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WE PROPOSE TO FULLY DEFINE THE PROBE OF EXTREME MULTI-MESSENGER ASTROPHYSICS (POEMMA) INSTRUMENT AND MISSION DETAILS NECESSARY TO ENABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME CHARGED PARTICLE ASTRONOMY WITH ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY COSMIC RAYS (UHECRS) AND THE DISCOVERY OF COSMOGENIC TAU NEUTRINOS (CTNS). THE STUDY OF UHECRS AND CTNS FROM SPACE WILL YIELD ORDERS-OF-MAGNITUDE INCREASE IN STATISTICS OF OBSERVED UHECRS AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE COSMOGENIC FLUX OF NEUTRINOS FOR THE FULL PREDICTED RANGE OF UHECR MODELS. THESE OBSERVATIONS WILL SOLVE THE LONG-STANDING PUZZLE OF THE ORIGIN OF THE HIGHEST ENERGY PARTICLE EVER OBSERVED PROVIDING A NEW WINDOW ON THE UNIVERSE AND ON ITS MOST ENERGETIC ENVIRONMENTS AND EVENTS. THE DISCOVERY OF CTNS WILL HELP SOLVE THE PUZZLE OF THE ORIGIN OF UHECRS AND BEGIN A NEW FIELD OF ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS WITH THE STUDY OF NEUTRINO PROPERTIES AT ENERGIES TO THE 10 EEV SCALE. POEMMA WILL PROVIDE A NEW WINDOW ON THE UNIVERSE AND ON ITS MOST ENERGETIC ENVIRONMENTS AND EVENTS. THE INSTRUMENT DESIGN WILL FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING SCIENCE GOALS: - SUBSTANTIAL [10 X GROUND] INCREASE IN STATISTICS OF UHECRS AND FULL SKY COVERAGE (WITH CLOSE TO UNIFORM EXPOSURE) TO DISCOVER SIGNIFICANT ANISOTROPIES IN THE SKY DISTRIBUTION OF EVENTS GENERATED BY THE SOURCE DISTRIBUTION. - SUBSTANTIAL [100 X GROUND] INCREASE IN STATISTICS ON THE MEASUREMENTS OF UHECR XMAX WITH THE NEED XMAX RESOLUTION (BELOW ~ 20 G/ CM2) TO DETERMINE THE COMPOSITION OF ACCELERATED PARTICLES AND THE MAXIMUM ENERGY OF THESE EXTREME COSMIC ACCELERATORS AND TO SEARCH FOR UHE NEUTRINOS AND PHOTONS. - CHERENKOV MONITORING OF THE EARTH S HORIZON TO OBSERVE EARTH-SOURCED TAU NEUTRINOS FROM 10 PEV TO 10 EEV WITH ASTROPHYSICAL AND COSMOGENIC ORIGINS. TOGETHER THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL DETERMINE THE SOURCES AND ACCELERATION MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE EXTREME EVENTS AND OPEN A NEW OBSERVATIONAL WINDOW AT EXTREME ENERGIES. THESE CAPABILITIES WILL ADDRESS THE QUESTIONS: WHAT OBJECTS CAN ACCELERATE PARTICLES TO>1020 EV?; HOW ARE THEY DISTRIBUTED IN THE SKY? HOW STRONG ARE MAGNETIC FIELDS IN THE INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM? WHAT IS THE COMPOSITION OF THE UHECRS? HOW DOES THE COMPOSITION EVOLVE AT THE HIGHEST ENERGIES; WHAT IS THE FLUX OF COSMOGENIC NEUTRINOS? WHAT IS THE FLUX OF ASTROPHYSICAL TAU NEUTRINOS? THE MISSION DESIGN IS BASED ON THE ORBITING WIDE-FIELD LIGHT-COLLECTORS (OWL) DESIGN COMBINED WITH A DIRECT CHERENKHOV NEUTRINO DETECTOR BASED ON THE CHERENKOV FROM ASTROPHYSICAL NEUTRINOS TELESCOPE (CHANT) CONCEPT. THE OWL MISSION CONSISTS OF SCHMIDT TELESCOPES WITH UV SENSITIVE ULTRA-FAST CAMERAS ON TWO SATELLITES OPERATING IN TANDEM TO VIEW IN STEREO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GIANT PARTICLE SHOWERS INDUCED IN THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE BY UHECRS. THE CHANT CONCEPT WILL BE ADDED TO THE OWL TELESCOPES POINTING TO THE HORIZON OF THE EARTH.

$73,511FY2017National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

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