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The PAMELA space mission for antimatter and dark matter searches in space

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Abstract

The PAMELA satellite-borne experiment has presented new results on cosmic-ray antiparticles that can be interpreted in terms of DM annihilation or pulsar contribution. 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 radiation 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 cosmic-ray propagation models through precise measurements of the antiparticle energy spectrum and precision studies of light nuclei and their isotopes. This talk illustrates the most recent scientific results obtained by the PAMELA experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sezione di Trieste, INFN, 34149, Trieste, Italy

    M. Boezio, V. Bonvicini, G. Jerse, E. Mocchiutti, C. Pizzolotto, R. Sarkar, A. Vacchi, G. Zampa & N. Zampa

  2. Department of Physics, University of Bari, 70126, Bari, Italy

    A. Bruno, R. Bellotti, F. Cafagna & A. Monaco

  3. Sezione di Bari, INFN, 70126, Bari, Italy

    A. Bruno, R. Bellotti & A. Monaco

  4. Department of Physics, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy

    O. Adriani, N. Mori & P. Spillantini

  5. Sezione di Florence, INFN, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy

    O. Adriani, M. Bongi, S. Bottai, N. Mori, P. Papini, S. B. Ricciarini, P. Spillantini & E. Vannuccini

  6. Department of Physics, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80126, Naples, Italy

    G. C. Barbarino

  7. Sezione di Naples, INFN, 80126, Naples, Italy

    G. C. Barbarino, D. Campana, R. Carbone, L. Consiglio & G. Osteria

  8. Lebedev Physical Institute, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    G. A. Bazilevskaya, A. N. Kvashnin & Y. I. Stozhkov

  9. Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. A. Bogomolov, S. Y. Krutkov, N. Nikonov & G. Vasilyev

  10. Sezione di Rome “Tor Vergata”, INFN, 00133, Rome, Italy

    S. Borisov, M. Casolino, M. P. De Pascale, C. De Santis, N. De Simone, V. Di Felice, L. Marcelli, N. Nikonov, F. Palma, P. Picozza & R. Sparvoli

  11. Department of Physics, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133, Rome, Italy

    S. Borisov, R. Carbone, M. P. De Pascale, C. De Santis, N. De Simone, N. Nikonov, F. Palma, P. Picozza & R. Sparvoli

  12. NRNU MEPhI, 115409, Moscow, Russia

    S. Borisov, A. M. Galper, L. Grishantseva, A. V. Karelin, M. D. Kheymits, S. V. Koldashov, A. Leonov, V. Malakhov, A. G. Mayorov, V. V. Mikhailov, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin & V. G. Zverev

  13. Department of Physics, and the Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, KTH, AlbaNova University Centre, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    P. Carlson, W. Gillard, M. Pearce, L. Rossetto & J. Wu

  14. IFAC, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Florence, Italy

    G. Castellini

  15. Department of Physics, University of Trieste, 34147, Trieste, Italy

    G. Jerse

  16. Department of Physics, Universitat Siegen, 57068, Siegen, Germany

    W. Menn & M. Simon

  17. Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, INFN, Via Enrico Fermi 40, 00044, Frascati, Italy

    M. Ricci

Authors
  1. M. Boezio
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  2. A. Bruno
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  3. O. Adriani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Boezio.

Additional information

J. Wu was on leave from School of Mathematics and Physics, China University of Geosciences, 430074 Wuhan, China.

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Boezio, M., Bruno, A., Adriani, O. et al. The PAMELA space mission for antimatter and dark matter searches in space. Hyperfine Interact 213, 147–158 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-011-0397-2

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