², S Pshirkov¹⁵, J R Remington²¹, D C Rodriguez^{2

22}, C Rott^{2

13}, G I Rubtsov¹⁵, D Ryu⁵, H Sagawa⁹, N Sakaki¹⁰, T Sako⁹, N Sakurai²³, H Shin⁹, J D Smith², P Sokolsky², B T Stokes², T S Stroman², K Takahashi⁹, M Takeda⁹, A Taketa²⁴, Y Tameda²⁵, S Thomas², G B Thomson², P G Tinyakov²⁶, I Tkachev¹⁵, T Tomida¹⁸, S V Troitsky¹⁵, Y Tsunesada^{3

8}, S Udo¹¹, F R Urban²⁷, T Wong², K Yamazaki²⁸, Y Yuma¹⁸, Y V Zhezher¹⁵, Z Zundel²

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² High Energy Astrophysics Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
³ Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, 558-8585, Japan.
⁴ Stellar Science, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
⁵ Department of Physics, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, 44919, Ulsan, Korea.
⁶ Department of Physics and The Research Institute of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, Korea.
⁷ Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
⁸ Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Osaka Metropolitan University, 3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, 558-8585, Japan.
⁹ Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba, 277-8582, Japan.
¹⁰ Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198 Japan.
¹¹ Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686, Japan.
¹² University of Yamanashi, Kofu, 400-8510, Japan.
¹³ Department of Physics, SungKyunKwan University, Jang-an-gu, Suwon 16419, Korea.
¹⁴ Department of Natural Sciences, Tokyo City University, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-8557, Japan.
¹⁵ Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prospekt 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7a, Moscow 117312, Russia.
¹⁶ Shibauta Institute of Technology and Sicence, Fukasaku 307, Minuma-ku, Saitama, Japan.
¹⁷ Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, USA.
¹⁸ Academic Assembly School of Science and Technology Institute of Engineering, Shinshu University, Nagano, Nagano, 380-8553, Japan.
¹⁹ Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
²⁰ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
²¹ NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Martin Road, Huntsville, AL, USA.
²² Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan.
²³ Faculty of Design Technology, 3-1-1 Nakagaito, Daito City, Osaka, Japan.
²⁴ Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0032, Japan.
²⁵ Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka Electro-Communication University, Neyagawa-shi, Osaka 572-8530, Japan.
²⁶ Universite Libre de Bruxelles, bvd du Triomphe CP225, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁷ The Central European Institute for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 21 Prague, Czech Republic.
²⁸ College of Engineering, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501, Japan.

PMID: 37995237
DOI: 10.1126/science.abo5095

Abstract

Cosmic rays are energetic charged particles from extraterrestrial sources, with the highest-energy events thought to come from extragalactic sources. Their arrival is infrequent, so detection requires instruments with large collecting areas. In this work, we report the detection of an extremely energetic particle recorded by the surface detector array of the Telescope Array experiment. We calculate the particle's energy as [Formula: see text] (~40 joules). Its arrival direction points back to a void in the large-scale structure of the Universe. Possible explanations include a large deflection by the foreground magnetic field, an unidentified source in the local extragalactic neighborhood, or an incomplete knowledge of particle physics.