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arXiv · 2408.14867

The Fluorescence Camera of the POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR): Design and Scientific goals

Matteo Battisti·Johannes Eser·George Filippatos·Angela Olinto·Giuseppe Osteria·Etienne Parizot·JEM-EUSO Collaboration
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Abstract

The POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR) is a proposed payload to fly on a NASA Super Pressure Balloon (SPB). It will act as a pathfinder of the Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA) detector. PBR will consist of an innovative hybrid focal surface featuring a Fluorescence Camera (FC, based on Multi-Anode Photomultiplier Tubes [MAPMTs], 1.05 $μ$s time resolution) and a Cherenkov Camera (based on SiPMs, 10 ns time resolution), both mounted on the same tiltable frame that can point from nadir up to 13$^\circ$ above the horizon. The FC's main scientific goal is to observe, for the first time, the fluorescence emission of Extensive Air Showers produced by Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays from sub-orbital altitudes. This measurement will validate the detection strategy for future space-based missions, such as POEMMA. As a secondary goal, the FC will perform a search for macroscopic dark matter through slowly evolving showers that will leave a signal similar to (but distinct from) a meteor. PBR targets a launch in 2027 as a payload of an ultra-long duration balloon flight with a duration of up to 100 days.

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Matteo Battisti, Johannes Eser, George Filippatos, Angela Olinto, Giuseppe Osteria, Etienne Parizot, JEM-EUSO Collaboration. 2024-08-27. The Fluorescence Camera of the POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR): Design and Scientific goals. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2024.169727

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