Back to Search
Start Over
Search for primordial black holes with SGARFACE
- Source :
-
Astroparticle Physics . Mar2009, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p102-115. 14p. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Abstract: The short gamma-ray front air-cherenkov experiment (SGARFACE) uses the Whipple 10m telescope to search for bursts of γ-rays. SGARFACE is sensitive to bursts with duration from a few ns to ∼20μs and with γ-ray energy above 100MeV. SGARFACE began operating in March 2003 and has collected 2.2 million events during an exposure time of 2267h. A search for bursts of γ-rays from explosions of primordial black holes (PBH) was carried out. A Hagedorn-type PBH explosion is predicted to be visible within 60pc of Earth. Background events were caused by cosmic rays and by atmospheric phenomena and their rejection was accomplished to a large extent using the time-resolved images. No unambiguous detection of bursts of γ-rays could be made as the remaining background events mimic the expected shape and time-development of bursts. Upper limits on the PBH explosion rate were derived from the SGARFACE data and are compared to previous and future experiments. We note that a future array of large wide-field air-Cherenkov telescopes equipped with a SGARFACE-like trigger would be able to operate background-free with a 20–30 times higher sensitivity for PBH explosions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Subjects :
- *GAMMA rays
*TELESCOPES
*SUPERMASSIVE black holes
*COSMIC rays
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09276505
- Volume :
- 31
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Astroparticle Physics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 36389212
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2008.12.002