Measurement of the cosmic ray flux with the ANITA experiment

Abstract

The ANITA experiment consists on an aerostatic balloon flying over Antarctica and carrying a payload with antennas. Although ANITA was designed to detect the electric field of netrino-induced showers in the ice cap, it has also detected 16 radio pulses coming from extensive air showers, and the ANITA collaboration has used these data to produce the first cosmic ray flux measurement obtained by employing radio as a stand-alone technique. We review the experimental results and its interpretation. We also focus on the simulations and the method used for obtaining the cosmic ray flux.