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Cosmic Rays

Cosmic Rays

Cosmic Rays are elementary particles and nuclei, detected on or near the Earth, that originate in energetic processes in the universe. Physicists work to characterize the cosmic ray spectrum: the abundance of different types of particles and their energies. Observations of the primary particles are made in space (e.g., the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, AMS, on the International Space Station) and with high-altitude balloons (e.g., the High Energy Light Isotope eXperiment, HELIX). When cosmic rays interact with the Earth's atmosphere, they generate showers of other particles, called secondary cosmic rays, that are detected by instruments on the ground (e.g., the Pierre Auger surface water tanks and fluorescence detectors), and under the ground (e.g., the AMIGA, Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array extension for Pierre Auger). Cosmic ray data is used to constrain models for sources that can produce high-energy particles, either extremely energetic astrophysical environments like those around Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) or extreme events like gamma ray bursts (GRBs).

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Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Julien Alfaro Julien Alfaro Graduate Student Physics jpa5771@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Heather Allen Heather Allen Graduate Student Physics heather.allen@psu.edu --- 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Tyler Anderson Tyler Anderson Faculty Physics tba109@psu.edu +1 814 865 2013 212A Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Mukul Bhattacharya Mukul Bhattacharya Postdoc Astronomy, Physics mmb5946@psu.edu 320A Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Carlos Blanco Carlos Blanco Faculty ICDS, Physics carlosblanco@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 303K Osmond Laboratory CFT, CMA, CTOC, IGC Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Yu Chen Yu Chen Graduate Student Physics yuc357@psu.edu 205 Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays
Stephane Coutu Stephane Coutu Faculty Astronomy, Physics sxc56@psu.edu +1 814 865 2015 303H Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Abhishek Das Abhishek Das Graduate Student Astronomy, ICDS, Physics ajd6518@psu.edu 321E Thomas Building CMA, IGC Black Holes, Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos, Quasars
Abe Falcone Abe Falcone Faculty Astronomy adf15@psu.edu +1 814 863 5364 516 Davey Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Quasars, Dynamic Universe
Eduardo Gutiérrez Eduardo Gutiérrez Postdoc Physics exg5366@psu.edu +1 814 863 9605 301B Whitmore Laboratory IGC Black Holes, Cosmic Rays, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Yu Jiang Yu Jiang Faculty Physics yuj119@psu.edu +1 814 863 0871 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Samuel Adam Isaac Mognet Samuel Adam Isaac Mognet Faculty Physics sam378@psu.edu +1 814 865 6107 206E Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter
Kohta Murase Kohta Murase Faculty Astronomy, Physics kum26@psu.edu +1 814 863 9594 321B Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Surendra Padamata Surendra Padamata Graduate Student Physics ssp5361@psu.edu 322 Osmond Laboratory CMA Black Holes, Cosmic Rays, Gravitational Waves, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Kara Whitaker Kara Whitaker Graduate Student Physics kbw5490@psu.edu 114 Osmond Laboratory IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics
Stephanie Wissel Stephanie Wissel Faculty Astronomy, Physics wissel@psu.edu +1 814 863 9598 303B Osmond Laboratory CFT, CMA, CTOC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Seonghyeon Yu Seonghyeon Yu Graduate Student Physics sjy5345@psu.edu --- 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays
Chengchao Yuan Chengchao Yuan Graduate Student Physics cxy52@psu.edu +1 814 865 0153 CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Andrew Zeolla Andrew Zeolla Graduate Student Physics avz5228@psu.edu 7138709006 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Valentin Decoene Valentin Decoene Postdoc Physics vxd5110@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 320L Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Kaeli Hughes Kaeli Hughes Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kaeli@psu.edu +1 6142906343 N/A Davey Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Marco Muzio Marco Muzio Faculty Astronomy, Physics msm6428@psu.edu 322 Whitmore Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos

News about Cosmic Rays

New TIGER approved for deployment to the International Space Station
September 26, 2022
New TIGER approved for deployment to the International Space Station
A team of physicists that includes researchers at Penn State is developing a new experiment envisioned for the International Space Station (ISS) as part of …
NASA selects STAR-X for $3M mission concept study
August 30, 2022
NASA selects STAR-X for $3M mission concept study
STAR-X, the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research Explorer, a proposed NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission that includes Penn State astronomer Niel Brandt, has been selected …
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.