Speaker
Dr
Mirko Boezio
(INFN Sezione di Trieste)
Description
The PAMELA satellite-borne experiment has presented new results on the composition of
the charged cosmic radiation that challenge the current paradigm of cosmic-ray
acceleration and propagation in the Galaxy.
The instrument was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome and it has been collecting
data since July 2006. The combination of a permanent magnet silicon strip
spectrometer and a silicon-tungsten imaging calorimeter allows precision studies of
the charged cosmic rays to be conducted over a wide energy range with high
statistics. The primary scientific goal is the measurement of the antiproton and
positron energy spectrum in order to search for exotic sources. PAMELA is also
searching for primordial antinuclei (anti-helium), and testing acceleration and
propagation models through precise measurements of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum and
precision studies of light nuclei and their isotopes. This talk illustrates the most
recent scientific results obtained by the PAMELA experiment.
Primary author
Dr
Mirko Boezio
(INFN Sezione di Trieste)
