Cosmic-ray electron spectrum above 100GeV from PPB-BETS experiment in Antarctica

Abstract: Cosmic-ray electrons have been observed in the energy region from 10GeV to 1TeV with the PPB-BETS by a long duration balloon flight using a Polar Patrol Balloon (PPB) in Antarctica. The observation was carried out for 13 days at an average altitude of 35km in January 2004. The PPB-BETS detector is an imaging calorimeter composed of scintillating-fiber belts and plastic scintillators inserted between lead plates. In the study of cosmic-ray electrons, there have been some suggestions that high-energy electrons above 100GeV are a powerful probe to identify nearby cosmic-ray sources and search for particle dark matter. In this paper, we present the energy spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons in the energy range from 100GeV to 1TeV at the top of atmosphere, and compare our spectrum with the results from other experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]