The Pierre Auger Observatory has collected data for more than 15 years, accumulating the world’s largest exposure to ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The energy spectrum of the UHECRs has been measured up to 10[sup]20.2 eV, and their mass composition has been studied exploiting both the fluorescence and surface detectors of the Observatory. The analysis of the UHECRs arrival directions allowed us to measure their large-scale anisotropies over more than three decades in energy. The searches for intermediate-scale anisotropies are being performed with an exposure now reaching approximately 100,000 km[sup]2 sr yr. Moreover, we discuss the limits obtained on the fluxes of neutral particles and the results of the searches for UHE neutrinos from transient astrophysical sources. The new perspectives opened by the current results call for an upgrade of the Observatory, whose main aim is the collection of new information about the primary mass of the highest energy cosmic rays to understand the origin of the observed flux suppression. The progress of the upgrade of the Observatory, baptised AugerPrime, is presented and discussed.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 19713795We present the first measurement of the fluctuations in the number of muons in inclined air showers with energies above 4 EeV measured with the Pierre Auger Observatory. We find that the results agree well with simulations within the experimental uncertainties. In contrast, the measurement of the average number of muons has previously been found to deviate substantially from the predictions by high-energy hadronic interaction models. We analyse the implications of these findings for our understanding of hadronic interactions, especially to those at the highest energies.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 23567363The Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA, will be the major global observatory for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond. The scientific potential of CTA is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. CTA is an explorer of the extreme universe, probing environments from the immediate neighbourhood of black holes to cosmic voids on the largest scales. Covering a huge range in photon energy from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, CTA will improve on all aspects of performance with respect to current instruments.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 5409275