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The Tunka-Rex experiment (Tunka Radio Extension) has been deployed in 2012 at the Tunka Valley (Republic of Buryatia, Russia). Its purpose is to investigate methods for the energy spectrum and the mass composition of high-energy cosmic rays based on the radio emission of air showers. Tunka-Rex is an array of 25 radio antennas distributed over an area of 3 km^2. The most important feature of the Tunka-Rex is that the air-shower radio emission is measured in coincidence with the Tunka-133 installation, which detects the Cherenkov radiation generated by the same atmospheric showers. Joint measurements of the radio emission and the Cherenkov light provide a unique opportunity for cross calibration of both calorimetric detection methods. The main goal of Tunka-Rex is to determine the precision for the reconstruction of air-shower parameters using the radio detection technique. In this article we present the current status of Tunka-Rex and first results, including reconstruction methods for parameters of the primary cosmic rays., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of ARENA 2014

We report the early discovery of the optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 140801A in the 137 deg$^2$ 3-$\sigma$ error-box of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). MASTER is the only observatory that automatically react to all Fermi alerts. GRB 140801A is one of the few GRBs whose optical counterpart was discovered solely from its GBM localization. The optical afterglow of GRB 140801A was found by MASTER Global Robotic Net 53 sec after receiving the alert, making it the fastest optical detection of a GRB from a GBM error-box. Spectroscopy obtained with the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the 6-m BTA of SAO RAS reveals a redshift of $z=1.32$. We performed optical and near-infrared photometry of GRB 140801A using different telescopes with apertures ranging from 0.4-m to 10.4-m. GRB 140801A is a typical burst in many ways. The rest-frame bolometric isotropic energy release and peak energy of the burst is $E_\mathrm{iso} = 5.54_{-0.24}^{+0.26} \times 10^{52}$ erg and $E_\mathrm{p, rest}\simeq280$ keV, respectively, which is consistent with the Amati relation. The absence of a jet break in the optical light curve provides a lower limit on the half-opening angle of the jet $\theta=6.1$ deg. The observed $E_\mathrm{peak}$ is consistent with the limit derived from the Ghirlanda relation. The joint Fermi GBM and Konus-Wind analysis shows that GRB 140801A could belong to the class of intermediate duration. The rapid detection of the optical counterpart of GRB 140801A is especially important regarding the upcoming experiments with large coordinate error-box areas., Comment: in press MNRAS, 2015

Tunka-Rex is a radio detector for cosmic-ray air showers in Siberia, triggered by Tunka-133, a co-located air-Cherenkov detector. The main goal of Tunka-Rex is the cross-calibration of the two detectors by measuring the air-Cherenkov light and the radio signal emitted by the same air showers. This way we can explore the precision of the radio-detection technique, especially for the reconstruction of the primary energy and the depth of the shower maximum. The latter is sensitive to the mass of the primary cosmic-ray particles. In this paper we describe the detector setup and explain how electronics and antennas have been calibrated. The analysis of data of the first season proves the detection of cosmic-ray air showers and therefore, the functionality of the detector. We confirm the expected dependence of the detection threshold on the geomagnetic angle and the correlation between the energy of the primary cosmic-ray particle and the radio amplitude. Furthermore, we compare reconstructed amplitudes of radio pulses with predictions from CoREAS simulations, finding agreement within the uncertainties., Comment: Description and Calibration paper for Tunka-Rex

We reconstructed the energy and the position of the shower maximum of air showers with energies $E \gtrsim 100 $PeV applying a method using radio measurements performed with Tunka-Rex. An event-to-event comparison to air-Cherenkov measurements of the same air showers with the Tunka-133 photomultiplier array confirms that the radio reconstruction works reliably. The Tunka-Rex reconstruction methods and absolute scales have been tuned on CoREAS simulations and yield energy and $X_{\mathrm{max}}$ values consistent with the Tunka-133 measurements. The results of two independent measurement seasons agree within statistical uncertainties, which gives additional confidence in the radio reconstruction. The energy precision of Tunka-Rex is comparable to the Tunka-133 precision of $15 %$, and exhibits a $20 %$ uncertainty on the absolute scale dominated by the amplitude calibration of the antennas. For $X_{\mathrm{max}}$, this is the first direct experimental correlation of radio measurements with a different, established method. At the moment, the $X_{\mathrm{max}}$ resolution of Tunka-Rex is approximately $40 $g/cm$^2$. This resolution can probably be improved by deploying additional antennas and by further development of the reconstruction methods, since the present analysis does not yet reveal any principle limitations., Comment: accepted for publication by JCAP

The Tunka observatory is located close to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. Its main detector, Tunka-133, is an array of photomultipliers measuring Cherenkov light of air showers initiated by cosmic rays in the energy range of approximately $10^{16}-10^{18}\,$eV. In the last years, several extensions have been built at the Tunka site, e.g., a scintillator array named Tunka-Grande, a sophisticated air-Cherenkov-detector prototype named HiSCORE, and the radio extension Tunka-Rex. Tunka-Rex started operation in October 2012 and currently features 44 antennas distributed over an area of about $3\,$km$^2$, which measure the radio emission of the same air showers detected by Tunka-133 and Tunka-Grande. Tunka-Rex is a technological demonstrator that the radio technique can provide an economic extension of existing air-shower arrays. The main scientific goal is the cross-calibration with the air-Cherenkov measurements. By this cross-calibration, the precision for the reconstruction of the energy and mass of the primary cosmic-ray particles can be determined. Finally, Tunka-Rex can be used for cosmic-ray physics at energies close to $1\,$EeV, where the standard Tunka-133 analysis is limited by statistics. In contrast to the air-Cherenkov measurements, radio measurements are not limited to dark, clear nights and can provide an order of magnitude larger exposure., Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods A, within Proceedings of the 13th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors 2015

Since its commissioning in autumn 2012, Tunka-Rex, the radio extension of the air-Cherenkov detector Tunka-133, performed three years of air shower measurements. Currently the detector consists of 44 antennas connected to air-Cherenkov and scintillator detectors, respectively, placed in the Tunka valley, Siberia. Triggered by these detectors, Tunka-Rex measures the radio signal up to EeV-scale air-showers. This configuration provides a unique possibility for cross-calibration between air-Cherenkov, radio and particle techniques. We present reconstruction methods for the energy and the shower maximum developed with CoREAS simulations, which allow for a precision competitive with the air-Cherenkov technique. We apply these methods to data acquired by Tunka-Rex in the first year which we use for cross-calibration, and we compare the results with the reconstruction of the energy and the shower maximum by Tunka-133, which provides also a reconstruction for the shower core used for the radio reconstruction. Our methods have shown that the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum ($X_\mathrm{max}$) can be reconstructed with a precision of better than 40 g/cm$^2$ for high quality events, in some cases even when only three antenna stations have signal. The energy precision is comparable with the air-Cherenkov precision of 15%. Soon the results will be checked with the independent data of the second year., Comment: 8 pages

The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is an array of 44 radio antenna stations, distributed over 3 km$^{2}$, constituting a radio detector for air showers with an energy threshold around 10$^{17}$ eV. It is an extension to Tunka-133, an air-Cherenkov detector in Siberia, which is used as an external trigger for Tunka-Rex and provides a reliable reconstruction of energy and shower maximum. Each antenna station consists of two perpendicularly aligned active antennas, called SALLAs. An antenna calibration of the SALLA with a commercial reference source enables us to reconstruct the detected radio signal on an absolute scale. Since the same reference source was used for the calibration of LOPES and, in a calibration campaign in 2014, also for LOFAR, these three experiments now have a consistent calibration and, therefore, absolute scale. This was a key ingredient to resolve a longer standing contradiction between measurements of two calibrated experiments. We will present how the calibration was performed and compare radio measurements of air showers from Tunka-Rex to model calculations with the radio simulation code CoREAS, confirming it within the scale uncertainty of the calibration of 18%.

Tunka-Rex is the radio extension of the Tunka cosmic-ray observatory in Siberia close to Lake Baikal. Since October 2012 Tunka-Rex measures the radio signal of air-showers in coincidence with the non-imaging air-Cherenkov array Tunka-133. Furthermore, this year additional antennas will go into operation triggered by the new scintillator array Tunka-Grande measuring the secondary electrons and muons of air showers. Tunka-Rex is a demonstrator for how economic an antenna array can be without losing significant performance: we have decided for simple and robust SALLA antennas, and we share the existing DAQ running in slave mode with the PMT detectors and the scintillators, respectively. This means that Tunka-Rex is triggered externally, and does not need its own infrastructure and DAQ for hybrid measurements. By this, the performance and the added value of the supplementary radio measurements can be studied, in particular, the precision for the reconstructed energy and the shower maximum in the energy range of approximately $10^{17}-10^{18}\,$eV. Here we show first results on the energy reconstruction indicating that radio measurements can compete with air-Cherenkov measurements in precision. Moreover, we discuss future plans for Tunka-Rex., Comment: Proceeding of UHECR 2014, Springdale, Utah, USA, accepted by JPS Conference Proceedings

We analyse sensitivity of the gigaton volume telescope Baikal-GVD for detection of neutrino signal from dark matter annihilations or decays in the Galactic Center. Expected bounds on dark matter annihilation cross section and its lifetime are found for several annihilation/decay channels., Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures

We have analyzed a data set taken over 2.76 years live time with the Baikal neutrino telescope NT200. The goal of the analysis is to search for neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the center of the Sun. Apart from the conventional annihilation channels $b\bar{b}$, $W^+W^-$ and $\tau^+\tau^-$ we consider also the annihilation of dark matter particles into monochromatic neutrinos. From the absence of any excess of events from the direction of the Sun over the expected background, we derive 90% upper limits on the fluxes of muons and muon neutrinos from the Sun, as well as on the elastic cross sections of dark matter scattering on protons., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures

Tunka-Rex is the radio extension of Tunka-133 located in Siberia close to Lake Baikal. The latter is a photomultiplier array registering air-Cherenkov light from air showers induced by cosmic-ray particles with initial energies of approximately $10^{16}$ to $10^{18}$ eV. Tunka-Rex extends this detector with 25 antennas spread over an area of 1 km$^2$. It is triggered externally by Tunka-133, and detects the radio emission of the same air showers. The combination of an air-Cherenkov and a radio detector provides a facility for hybrid measurements and cross-calibration between the two techniques. The main goal of Tunka-Rex is to determine the precision of the reconstruction of air-shower parameters using the radio detection technique. It started operation in autumn 2012. We present the overall concept of Tunka-Rex, the current status of the array and first analysis results., Comment: RICAP 2013 proceedings, 6 pages, 13 figures

The Prototyping phase of the BAIKAL-GVD project has been started in April 2011 with the deployment of a three string engineering array which comprises all basic elements and systems of the Gigaton Volume Detector (GVD) in Lake Baikal. In April 2012 the version of engineering array which comprises the first full-scale string of the GVD demonstration cluster has been deployed and operated during 2012. The first stage of the GVD demonstration cluster which consists of three strings is deployed in April 2013. We review the Prototyping phase of the BAIKAL-GVD project and describe the configuration and design of the 2013 engineering array., Comment: Proceedings of the RICAP 2013 Conference, Rome, Italy, May 22-24, 2013, 7 pages, 12 figures

Tunka-Rex is a new radio antenna array which extends the Tunka experiment in Siberia close to lake Baikal. It consists of 20 antennas on an area of 1 km^2 which measure the radio emission of high-energy air showers. Tunka-Rex is triggered by the photomultiplier array of Tunka measuring air-Cherenkov light of air showers in the energy range from about 10 PeV to 1 EeV. This configuration allows for the worldwide first hybrid measurements of the radio and air-Cherenkov signal for the same events: an ideal situation to perform a cross-calibration between both methods. Consequently, the main goal of Tunka-Rex is to determine the achievable energy and Xmax precision of radio measurements by comparing them to the reconstruction of the air-Cherenkov measurements. Tunka-Rex started operation in autumn 2012, and already detected air-shower events. In this paper we present the status of Tunka-Rex and first results which indicate that Tunka-Rex measures indeed the radio emission by air showers and that is is sensitive to their energy., Comment: in Proceedings of the 33rd ICRC 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; paper 0452 (4 pages)

Tunka-Rex is the radio extension of Tunka-133, a 1 km^2 air-Cherenkov Detector for air showers in Siberia. Tunka-Rex began operation on October 8th 2012 with 20 radio antennas. Its main goals are to explore the possible precision of the radio detection technique in determination of primary energy and mass. Each radio antenna station consists of two perpendicular aligned active SALLA antennas, which receive the radio signal from air showers. The preamplified radio signal is transmitted to local cluster centers of the Tunka-133 DAQ, where it is filtered, amplified and digitized. To reconstruct the radio signal it is crucial to understand how it is affected in each of these steps. Thus, we have studied the combined response of the antenna, with its directional pattern and the analog electronics chain, consisting of a Low-Noise Amplifier and a filter amplifier. We discuss the hardware setup of Tunka-Rex and how a description of its response is obtained. Furthermore, we estimate systematic uncertainties on the reconstructed radio signal due to hardware effects (e.g., slight variations of the electronics properties). Finally, we present background measurements with the actual Tunka-Rex antennas., Comment: In Proceedings of the 33rd ICRC 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; paper 1278 (4 pages)

Erroneous submission in violation of copyright, removed by arXiv admin., Comment: Erroneous submission in violation of copyright

A new EAS Cherenkov light array, Tunka-133, with ~1 km^2 geometrical area has been installed at the Tunka Valley (50 km from Lake Baikal) in 2009. The array permits a detailed study of cosmic ray energy spectrum and mass composition in the energy range 10^16 - 10^18 eV with a uniform method. We describe the array construction, DAQ and methods of the array calibration.The method of energy reconstruction and absolute calibration of measurements are discussed. The analysis of spatial and time structure of EAS Cherenkov light allows to estimate the depth of the EAS maximum X_max. The results on the all particles energy spectrum and the mean depth of the EAS maximum X_max vs. primary energy derived from the data of two winter seasons (2009 -- 2011), are presented. Preliminary results of joint operation of the Cherenkov array with antennas for detection of EAS radio signals are shown. Plans for future upgrades -- deployment of remote clusters, radioantennas and a scintillator detector network and a prototype of the HiSCORE gamma-telescope -- are discussed., Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of the RICAP 2011 Conference, submitted to NIM A

We present results of the prompt, early, and afterglow optical observations of five gamma-ray bursts, GRBs 100901A, 100902A, 100905A, 100906A, and 101020A, made with the Mobile Astronomical System of TElescope-Robots in Russia (MASTER-II net), the 1.5-m telescope of Sierra-Nevada Observatory, and the 2.56-m Nordic Optical Telescope. For two sources, GRB 100901A and GRB 100906A, we detected optical counterparts and obtained light curves starting before cessation of gamma-ray emission, at 113 s and 48 s after the trigger, respectively. Observations of GRB 100906A were conducted with two polarizing filters. Observations of the other three bursts gave the upper limits on the optical flux; their properties are briefly discussed. More detailed analysis of GRB 100901A and GRB 100906A supplemented by Swift data provides the following results and indicates different origins of the prompt optical radiation in the two bursts. The light curves patterns and spectral distributions suggest a common production site of the prompt optical and high-energy emission in GRB 100901A. Results of spectral fits for GRB 100901A in the range from the optical to X-rays favor power-law energy distributions with similar values of the optical extinction in the host galaxy. GRB 100906A produced a smoothly peaking optical light curve suggesting that the prompt optical radiation in this GRB originated in a front shock. This is supported by a spectral analysis. We have found that the Amati and Ghirlanda relations are satisfied for GRB 100906A. An upper limit on the value of the optical extinction on the host of GRB 100906A is obtained., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, 14 tables, 5 machine readable tables; accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report on a first measurement of tensor analyzing powers in quasi-elastic electron-deuteron scattering at an average three-momentum transfer of 1.7 fm$^{-1}$. Data sensitive to the spin-dependent nucleon density in the deuteron were obtained for missing momenta up to 150 MeV/$c$ with a tensor polarized $^2$H target internal to an electron storage ring. The data are well described by a calculation that includes the effects of final-state interaction, meson-exchange and isobar currents, and leading-order relativistic contributions., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures