(In)Feasability of Studying Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays with Smartphones

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of using smartphones as a large-scale detector for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, concluding that practical limitations make this approach unlikely to be effective.

Contribution

It provides an estimation of smartphone network capabilities for cosmic-ray detection and demonstrates the significant challenges in achieving meaningful scientific results.

Findings

Smartphone networks require an unrealistically high participation rate.

Detection area with smartphones is insufficient for current cosmic-ray research.

Prospects for using smartphones in cosmic-ray studies are very limited.

Abstract

We estimate the effective area available for cosmic-ray detection with a network of smartphones under optimistic conditions. To measure cosmic-ray air showers with a minimally-adequate precision and a detection area similar to existing ground-based detectors, the fraction of participating users needs to unrealistically large. We conclude that the prospects of cosmic-ray research using smartphones are very limited.