A Balloon Borne Spectrometer for Measuring Positron/Electron Spectra at the TeV Scale

by Alex Howard (ETH, Zurich)

Tuesday 21 Feb 2012, 13:15 → 14:15 Europe/Stockholm

FA32

A future balloon borne spectrometer will be described. The goal of the experiment is to measure the cosmic ray positron and electron flux up to the TeV scale. In the quest for dark matter, the positron fraction in cosmic rays is a key observable as it might indicate the presence of decaying dark matter particles. A balloon spectrometer offers a cost effective method to measure the spectrum with high precision using a simple tracker, magnet, ToF and calorimeter configuration. The design concept should offer an energy resolution of 15%/sqrt(E) and proton rejection up to 10^4. Potential physics reach of a balloon spectrometer beyond PAMELA and FERMI-LAT will also be discussed.