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Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías

Pierre Auger

Unravelling the mystery of high-energy cosmic rays, the most energetic particles observed in nature. What are cosmic rays? Where do they come from? How do they get their energy?

On the vast plain known as the Pampa Amarilla in western Argentina, the Pierre Auger Observatory is studying the highest-energy particles in the Universe, which hit the Earth from all directions, so-called cosmic rays. Cosmic rays with low to moderate energies are well understood, while those with extremely high energies remain highly mysterious. By detecting and studying these rare particles, the Pierre Auger Observatory is tackling the enigmas of their origin and existence.

The Auger Observatory is a “hybrid detector”, employing two independent methods to detect and study high-energy cosmic rays. One technique detects high energy particles through their interaction with water placed in surface detector tanks. The other technique tracks the development of air showers by observing ultraviolet light emitted high in the Earth’s atmosphere. The hybrid nature of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides for two independent ways to see cosmic rays.

The Astroparticle Physics group at IGFAE led by Prof. Enrique Zas has played a relevant role since its incorporation into the Auger Collaboration in 2002. Among the many contributions of this group, it is worth mentioning the search for ultra-high energy neutrinos and the analysis of inclined showers. Both works have allowed to the collaboration to achieve important science results as those two recently awarded as the Physics World Top Ten Breakthroughs of 2017.

The Astroparticle Physics group is composed of four senior members (Jaime Alvarez-Muñiz, Lorenzo Cazón, Gonzalo Parente and Enrique Zas) two postdoctoral researchers (Marvin Gottowik and Felix Riehn), and four PhD students (Juan Ammerman, Sergio Cabana, Yago Lema and Miguel Martins). The group participates in the Pierre Auger Observatory since 2002 when Spain became a full member of the Pierre Auger Collaboration consisting of more than 400 scientists from 20 countries.

Publications

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2025-04-01
Article

Article
2025-04-01
Simulating radio emission from particle cascades with CORSIKA 8

Astropart. Phys.166(2025), 166, (2025)

JCAP

Albrecht, J. ... Riehn, F. et al.

All authors

Alameddine J.M., Albrecht J., Ammerman-Yebra J., Arrabito L., Alves A.A., Baack D., Coleman A., Dembinski H., Elsasser D., Engel R., Faure A., Ferrari A., Gaudu C., Glaser C., Gottowik M., Heck D., Huege T., Kampert K.H., Karastathis N., Nellen L., Pierog T., Prechelt R., Reininghaus M., Rhode W., Riehn F., Sackel M., Sampathkumar P., Sandrock A., Soedingrekso J., Ulrich R.

2025-03-28
Article

Article
2025-03-28
Search for the Anomalous Events Detected by ANITA Using the Pierre Auger Observatory

Phys. Rev. Lett. 134(2025), 134, (2025)

JCAP

Abreu, P. ... Alvarez-Muniz, J., Parente, G., Riehn, F., Zas, E. et al.

All authors

Abdul Halim A., Abreu P., Aglietta M., Allekotte I., Almeida Cheminant K., Almela A., Aloisio R., Alvarez-Muniz J., Ammerman Yebra J., Anastasi G.A., Anchordoqui L., Andrada B., Andringa S., Apollonio L., Aramo C., Araujo Ferreira P.R., Arnone E., Arteaga Velazquez J.C., Assis P., Avila G., Avocone E., Bakalova A., Barbato F., Bartz Mocellin A., Bellido J.A., Berat C., Bertaina M.E., Bhatta G., Bianciotto M., Biermann P.L., Binet V., Bismark K., Bister T., Biteau J., Blazek J., Bleve C., Blumer J., Bohacova M., Boncioli D., Bonifazi C., Bonneau Arbeletche L., Borodai N., Brack J., Brichetto Orchera P.G., Briechle F.L., Bueno A., Buitink S., Buscemi M., Busken M., Bwembya A., Caballero-Mora K.S., Cabana-Freire S., Caccianiga L., Campuzano F., Caracas I., Caruso R., Castellina A., Catalani F., Cataldi G., Cazon L., Cerda M., Cermenati A., Chinellato J.A., Chudoba J., Chytka L., Clay R.W., Cobos Cerutti A.C., Colalillo R., Coluccia M.R., Conceicao R., Condorelli A., Consolati G., Conte M., Convenga F., Correia Dos Santos D., Costa P.J., Covault C.E., Cristinziani M., Cruz Sanchez C.S., Dasso S., Daumiller K., Dawson B.R., De Almeida R.M., De Jesus J., De Jong S.J., De Mello Neto J.R.T., De Mitri I., De Oliveira J., De Oliveira Franco D., De Palma F., De Souza V., De Souza De Errico B.P., De Vito E., Del Popolo A., Deligny O., Denner N., Deval L., Di Matteo A., Dobre M., Dobrigkeit C., D'Olivo J.C., Domingues Mendes L.M., Dorosti Q., Dos Anjos J.C., Dos Anjos R.C., Ebr J., Ellwanger F., Emam M., Engel R., Epicoco I., Erdmann M., Etchegoyen A., Evoli C., Falcke H., Farrar G., Fauth A.C., Fazzini N., Feldbusch F., Fenu F., Fernandes A., Fick B., Figueira J.M., Filipcic A., Fitoussi T., Flaggs B., Fodran T., Fujii T., Fuster A., Galea C., Galelli C., Garcia B., Gaudu C., Gemmeke H., Gesualdi F., Gherghel-Lascu A., Ghia P.L., Giaccari U., Glombitza J., Gobbi F., Gollan F., Golup G., Gomez Berisso M., Gomez Vitale P.F., Gongora J.P., Gonzalez J.M., Gonzalez N., Gora D., Gorgi A., Gottowik M., Grubb T.D., Guarino F., Guedes G.P., Guido E., Gulzow L., Hahn S., Hamal P., Hampel M.R., Hansen P., Harari D., Harvey V.M., Haungs A., Hebbeker T., Hojvat C., Horandel J.R., Horvath P., Hrabovsky M., Huege T., Insolia A., Isar P.G., Janecek P., Jilek V., Johnsen J.A., Jurysek J., Kampert K.-H., Keilhauer B., Khakurdikar A., Kizakke Covilakam V.V., Klages H.O., Kleifges M., Knapp F., Kohler J., Kunka N., Lago B.L., Langner N., Leigui De Oliveira M.A., Lema-Capeans Y., Letessier-Selvon A., Lhenry-Yvon I., Lopes L., Lu L., Luce Q., Lundquist J.P., Machado Payeras A., Majercakova M., Mandat D., Manning B.C., Mantsch P., Mariani F.M., Mariazzi A.G., Maris I.C., Marsella G., Martello D., Martinelli S., Martinez Bravo O., Martins M.A., Mastrodicasa M., Mathes H.-J., Matthews J., Matthiae G., Mayotte E., Mayotte S., Mazur P.O., Medina-Tanco G., Meinert J., Melo D., Menshikov A., Merx C., Michal S., Micheletti M.I., Miramonti L., Mollerach S., Montanet F., Morejon L., Morello C., Mulrey K., Mussa R., Namasaka W.M., Negi S., Nellen L., Nguyen K., Nicora G., Niechciol M., Nitz D., Nosek D., Novotny V., NoZka L., Nucita A., Nunez L.A., Oliveira C., Palatka M., Pallotta J., Panja S., Parente G., Paulsen T., Pawlowsky J., Pech M., Pekala J., Pelayo R., Pereira L.A.S., Pereira Martins E.E., Perez Armand J., Perez Bertolli C., Perrone L., Petrera S., Petrucci C., Pierog T., Pimenta M., Platino M., Pont B., Pothast M., Pourmohammad Shahvar M., Privitera P., Prouza M., Querchfeld S., Rautenberg J., Ravignani D., Reginatto Akim J.V., Reininghaus M., Ridky J., Riehn F., Risse M., Rizi V., Rodrigues De Carvalho W., Rodriguez E., Rodriguez Rojo J., Roncoroni M.J., Rossoni S., Roth M., Roulet E., Rovero A.C., Ruehl P., Saftoiu A., Saharan M., Salamida F., Salazar H., Salina G., Sanabria Gomez J.D., Sanchez F., Santos E.M., Santos E., Sarazin F., Sarmento R., Sato R., Savina P., Schafer C.M., Scherini V., Schieler H., Schimassek M., Schimp M., Schmidt D., Scholten O., Schoorlemmer H., Schovanek P., Schroder F.G., Schulte J., Schulz T., Sciutto S.J., Scornavacche M., Sedoski A., Segreto A., Sehgal S., Shivashankara S.U., Sigl G., Silli G., Sima O., Simkova K., Simon F., Smau R., Smida R., Sommers P., Soriano J.F., Squartini R., Stadelmaier M., Stanic S., Stasielak J., Stassi P., Strahnz S., Straub M., Suomijarvi T., Supanitsky A.D., Svozilikova Z., Szadkowski Z., Tairli F., Tapia A., Taricco C., Timmermans C., Tkachenko O., Tobiska P., Todero Peixoto C.J., Tome B., Torres Z., Travaini A., Travnicek P., Trimarelli C., Tueros M., Unger M., Vaclavek L., Vacula M., Valdes Galicia J.F., Valore L., Varela E., Vasquez-Ramirez A., Veberic D., Ventura C., Vergara Quispe I.D., Verzi V., Vicha J., Vink J., Vorobiov S., Watanabe C., Watson A.A., Weindl A., Wiencke L., Wilczynski H., Wittkowski D., Wundheiler B., Yue B., Yushkov A., Zapparrata O., Zas E., Zavrtanik D., Zavrtanik M., Prechelt R., Romero-Wolf A., Wissel S., Zeolla A.

2024-12-01
Article

Article
2024-12-01
Proton-air interactions at ultra-high energies in muon-depleted air showers with different depths

859, (2024)

JCAP

Cazon L., Conceicao R., Martins M.A., Riehn F.

All authors

Cazon L., Conceicao R., Martins M.A., Riehn F.

2024-09-23
Article

Article
2024-09-23
Radio emission from atmosphere-skimming cosmic ray showers in high-altitude balloon-borne experiments

01, 22 (2024)

ARXIV

2831257

JCAP

Tueros, Matias, Cabana-Freire, Sergio, Alvarez-Muniz, Jaime

All authors

Tueros, Matias, Cabana-Freire, Sergio, Alvarez-Muniz, Jaime

2024-08-13
Article

Article
2024-08-13
Large-scale Cosmic-ray Anisotropies with 19 yr of Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory

976, 17 (2024)

ARXIV

2817364

JCAP

Halim, A. Abdul ... Alvarez-Muniz, J., Parente, G., Riehn, F., Zas, E. et al.

All authors

Halim, A. Abdul, Abreu, P., Aglietta, M., Allekotte, I., Cheminant, K. Almeida, Almela, A., Aloisio, R., Alvarez-Muniz, J., Ambrosone, A., Yebra, J. Ammerman, Anastasi, G.A., Anchordoqui, L., Andrada, B., Dourado, L. Andrade, Andringa, S., Apollonio, L., Aramo, C., Araujo Ferreira, P.R., Arnone, E., Velazquez, J.C. Arteaga, Assis, P., Avila, G., Avocone, E., Bakalova, A., Barbato, F., Mocellin, A. Bartz, Bellido, J.A., Berat, C., Bertaina, M.E., Bhatta, G., Bianciotto, M., Biermann, P.L., Binet, V., Bismark, K., Bister, T., Biteau, J., Blazek, J., Bleve, C., Blumer, J., Bohacova, M., Boncioli, D., Bonifazi, C., Arbeletche, L. Bonneau, Borodai, N., Brack, J., Orchera, P.G. Brichetto, Briechle, F.L., Bueno, A., Buitink, S., Buscemi, M., Busken, M., Bwembya, A., Caballero-Mora, K.S., Cabana-Freire, S., Caccianiga, L., Campuzano, F., Caruso, R., Castellina, A., Catalani, F., Cataldi, G., Cazon, L., Cerda, M., Cermakova, B., Cermenati, A., Chinellato, J.A., Chudoba, J., Chytka, L., Clay, R.W., Cobos Cerutti, A.C., Colalillo, R., Conceicao, R., Condorelli, A., Consolati, G., Conte, M., Convenga, F., Santos, D. Correia dos, Costa, P.J., Covault, C.E., Cristinziani, M., Cruz Sanchez, C.S., Dasso, S., Daumiller, K., Dawson, B.R., de Almeida, R.M., de Errico, B., de Jesus, J., de Jong, S.J., de Mello Neto, J.R. T., De Mitri, I., de Oliveira, J., de Oliveira Franco, D., de Palma, F., de Souza, V., De Vito, E., Del Popolo, A., Deligny, O., Denner, N., Deval, L., di Matteo, A., Dobrigkeit, C., D'Olivo, J.C., Mendes, L.M. Domingues, Dorosti, Q., dos Anjos, J.C., dos Anjos, R.C., Ebr, J., Ellwanger, F., Emam, M., Engel, R., Epicoco, I., Erdmann, M., Etchegoyen, A., Evoli, C., Falcke, H., Farrar, G., Fauth, A.C., Fehler, T., Feldbusch, F., Fernandes, A., Fick, B., Figueira, J.M., Filip, P., Filipcic, A., Fitoussi, T., Flaggs, B., Fodran, T., Freitas, M., Fujii, T., Fuster, A., Galea, C., Garcia, B., Gaudu, C., Ghia, P.L., Giaccari, U., Gobbi, F., Gollan, F., Golup, G., Gomez Berisso, M., Gomez Vitale, P.F., Gongora, J.P., Gonzalez, J.M., Gonzalez, N., Gora, D., Gorgi, A., Gottowik, M., Guarino, F., Guedes, G.P., Guido, E., Gulzow, L., Hahn, S., Hamal, P., Hampel, M.R., Hansen, P., Harvey, V.M., Haungs, A., Hebbeker, T., Hojvat, C., Horandel, J.R., Horvath, P., Hrabovsky, M., Huege, T., Insolia, A., Isar, P.G., Janecek, P., Jilek, V., Jurysek, J., Kampert, K.-H., Keilhauer, B., Khakurdikar, A., Kizakke Covilakam, V.V., Klages, H.O., Kleifges, M., Knapp, F., Kohler, J., Krieger, F., Kubatova, M., Kunka, N., Lago, B.L., Langner, N., de Oliveira, M.A. Leigui, Lema-Capeans, Y., Letessier-Selvon, A., Lhenry-Yvon, I., Lopes, L., Lundquist, J.P., Machado Payeras, A., Mandat, D., Manning, B.C., Mantsch, P., Mariani, F.M., Mariazzi, A.G., Maris, I.C., Marsella, G., Martello, D., Martinelli, S., Martinez Bravo, O., Martins, M.A., Mathes, H.-J., Matthews, J., Matthiae, G., Mayotte, E., Mayotte, S., Mazur, P.O., Medina-Tanco, G., Meinert, J., Melo, D., Menshikov, A., Merx, C., Michal, S., Micheletti, M.I., Miramonti, L., Mollerach, S., Montanet, F., Morejon, L., Mulrey, K., Mussa, R., Namasaka, W.M., Negi, S., Nellen, L., Nguyen, K., Nicora, G., Niechciol, M., Nitz, D., Nosek, D., Novotny, V., Nozka, L., Nucita, A., Nunez, L.A., Oliveira, C., Palatka, M., Pallotta, J., Panja, S., Parente, G., Paulsen, T., Pawlowsky, J., Pech, M., Pekala, J., Pelayo, R., Pelgrims, V., Pereira, L.A. S., Pereira Martins, E.E., Perez Bertolli, C., Perrone, L., Petrera, S., Petrucci, C., Pierog, T., Pimenta, M., Platino, M., Pont, B., Pothast, M., Shahvar, M. Pourmohammad, Privitera, P., Prouza, M., Querchfeld, S., Rautenberg, J., Ravignani, D., Akim, J.V. Reginatto, Reuzki, A., Ridky, J., Riehn, F., Risse, M., Rizi, V., Rodriguez, E., Rodriguez Rojo, J., Roncoroni, M.J., Rossoni, S., Roth, M., Roulet, E., Rovero, A.C., Saftoiu, A., Saharan, M., Salamida, F., Salazar, H., Salina, G., Sampathkumar, P., Gomez, J.D. Sanabria, Sanchez, F., Moura Santos, Edivaldo, Santos, Eva, Sarazin, F., Sarmento, R., Sato, R., Schafer, C.M., Scherini, V., Schieler, H., Schimassek, M., Schimp, M., Schmidt, D., Scholten, O., Schoorlemmer, H., Schovanek, P., Schroder, F.G., Schulte, J., Schulz, T., Sciutto, S.J., Scornavacche, M., Sedoski, A., Segreto, A., Sehgal, S., Shivashankara, S.U., Sigl, G., Simkova, K., Simon, F., Smida, R., Sommers, P., Squartini, R., Stadelmaier, M., Stanic, S., Stasielak, J., Stassi, P., Strahnz, S., Straub, M., Suomijarvi, T., Supanitsky, A.D., Svozilikova, Z., Szadkowski, Z., Tairli, F., Tapia, A., Taricco, C., Timmermans, C., Tkachenko, O., Tobiska, P., Todero Peixoto, C.J., Tome, B., Torres, Z., Travaini, A., Travnicek, P., Tueros, M., Unger, M., Uzeiroska, R., Vaclavek, L., Vacula, M., Valdes Galicia, J.F., Valore, L., Varela, E., Vasickova, V., Vasquez-Ramirez, A., Veberic, D., Vergara Quispe, I.D., Verzi, V., Vicha, J., Vink, J., Vorobiov, S., Watanabe, C., Watson, A.A., Weindl, A., Weitz, M., Wiencke, L., Wilczynski, H., Wittkowski, D., Wundheiler, B., Yue, B., Yushkov, A., Zapparrata, O., Zas, E., Zavrtanik, D., Zavrtanik, M.

Projects

See All

2024-09-01
SA2_AUGE

SA2_AUGE
101131928-1
Astrophysics Center for Multimessenger studies in Europe (ACME)

Principal investigator

Enrique Zas Arregui

Initial date

2024-09-01

Final date

2028-08-31

2024-06-03
SA2_AUGE

SA2_AUGE
2024-RC018-1
Data Science in Fundamental Physics and Bridge to Industry & Society

Principal investigator

Lorenzo Cazón Boado

Initial date

2024-06-03

Final date

2025-06-07

2023-09-01
SA2_AUGE

SA2_AUGE
PID2022-140510NB-I00
Rayos Cósmicos y Neutrinos en la Era de Multimensajeros: Observatorio Pierre Auger y Detección con Radio.

Principal investigator

Jaime Álvarez Muñiz

Initial date

2023-09-01

Final date

2026-08-31

2023-09-01
SA2_AUGE

SA2_AUGE
2023-PN068
Cosmic rays and neutrinos in the multimessenger era: Pierre Auger Observatory - PROYECTOS DE COLA...

Principal investigator

Jaime Álvarez Muñiz

Initial date

2023-09-01

Final date

2026-08-31

Agency

AEI - Agencia Estatal de Investigación

2022-10-03
SA2_AUGE

SA2_AUGE
2021-PI118
New measurement of ultra-high energy interactions using radio detection of cosmic ray air showers (RADIO4MU)

Principal investigator

Felix Riehn

Initial date

2022-10-03

Final date

2024-10-02