Method of Separating Cosmic-Ray Positrons from Electrons in the DAMPE Experiment

Abstract

Abstract A method of identifying positron/electron species from the cosmic rays was studied in the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) experiment. As there is no onboard magnet on the satellite, the different features imposed by the geomagnetic field on these two species were exploited for the particle identification. Application of this method to the simulation of on-orbit electrons/positrons/protons and the real flight data proves that separately measuring the CR positrons/electrons with DAMPE is feasible, though limited by the field of view for the present observation data. Further analysis on the positron flux with this method can be expected in the future.