A Commensal Radio-Only Cosmic Ray Detector at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel radio-only cosmic ray detector at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory that operates independently of external triggers, effectively identifying cosmic ray air showers amidst radio interference.

Contribution

It introduces a commensal, radio-only cosmic ray detection system integrated with the OVRO-LWA, utilizing FPGA-based RFI rejection and independent triggering.

Findings

Successful detection of cosmic ray candidates.

Effective RFI rejection strategy implemented.

System operates alongside existing array modes.

Abstract

The brief (10 nanoseconds) transient radio emission from cosmic ray air showers carries key information about the energy and mass composition of high energy cosmic rays, but anthropogenic radio frequency interference has historically prevented radio-based cosmic ray studies from being carried out independently from other types of detectors. We describe a cosmic ray detection system for the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array that searches for radio emission from cosmic ray air showers without relying on an external trigger, and runs alongside the other observing modes of the array. The OVRO-LWA, located in Eastern California, recently completed an expansion to 352 dual-polarization antennas and new signal processing infrastructure. In order to detect cosmic rays in the presence of radio frequency interference (RFI), initial event classification and RFI rejection is performed on Field Programmable Gate Array boards, which each process a sampled voltage timeseries from both polarizations of a subarray of 32 antennas. Each board uses dedicated RFI veto antennas outside the air shower radio footprint to reject RFI events. We present the trigger design, RFI flagging strategy, and candidate cosmic rays.