The GAPS Collaboration, Kazutaka Aoyama, Tsuguo Aramaki, Padrick Beggs, Mirko Boezio, Steven E. Boggs, Valter Bonvicini, Gabriel Bridges, Donatella Campana, Scott Candey, William W. Craig, Philip von Doetinchem, Conor Earley, Erik Everson, Lorenzo Fabris, Sydney Feldman, Hideyuki Fuke, Florian Gahbauer, Cory Gerrity, Luca Ghislotti, Charles J. Hailey, Takeru Hayashi, Akiko Kawachi, Kai Konoma, Masayoshi Kozai, Paolo Lazzaroni, Alexander Lowell, Massimo Manghisoni, Matteo Martucci, Keita Mizukoshi, Emiliano Mocchiutti, Brent Mochizuki, Kazuoki Munakata, Riccardo Munini, Shun Okazaki, Jerome Olson, Rene A. Ong, Giuseppe Osteria, Francesco Palma, Kaliroë Pappas, Kerstin Perez, Francesco Perfetto, Lodovico Ratti, Valerio Re, Elisa Riceputi, Brandon Roach, Field R. Rogers, Nathan Saffold, Suzuto Sakamoto, Pratiksha Sawant, Valentina Scotti, Yuki Shimizu, Roberta Sparvoli, Achim Stoessl, Arathi Suraj, Alessio Tiberio, Grace Tytus, Elena Vannuccini, Sarah Vickers, Luigi Volpicelli, Zhen Wu, Mengjiao Xiao, Jinghe Yang, Kelsey Yee, Tetsuya Yoshida, Gianluigi Zampa, Jiancheng Zeng, Jeffrey Zweerink
Apr 20, 2026·astro-ph.IM·PDF The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an Antarctic stratospheric balloon mission designed to provide unmatched sensitivity to low-energy (<0.25 GeV/n) cosmic-ray antiprotons, antideuterons, and antihelium nuclei as signatures of dark matter. The distinctive GAPS particle identification technique relies on measuring the energy loss along the track of an incoming antinucleus as it slows down and is captured into an exotic atom, and then detecting the de-excitation X-rays and the nuclear annihilation products. This measurement is realized using a Tracker composed of more than 1000 custom silicon strip detectors and a plastic scintillator time-of-flight (TOF) system instrumenting more than 40m$^2$. Together, these subsystems provide the velocity and energy resolution, stopping power, particle tracking, and X-ray identification necessary to distinguish rare antinucleus signals from the abundant positive-nucleus backgrounds, all within the constraints of a high-altitude mission. A multi-loop capillary heat pipe system has been developed to maintain the tracker operating temperature with significant mass and power savings over a conventional pump-based system. The first GAPS science payload flew for 25 days during the 2025/26 NASA Antarctic balloon campaign. We detail the design, integration, and commissioning of the payload prior to flight.
Diego Mauricio Gomez-Coral, Cory Gerrity, Riccardo Munini, Philip von Doetinchem
Mar 17, 2023·astro-ph.HE·PDF Deuterons are the most abundant secondary cosmic ray species in the Galaxy, but their study has been severely limited due to experimental challenges. In an era with new experiments and high-precision measurements in cosmic rays, having a low-uncertainty deuteron flux in a wide energy range becomes possible. The deuteron-over-helium ratio ($d$/$^4$He) is important to understand the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy and in the heliosphere, complementing observations with heavier nuclei like the boron-to-carbon ratio. In this work, the most up-to-date results of the deuteron flux and the $d$/$^4$He ratio at the top of the atmosphere have been obtained using {\tt GALPROP} and a 3D solar modulation model. It was found that the simulation describes the deuteron flux and $d$/$^4$He data below 1\,GeV/$n$ within the uncertainties of the model. However, the model underestimates the best-published measurements available at high energy. This discrepancy suggests different effective diffusions have to be considered between secondary light species like deuterons and heavier nuclei. Either this is a consequence of a break in the universality of propagation between light and heavier nuclei or a lack of precision measurements, it is something AMS-02 will help to resolve in the near future.
Field Rogers, Tsuguo Aramaki, Mirko Boezio, Steven Boggs, Valter Bonvicini, Gabriel Bridges, Donatella Campana, William W. Craig, Philip von Doetinchem, Eric Everson, Lorenzo Fabris, Sydney Feldman, Hideyuki Fuke, Florian Gahbauer, Cory Gerrity, Charles J. Hailey, Takeru Hayashi, Akiko Kawachi, Masayoshi Kozai, Alex Lenni, Alexander Lowell, Massimo Manghisoni, Nadir Marcelli, Brent Mochizuki, Isaac Mognet, Kazuoki Munakata, Riccardo Munini, Yusuke Nakagami, Jerome Olson, Rene Ong, Guiseppe Osteria, Kerstin M. Perez, Sean Quinn, Valerio Re, Elisa Riceputi, Brandon Roach, Jaime Ryan, Nathan Saffold, Valentina Scotti, Yuki Shimizu, Roberta Sparvoli, Achim Stoessl, Alessio Tiberio, Elena Vannuccini, Takuya Wada, Mengjiao Xiao, Masahiro Yamatani, Kelsey Yee, Atsumasa Yoshida, Tetsuya Yoshida, Gianluigi Zampa, Jiancheng Zeng, Jeffrey Zweerink
Jun 26, 2022·astro-ph.HE·PDF The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an upcoming balloon mission to measure low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei during at least three ~35-day Antarctic flights. With its large geometric acceptance and novel exotic atom-based particle identification, GAPS will detect ~500 cosmic antiprotons per flight and produce a precision cosmic antiproton spectrum in the kinetic energy range of ~0.07-0.21 GeV/n at the top of the atmosphere. With these high statistics extending to lower energies than any previous experiment, and with complementary sources of experimental uncertainty compared to traditional magnetic spectrometers, the GAPS antiproton measurement will be sensitive to dark matter, primordial black holes, and cosmic ray propagation. The antiproton measurement will also validate the GAPS antinucleus identification technique for the antideuteron and antihelium rare-event searches. This analysis demonstrates the GAPS sensitivity to cosmic-ray antiprotons using a full instrument simulation and event reconstruction, and including solar and atmospheric effects.
Margarita Hernanz, Marco Feroci, Yuri Evangelista, Aline Meuris, Stéphane Schanne, Gianluigi Zampa, Chris Tenzer, Jörg Bayer, Witold Nowosielski, Malgorzata Michalska, Emrah Kalemci, Müberra Sungur, Søren Brandt, Irfan Kuvvetli, Daniel Alvarez Franco, Alex Carmona, José-Luis Gálvez, Alessandro Patruno, Jean in' t Zand, Frans Zwart, Andrea Santangelo, Enrico Bozzo, Shuang-Nan Zhang, Fangjun Lu, Yupeng Xu, Riccardo Campana, Ettore Del Monte, Francesco Ceraudo, Alessio Nuti, Giovanni Della Casa, Andrea Argan, Gabriele Minervini, Matias Antonelli, Valter Bonvicini, Mirko Boezio, Daniela Cirrincione, Riccardo Munini, Alexandre Rachevski, Andrea Vacchi, Nicola Zampa, Irina Rashevskaya, Francesco Ficorella, Antonino Picciotto, Nicola Zorzi, David Baudin, Florent Bouyjou, Olivier Gevin, Olivier Limousin, Paul Hedderman, Samuel Pliego, Hao Xiong, Rob de la Rie, Phillip Laubert, Gabby Aitink-Kroes, Lucien Kuiper, Piotr Orleanski, Konrad Skup, Denis Tcherniak, Onur Turhan, Ayhan Bozkurt, Ahmet Onat
The eXTP mission is a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), with a large involvement of Europe. Its scientific payload includes four instruments: SFA, PFA, LAD and WFM. They offer an unprecedented simultaneous wide-band Xray timing and polarimetry sensitivity. A large European consortium is contributing to the eXTP study, both for the science and the instrumentation. Europe is expected to provide two of the four instruments: LAD and WFM; the LAD is led by Italy and the WFM by Spain. The WFM for eXTP is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT ESA M3 mission, that underwent a Phase A feasibility study. It will be a wide field of view X-ray monitor instrument working in the 2-50 keV energy range, achieved with large-area Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs), similar to the ones used for the LAD but with better spatial resolution. The WFM will consist of 3 pairs of coded mask cameras with a total combined field of view (FoV) of 90x180 degrees at zero response and a source localisation accuracy of ~1 arc min. The main goal of the WFM is to provide triggers for the target of opportunity observations of the SFA, PFA and LAD, in order to perform the core science programme, dedicated to the study of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. In addition, the unprecedented combination of large field of view and imaging capability, down to 2 keV, of the WFM will allow eXTP to make important discoveries of the variable and transient X-ray sky, and provide X-ray coverage of a broad range of astrophysical objects covered under 'observatory science', such as gamma-ray bursts, fast radio bursts, gravitational wave electromagnetic counterparts. In this paper we provide an overview of the WFM instrument, explaining its design, configuration, and anticipated performance.
R. Munini, E. Vannuccini, M. Boezio, P. von Doetinchem, C. Gerrity, A. Lenni, N. Marcelli, S. Quinn, F. Rogers, J. L. Ryan, A. Stoessl, M. Xiao, N. Saffold, A. Tiberio, M. Yamatani
The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an Antarctic balloon-borne detector designed to measure low-energy cosmic antinuclei (< 0.25 GeV/n), with a specific focus on antideuterons, as a distinctive signal from dark matter annihilation or decay in the Galactic halo. The instrument consists of a tracker, made up of ten planes of lithium-drifted Silicon Si(Li) detectors, surrounded by a plastic scintillator Time-of-Flight system. GAPS uses a novel particle identification method based on exotic atom capture and decay with the emission of pions, protons, and atomic X-rays from a common annihilation vertex. An important ingredient for the antinuclei identification is the reconstruction of the "annihilation star" topology. A custom antinucleus annihilation reconstruction algorithm, called the "star-finding" algorithm, was developed to reconstruct the annihilation star fully, determining the annihilation vertex position and reconstructing the tracks of the primary and secondary charged particles. The reconstruction algorithm and its performances were studied on simulated data obtained with the Geant4-based GAPS simulation software, which fully reproduced the detector geometry. This custom algorithm was found to have better performance in the vertex resolution and reconstruction efficiency compared with a standard Hough-3D algorithm.
O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, M. Boezio, E. A. Bogomolov, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, S. Bottai, A. Bruno, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Santis, V. Di Felice, A. M. Galper, A. V. Karelin, S. V. Koldashov, S. A. Koldobskiy, S. Y. Krutkov, A. N. Kvashnin, A. Leonov, V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, M. Martucci, A. G. Mayorov, W. Menn, M. Merge, V. V. Mikhailov, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, N. Mori, R. Munini, G. Osteria, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. I. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, M. S. Potgieter, E. E. Vos
Jun 28, 2016·astro-ph.HE·PDF Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons are a unique probe of the propagation of cosmic rays as well as of the nature and distribution of particle sources in our Galaxy. Recent measurements of these particles are challenging our basic understanding of the mechanisms of production, acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays. Particularly striking are the differences between the low energy results collected by the space-borne PAMELA and AMS-02 experiments and older measurements pointing to sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation of cosmic-ray spectra. The PAMELA experiment has been measuring the time variation of the positron and electron intensity at Earth from July 2006 to December 2015 covering the period for the minimum of solar cycle 23 (2006-2009) till the middle of the maximum of solar cycle 24, through the polarity reversal of the heliospheric magnetic field which took place between 2013 and 2014. The positron to electron ratio measured in this time period clearly shows a sign-charge dependence of the solar modulation introduced by particle drifts. These results provide the first clear and continuous observation of how drift effects on solar modulation have unfolded with time from solar minimum to solar maximum and their dependence on the particle rigidity and the cyclic polarity of the solar magnetic field.
N. Marcelli, M. Boezio, A. Lenni, W. Menn, R. Munini, O. P. M. Aslam, D. Bisschoff, M. D. Ngobeni, M. S. Potgieter, O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, E. A. Bogomolov, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, A. Bruno, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Santis, A. M. Galper, S. V. Koldashov, S. Koldobskiy, A. N. Kvashnin, A. A. Leonov, V. V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, M. Martucci, A. G. Mayorov, M. Mergè, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, N. Mori, V. V. Mikhailov, G. Osteria, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, M. Simon, A. Sotgiu, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. I. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa
May 18, 2020·astro-ph.HE·PDF Precise time-dependent measurements of the Z = 2 component in the cosmic radiation provide crucial information about the propagation of charged particles through the heliosphere. The PAMELA experiment, with its long flight duration (15th June 2006 - 23rd January 2016) and the low energy threshold (80 MeV/n) is an ideal detector for cosmic ray solar modulation studies. In this paper, the helium nuclei spectra measured by the PAMELA instrument from July 2006 to December 2009 over a Carrington rotation time basis are presented. A state-of-the-art three-dimensional model for cosmic-ray propagation inside the heliosphere was used to interpret the time-dependent measured fluxes. Proton-to-helium flux ratio time profiles at various rigidities are also presented in order to study any features which could result from the different masses and local interstellar spectra shapes.
N. Marcelli, M. Boezio, A. Lenni, W. Menn, R. Munini, O. P. M. Aslam, D. Bisschoff, M. D. Ngobeni, M. S. Potgieter, O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, E. A. Bogomolov, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, A. Bruno, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Santis, A. M. Galper, S. V. Koldashov, S. Koldobskiy, A. N. Kvashnin, A. A. Leonov, V. V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, M. Martucci, A. G. Mayorov, M. Merge, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, N. Mori, V. V. Mikhailov, G. Osteria, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, M. Simon, A. Sotgiu, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. I. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa
Time-dependent energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) carry fundamental information regarding their origin and propagation. When observed at the Earth, these spectra are significantly affected by the solar wind and the embedded solar magnetic field that permeates the heliosphere, changing significantly over an 11-year solar cycle. Energy spectra of GCRs measured during different epochs of solar activity provide crucial information for a thorough understanding of solar and heliospheric phenomena. The PAMELA experiment had collected data for almost ten years (15th June 2006 - 23rd January 2016), including the minimum phase of solar cycle 23 and the maximum phase of solar cycle 24. In this paper, we present new spectra for helium nuclei measured by the PAMELA instrument from January 2010 to September 2014 over a three Carrington rotation time basis. These data are compared to the PAMELA spectra measured during the previous solar minimum providing a picture of the time dependence of the helium nuclei fluxes over a nearly full solar cycle. Time and rigidity dependencies are observed in the proton-to-helium flux ratios. The force-field approximation of the solar modulation was used to relate these dependencies to the shapes of the local interstellar proton and helium-nuclei spectra.
R. Munini, M. Boezio, A. Bruno, E. C. Christian, G. A. de Nolfo, V. Di Felice, M. Martucci, M. Merge, I. G. Richardson, J. M. Ryan, S. Stochaj, O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, S. Bottai, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Santis, A. M. Galper, A. V. Karelin, S. V. Koldashov, S. Koldobskiy, S. Y. Krutkov, A. N. Kvashnin, A. Leonov, V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, A. G. Mayorov, W. Menn, V. V. Mikhailov, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, N. Mori, G. Osteria, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, M. S. Potgieter
Mar 16, 2018·astro-ph.HE·PDF New results on the short-term galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity variation (Forbush decrease) in December 2006 measured by the PAMELA instrument are presented. Forbush decreases are sudden suppressions of the GCR intensities which are associated with the passage of interplanetary transients such as shocks and interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Most of the past measurements of this phenomenon were carried out with ground-based detectors such as neutron monitors or muon telescopes. These techniques allow only the indirect detection of the overall GCR intensity over an integrated energy range. For the first time, thanks to the unique features of the PAMELA magnetic spectrometer, the Forbush decrease commencing on 2006 December 14, following a CME at the Sun on 2006 December 13 was studied in a wide rigidity range (0.4 - 20 GV) and for different species of GCRs detected directly in space. The daily averaged GCR proton intensity was used to investigate the rigidity dependence of the amplitude and the recovery time of the Forbush decrease. Additionally, for the first time, the temporal variations in the helium and electron intensities during a Forbush decrease were studied. Interestingly, the temporal evolutions of the helium and proton intensities during the Forbush decrease were found in good agreement, while the low rigidity electrons (< 2 GV) displayed a faster recovery. This difference in the electron recovery is interpreted as a charge-sign dependence introduced by drift motions experienced by the GCRs during their propagation through the heliosphere.
T. Aramaki, M. Boezio, S. E. Boggs, V. Bonvicini, G. Bridges, D. Campana, W. W. Craig, P. von Doetinchem, E. Everson, L. Fabris, S. Feldman, H. Fuke, F. Gahbauer, C. Gerrity, L. Ghislotti, C. J. Hailey, T. Hayashi, A. Kawachi, M. Kozai, P. Lazzaroni, M. Law, A. Lenni, A. Lowell, M. Manghisoni, N. Marcelli, K. Mizukoshi, E. Mocchiutti, B. Mochizuki, S. A. I. Mognet, K. Munakata, R. Munini, S. Okazaki, J. Olson, R. A. Ong, G. Osteria, K. Perez, F. Perfetto, S. Quinn, V. Re, E. Riceputi, B. Roach, F. Rogers, J. L. Ryan, N. Saffold, V. Scotti, Y. Shimizu, K. Shutt, R. Sparvoli, A. Stoessl, A. Tiberio, E. Vannuccini, M. Xiao, M. Yamatani, K. Yee, T. Yoshida, G. Zampa, J. Zeng, J. Zweerink
Oct 16, 2023·astro-ph.HE·PDF Compilation of papers presented by the GAPS Collaboration at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), held July 26 through August 3, 2023 in Nagoya, Japan.
O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, M. Boezio, E. A. Bogomolov, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, S. Bottai, A. Bruno, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Santis, V. Di Felice, A. M. Galper, A. V. Karelin, S. V. Koldashov, S. Koldobskiy, S. Y. Krutkov, A. N. Kvashnin, A. Leonov, V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, M. Martucci, A. G. Mayorov, W. Menn, M. Mergè, V. V. Mikhailov, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, R. Munini, N. Mori, G. Osteria, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa
Jan 31, 2018·astro-ph.HE·PDF The PAMELA cosmic ray detector was launched on June 15th 2006 on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, and during ten years of nearly continuous data-taking it has observed new interesting features in cosmic rays (CRs). In a decade of operation it has provided plenty of scientific data, covering different issues related to cosmic ray physics. Its discoveries might change our basic vision of the mechanisms of production, acceleration and propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. The antimatter measurements, focus of the experiment, have set strong constraints to the nature of Dark Matter. Search for signatures of more exotic processes (such as the ones involving Strange Quark Matter) was also pursued. Furthermore, the long-term operation of the instrument had allowed a constant monitoring of the solar activity during its maximum and a detailed and prolonged study of the solar modulation, improving the comprehension of the heliosphere mechanisms. PAMELA had also measured the radiation environment around the Earth, and it detected for the first time the presence of an antiproton radiation belt surrounding our planet. The operation of Resurs-DK1 was terminated in 2016. In this article we will review the main features of the PAMELA instrument and its constructing phases. Main part of the article will be dedicated to the summary of the most relevant PAMELA results over a decade of observation
O. Adriani, G. C. Barbarino, G. A. Bazilevskaya, R. Bellotti, M. Boezio, E. A. Bogomolov, M. Bongi, V. Bonvicini, S. Bottai, A. Bruno, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, G. Castellini, C. De Donato, C. De Santis, N. De Simone, V. Di Felice, V. Formato, A. M. Galper, A. V. Karelin, S. V. Koldashov, S. Koldobskiy, S. Y. Krutkov, A. N. Kvashnin, A. Leonov, V. Malakhov, L. Marcelli, M. Martucci, A. G. Mayorov, W. Menn, M Merge, V. V. Mikhailov, E. Mocchiutti, A. Monaco, N. Mori, R. Munini, G. Osteria, F. Palma, B. Panico, P. Papini, M. Pearce, P. Picozza, M. Ricci, S. B. Ricciarini, R. Sarkar, V. Scotti, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Y. I. Stozhkov, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, G. Vasilyev, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, M. S. Potgieter, E. E. Vos
Precision measurements of the electron component in the cosmic radiation provide important information about the origin and propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy not accessible from the study of the cosmic-ray nuclear components due to their differing diffusion and energy-loss processes. However, when measured near Earth, the effects of propagation and modulation of galactic cosmic rays in the heliosphere, particularly significant for energies up to at least 30 GeV, must be properly taken into account. In this paper the electron (e^-) spectra measured by PAMELA down to 70 MeV from July 2006 to December 2009 over six-months time intervals are presented. Fluxes are compared with a state-of-the-art three-dimensional model of solar modulation that reproduces the observations remarkably well.