Speaker
Description
With the AugerPrime upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory,
all 1660 surface detector stations have been equipped with a radio antenna
to measure extensive air showers in the 30–80 MHz band.
This Radio Detector (RD), covering an area of 3000 km$^2$, is the world’s largest cosmic-ray radio detector
focusing on inclined air showers with zenith angles above 60 degree and energies above 4 EeV.
The electromagnetic signal measured by the RD complements the muon-dominated measurements of the water-Cherenkov
detectors and provides composition sensitivity on an event-by-event basis.
After the completion of the deployment in November 2024,
the RD has started taking data with unprecedented quality.
With the calibration, reconstruction, and analysis chain available from the experience with the Auger Engineering Radio Array, the RD can deliver scientific results from the very beginning of operations.
We present the preliminary performance of the detector, first measurements, and representative example events.