Vertical Array in Space for Horizontal Air-Showers

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel vertical array detector system, using floating balloons, to observe and analyze horizontal and upward air-showers caused by high-energy cosmic particles, enhancing detection of neutrinos and cosmic ray composition.

Contribution

It introduces a new detector design with hanging balloon chains to detect horizontal and upward air-showers, including UHE neutrino-induced events, improving observational capabilities.

Findings

Vertical arrays can detect split horizontal air-showers.

Floating balloon chains act as calorimeters and Cherenkov light recorders.

Potential to observe UHE Tau neutrino events from Earth's edge.

Abstract

We consider the guaranteed physics of horizontal (hadron) air-showers, HAS, developing at high (tens km) altitudes. Their morphology and information traces are different from vertical ones. Hundreds of km long HAS are often split by geomagnetic fields in a long (fan-like) showering with a twin spiral tail. The horizontal fan-like airshowers are really tangent and horizontal only at North and South poles. At different latitude these showering plane are turned and inclined by geomagnetic fields. In particular at magnetic equator such tangent horizontal East-West airshowers are bent and developed into a vertical fan air-shower, easily detectable by a vertical array detector (hanging elements by gravity). Such "medusa" arrays maybe composed by inflated floating balloons chains. The light gas float and it acts as an calorimeter for the particles, while it partially sustains the detector weight. Vertically hanging chains as well as rubber doughnut balloons (whose interior may record Cherenkov lights) reveal bundles of crossing electron pairs. Such an array maybe loaded at best and cheapest prototype in common balloons tracing upward and tangent hadron air-showers from terrestrial atmosphere edge. These array structure may reveal the split shower signature. Better revealing the composition nature. Just beyond the Earth horizons there are exciting, but rarer, sources of upward airshowers: the new UHE Tau Air-showers astronomy originated within Earth by EeVs tau neutrino signals skimming the soil and forming UHE Tau, decaying later in flight. Therefore Horizontal airshowers at equator may show the hadron horizontal twin split nature, its composition as well as a very first expected UHE Neutrino astronomy.