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Abstract:
We propose a novel approach for observing cosmic rays at ultra-high energy ($>10^{18}$~eV) by repurposing the existing network of smartphones as a ground detector array. Extensive air showers generated by cosmic rays produce muons and high-energy photons, which can be detected by the CMOS sensors of smartphone cameras. The small size and low efficiency of each sensor is compensated by the large number of active phones. We show that if user adoption targets are met, such a network will have significant observing power at the highest energies. Recent developments such as detailed muon efficiency measurements and app performance upgrades are discussed.
Biography:
I’m an particle physicist and a professor of physics at UC Irvine. I use machine learning and statistical tools to analyze high-energy particle collisions with the ATLAS experiment in an effort to unravel the nature of matter and energy. I also have written popular-science books (wehavenoidea.com, universefaq.com) and host a podcast about physics: danielandjorge.com