First Operation of a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) in the Stratosphere as an Engineering Gamma-Ray and AntiMatter Survey (GRAMS) Balloon Flight (eGRAMS)
Abstract Gamma-Ray and AntiMatter Survey (GRAMS) is a next-generation balloon/satellite experiment utilizing a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC), to simultaneously target astrophysical observations of cosmic MeV gamma rays and conduct an indirect dark matter search using antimatter. Although LArTPCs are widely used in particle physics experiments, they have never been operated at balloon altitudes. An engineering balloon flight with a small-scale LArTPC (eGRAMS) was conducted on July 27, 2023, to establish a system for safely operating an LArTPC at balloon altitudes and to obtain cosmic-ray data from the LArTPC. The flight was launched from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Taiki Aerospace Research Field in Hokkaido, Japan. The total flight duration was 3 hours and 12 minutes, including a level flight of 44 minutes at a maximum altitude of 28.9 km. The flight system was landed on the sea and successfully recovered. The LArTPC was successfully operated throughout the flight, and about 0.5 million events of cosmic-ray data including muons, protons, and Compton scattering gamma-ray candidates were collected. This pioneering flight demonstrates the feasibility of operating an LArTPC in high-altitude environments, paving the way for future GRAMS missions and advancing our capabilities in MeV gamma-ray astronomy and dark matter research.
Authors
- Kouichi Hagino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4235-5304)
- John A. Tomsick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5506-9855)
- Kenji Ishiwata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7193-4618)
- Kazuhiro Nakazawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2930-350X)
- Kusuo OKUMA
- John Krizmanic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9690-9352)
- L. Fabris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5605-5615)
- R. Mukherjee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3223-0754)
- Aya Bamba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0890-4920)
- A. Malige (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5855-2372)
- J. G. Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4501-5452)
- Sonya Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9538-4523)
- Mikio Ichihashi
- Naomi Tsuji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7209-9204)
- Yutaka Uchida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4899-2128)
- I. Safa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-6825)
- Tsubasa Tamba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7631-4362)
- P. Coppi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9604-2325)
- Takekazu Iwata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4411-6825)
- Hirokazu Odaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2670-6936)
- T. Shiraishi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4941-4522)
- G. Karagiorgi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7810-7236)
- Tatsuki Fujiwara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6931-1152)
- K. Perez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6404-4737)
- Shintaro Arai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4562-9385)
- K Aoyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3926-8460)
- Y. Fukazawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0921-8837)
- Jonathan Leyva
- W. Seligman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6680-7929)
- Rie Koga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5068-1049)
- Keishiro Shirahama
- M. Errando (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1853-863X)
- Nagisa Hiroshima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3434-0794)
- Tomoyuki Hakamata
- Shin Watanabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6598-0631)
- M. Tanaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4697-894X)
- Hitoki Yoneda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9150-5044)
- K. Yorita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1988-8401)
- H. Takahashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6314-5897)
- T. Aramaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5104-4682)
- Yuto Ichinohe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6102-1441)
- Y. Suda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-5891)
- Yoshiyuki Inoue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7272-1136)
- N. Poudyal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4278-3464)
- M. Sasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1093-9655)
- N. Cannady (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2916-6955)
- J. W. Mitchell
- Utano Hijikata
- A. Suraj
- Y Utsumi
- P. Ghosh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4995-9346)
- J. Asaadi
- Sanjeev Tandon
- J. C. Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1435-9451)
- Yutaro Yano
- M Yoshimoto
- S Takashima
- Takaji Kato
- K. Ishikawa
- Hitomi Kawamura
- R. Nakajima
- K. Yawata
Institutions
- Hiroshima University (JP)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Northeastern University (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Howard University (US)
- Waseda University (JP)
- Tokyo University of Science (JP)
- Yokohama National University (JP)
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP)
- Yale University (US)
- Kanagawa University (JP)
- Toneyama National Hospital (JP)
- Nippon Soken (Japan) (JP)
- RIKEN (JP)
- National Sagamihara Hospital (JP)
- RIKEN Nishina Center (JP)
- National Defense Medical College (JP)
- Nagoya University (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Columbia University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- The University of Osaka (JP)
- Barnard College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics
- Published
- 2024-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ptep/ptae179
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Aerospace Engineering and Energy Systems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.90
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency