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Observation of cosmic gamma rays is important in the understanding of high-energy objects or phenomena in the universe. Since 2008, the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi-LAT) has surveyed the sub-GeV/GeV gamma-ray sky and achieved high statistics measurements. However, observation at low galactic latitudes remains difficult owing to the lack of angular resolution, and new issues following the operation of Fermi-LAT have arisen. We devised a precise gamma-ray observation project, Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE), using balloon-borne emulsion gammaray telescopes to realize high angular resolution, polarization-sensitive, and large-aperture observations in the 10 MeV–100 GeV energy region. Following basic developments on the ground, we performed three balloon-borne experiments with upgraded instruments. In this paper, we present results from the second balloon experiment in 2015, a report on the latest balloon experiment conducted on April 26, 2018, and a recent study on hadronic interactions using proton beams.

We are developing the Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion project, designed for 10 MeV–100 GeV cosmic γ-ray observations with a high angular resolution (5′/0.°08 at 1–2 GeV) and a polarization-sensitive large-aperture (∼10 m2) emulsion telescope for repeated long-duration balloon flights. In 2018, a balloon-borne experiment was carried out in Australia with a 0.38 m2 sensitive area and a flight duration of 17.4 hr, including 6.7 hr of Vela observations. Significant improvements compared with the 2015 balloon-borne experiment were achieved by a factor of 5, including both an increase in effective area × time and a reduction in the background contribution. We aimed to demonstrate the telescope’s overall performance based on detection and imaging of a known γ-ray source, the Vela pulsar. A robust detection of the Vela pulsar was achieved with a 68% containment radius of 0.°42, at a significance of 6σ, at energies above 80 MeV. The resulting angular profile is consistent with that of a pointlike source. We achieved the current best imaging performance of the Vela pulsar using an emulsion γ-ray telescope with the highest angular resolution of any γ-ray telescope to date.

Observations of cosmic gamma rays are important for studying high energy phenomena in the universe. Since 2008, the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi satellite has surveyed the whole gamma-ray sky in the sub-GeV/GeV energy region, and accumurated a large amount of data. However, observations at the low galactic latitude remains difficult because of a lack of angular resolution, increase of background flux originating from galactic diffuse gamma rays, etc. The Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE) is a gamma-ray observation project with a new balloon-borne emulsion gamma-ray telescope. Nuclear emulsion is a high-resolution 3D tracking device. It determines the incident angle with 0.1∘ resolution for 1 GeV gamma rays (1.0∘ for 100 MeV), and has linear polarization sensitivity. GRAINE aims at precise observation of gamma-ray sources, especially in the galactic plane, by repeating long-duration balloon flights with large-aperture-area (10 m2) high-resolution emulsion telescopes. In May 2015, we performed a balloon-borne experiment in Alice Springs, Australia, in order to demonstrate the imaging performance of our telescope. The emulsion telescope that has an aperture area of 0.4 m2 was employed in this experiment. It observed the Vela pulsar (the brightest gamma-ray source in the GeV sky) at an altitude of 37 km for 6 hours out of the flight duration of 14 hours. In this presentation, we will report the latest results and the status of the GRAINE project.

We describe the precise gamma-ray observation project Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE), which uses balloon-borne emulsion gamma-ray telescopes. The emulsion telescope realizes observations with high angular resolution, polarization sensitivity, and large aperture area in the 0.01–100 GeV energy region. We report on the data analysis of emulsion tracks and the first demonstration of gamma-ray imaging via an emulsion telescope by using the flight data from the balloon experiment performed in 2015 (GRAINE 2015). The emulsion films were scanned by the latest read-out system for a total area of 41 m $^2$in three months, and then the gamma-ray event selection was automatically processed. Millions of electron-pair events are accumulated in the balloon-borne emulsion telescope. The emulsion telescope detected signals from a calibration source (gamma rays from the interaction of cosmic rays with an aluminum plate) with a high significance during the balloon observation and created a gamma-ray image consistent with the source size and the expected angular resolution in the energy range of 100–300 MeV. The flight performance obtained in the GRAINE 2015 experiment proves that balloon-borne emulsion telescope experiments with larger area are feasible while maintaining the expected imaging performance.

Nuclear emulsion is a extremely high-resolution 3D tracking detector. Since the discovery of the pion by C.F. Powell et al. in 1946, experiments with nuclear emulsions have contributed to the development of particle physics. (e.g. the OPERA collaboration reported the discovery of νμ * ντ oscillations in appearance mode in 2015) The technology of nuclear emulsion still keeps making progress. Since 2010, we have introduced a system of nuclear emulsion gel production to our laboratory in Nagoya University, and have started self-development of the new gel, instead of from the photographic film companies. Moreover, a faster automated emulsion scanning system is developed. Its scanning speed reaches 4000 cm2/h, and the load for analyzing becomes more and more lighter. In this presentation, we report the status of nuclear emulsion technologies for cosmic ray experiments.

Nuclear emulsion is a extremely high-resolution 3D tracking detector. Since the discovery of the pion by C.F. Powell et al. in 1946, experiments with nuclear emulsions have contributed to the development of particle physics. (e.g. the OPERA collaboration reported the discovery of νμ * ντ oscillations in appearance mode in 2015) The technology of nuclear emulsion still keeps making progress. Since 2010, we have introduced a system of nuclear emulsion gel production to our laboratory in Nagoya University, and have started self-development of the new gel, instead of from the photographic film companies. Moreover, a faster automated emulsion scanning system is developed. Its scanning speed reaches 4000 cm2/h, and the load for analyzing becomes more and more lighter. In this presentation, we report the status of nuclear emulsion technologies for cosmic ray experiments.

Observations of cosmic gamma rays are important for studying high energy phenomena in the universe. Since 2008, the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi satellite has surveyed the whole gamma-ray sky in the sub-GeV/GeV energy region, and accumurated a large amount of data. However, observations at the low galactic latitude remains difficult because of a lack of angular resolution, increase of background flux originating from galactic diffuse gamma rays, etc. The Gamma-Ray Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE) is a gamma-ray observation project with a new balloon-borne emulsion gamma-ray telescope. Nuclear emulsion is a high-resolution 3D tracking device. It determines the incident angle with 0.1∘ resolution for 1 GeV gamma rays (1.0∘ for 100 MeV), and has linear polarization sensitivity. GRAINE aims at precise observation of gamma-ray sources, especially in the galactic plane, by repeating long-duration balloon flights with large-aperture-area (10 m2) high-resolution emulsion telescopes. In May 2015, we performed a balloon-borne experiment in Alice Springs, Australia, in order to demonstrate the imaging performance of our telescope. The emulsion telescope that has an aperture area of 0.4 m2 was employed in this experiment. It observed the Vela pulsar (the brightest gamma-ray source in the GeV sky) at an altitude of 37 km for 6 hours out of the flight duration of 14 hours. In this presentation, we will report the latest results and the status of the GRAINE project.

A bstract In the DsTau experiment at the CERN SPS (NA65), an independent and direct way to measure tau neutrino production following high energy proton interactions was proposed. As the main source of tau neutrinos is a decay of D s mesons, produced in proton-nucleus interactions, the project aims at measuring a differential cross section of this reaction. The experimental method is based on a use of high resolution emulsion detectors for effective registration of events with short lived particle decays. Here we present the motivation of the study, details of the experimental technique, and the first results of the analysis of the data collected during test runs, which prove feasibility of the full scale study of the process in future.