he Pierre Auger Observatory, located on a vast, high plain in western\ud Argentina, is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. The objectives\ud of the Observatory are to probe the origin and characteristics of cosmic\ud rays above 10(17) eV and to study the interactions of these, the most\ud energetic particles observed in nature. The Auger design features an\ud array of 1660 water Cherenkov particle detector stations spread over\ud 3000 km(2) overlooked by 24 air fluorescence telescopes. In addition,\ud three high elevation fluorescence telescopes overlook a 23.5 km(2),\ud 61-detector infilled array with 750 in spacing. The Observatory has been\ud in successful operation since completion in 2008 and has recorded data\ud from an exposure exceeding 40,000 km(2) sr yr. This paper describes the\ud design and performance of the detectors, related subsystems and\ud infrastructure that make up the Observatory

Editor: S. DodelsonWe report a measurement of the flux of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision and statistics using the Pierre Auger Observatory. Based on fluorescence observations in coincidence with at least one surface detector we derive a spectrum for energies above 10 18 eV. We also update the previously published energy spectrum obtained with the surface detector array. The two spectra are combined addressing the systematic uncertainties and, in particular, the influence of the energy resolution on the spectral shape. 242Pierre Auger Collaboration / Physics Letters B 685 (2010) The spectrum can be described by a broken power law E −γ with index γ = 3.3 below the ankle which is measured at log 10 (E ankle /eV) = 18.6. Above the ankle the spectrum is described by a power law with index 2.6 followed by a flux suppression, above about log 10 (E/eV) = 19.5, detected with high statistical significance.

Precision measurements of the positron component in the cosmic radiation provide important information about the propagation of cosmic rays and the nature of particle sources in our Galaxy. The satellite-borne experiment PAMELA has been used to make a new measurement of the cosmicray positron flux and fraction that extends previously published measurements up to 300 GeV in kinetic energy. The combined measurements of the cosmic-ray positron energy spectrum and fraction provide a unique tool to constrain interpretation models. During the recent solar minimum activity period from July 2006 to December 2009 approximately 24500 positrons were observed.The results cannot be easily reconciled with purely secondary production and additional sources of either astrophysical or exotic origin may be required.

Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory during the past 3.7 years, we demonstrated a correlation between the arrival directions of cosmic rays with energy above 6 x 10(19) electron volts and the positions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) lying within approximately 75 megaparsecs. We rejected the hypothesis of an isotropic distribution of these cosmic rays with at least a 99% confidence level from a prescribed a priori test. The correlation we observed is compatible with the hypothesis that the highest-energy particles originate from nearby extragalactic sources whose flux has not been substantially reduced by interaction with the cosmic background radiation. AGN or objects having a similar spatial distribution are possible sources.

20 pages, 3 figures Submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett.International audienceThe surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau neutrinos that interact in Earth's crust. Tau leptons from ντ charged-current interactions can emerge and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a significant electromagnetic component. The data collected between 1 January 2004 and 31 August 2007 are used to place an upper limit on the diffuse flux of ντ at EeV energies. Assuming an Eν-2 differential energy spectrum the limit set at 90% C.L. is Eν2dNντ/dEν<1.3×10-7GeVcm-2s-1sr-1 in the energy range 2×1017e