Dr Bruce Dawson

Reader/Associate Professor

Research Interests:

• Ultra-high energy cosmic rays. These are the most energetic particles known in Nature, and we are part of two large international collaborations formed to determine the origin of these particles. The cosmic rays of interest are incredibly energetic (in excess of 10^19 electron-volts) but they are also incredibly rare (less than 1 particle per square kilometre per year), so detectors must be large. The High resolution Fly's Eye is a detector with a collecting area of 3000 square kilometres during clear, moonless nights. The Pierre Auger Observatory will cover a similar area 24 hours per day. We are experts on the fluorescence detection technique, pioneered in Utah in the late 1970's. We are also interested in interpreting the cosmic ray data, to determine particle energies and mass, and their arrival directions.

Selected Publications:

• P. Sokolsky, P. Sommers and B.R. Dawson (1992)
  Extremely High Energy Cosmic Rays
  Physics Reports 217, 225-227

• D.J. Bird et al (1993)
  Evidence for Correlated Changes in the Spectrum and Composition of Cosmic Rays at Extremely High Energies
  Physical Review Letters 71, 3401

• B.R. Dawson, H.Y. Dai, P. Sommers and S. Yoshida (1996)
  Simulations of a Giant Hybrid Air Shower Detector
  Astroparticle Physics 5, 239-247

• Roger Clay and Bruce Dawson Cosmic Bullets - High Energy Particles in Astrophysics (Book)
  (Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1997; Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. 1998; also published in Chinese and Spanish language versions)

• B.R. Dawson, R. Meyhandan and K.M. Simpson (1998)
  A Comparison of Cosmic Ray Composition Measurements at the Highest Energies
  Astroparticle Physics 9 331-338

• T. Abu-Zayyad et al (2000)
  Evidence for Changing Cosmic Ray Composition between 10^17eV and 10^18eV from Multi-Component Measurements
  Physical Review Letters 84, 4276-4279

• J.A. Bellido, R.W. Clay, B.R. Dawson and M. Johnston-Hollitt (2001)
  Southern Hemisphere Observations of a 10^18eV Cosmic Ray Source Near the Direction of the Galactic Centre
  Astroparticle Physics 15, 167-175

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Assoc. Prof Bruce Dawson