Radio observations of high energy cosmic rays with the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array

High energy cosmic ray sources likely shift from objects within the Milky Way to extragalactic objects somewhere in the 1—1000 PeV region of the cosmic ray spectrum, and cosmic ray mass composition measurements can provide important clues to the limits of Milky Way cosmic ray accelerators. The particle air showers produced by cosmic rays interacting with Earth’s atmosphere create brief (5-10 nanoseconds) pulses of radio emission, which are sensitive to the mass and energy of the cosmic ray primary particle. Radio-based observations have several advantages (cost, duty cycle) over other methods, but human-generated radio frequency interference has generally prevented radio emission from being used independently of other air shower detection methods. Advances in fast digital signal processing enable the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array to observe cosmic rays from their radio emission alone in a 30—80 MHz band. This presentation will discuss the cosmic ray search methods, the first sample of detections, and the capabilities of and science plan for the instrument.