New technologies for the Pierre Auger Observatory: research and development in southeastern Colorado

THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (AUTOR 434 DE 474); M. TUEROS (COAUTOR)

Beijing

Conferencia; 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference 2011; 2011

Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Pierre Auger Research and Development Array is conceived as a test bed aiming at validating an improved and more cost-effective one-photomultiplier surface detector design and a new communication system. The array of ten surface detectors and ten communication-only stations is currently being deployed in southeastern Colorado and will be operated at least until mid-2012. It is configured in such a way to allow testing of the peer-to-peer communication protocol and the new surface detector electronics that features an enhanced dynamic range aimed at reducing the distance from the shower core where saturation is observed. Atmospheric monitoring developments are also ongoing at the site and are presented in a separate paper. These developments are expected to improve the performances of the southern site of the Pierre Auger Observatory and enable future enhancements.