Searching for Signs of Cosmic Ray Ensembles with the GELATICA Array

The GELATICA project (GEorgian Large-area Angle and TIme Coincidence Array) consists of several cosmic ray detector arrays located in two cities in Georgia. Designed to detect Extensive Air Showers (EAS) with high-precision timing, these observatories aim to reconstruct the arrival directions of cosmic ray showers. GELATICA is the part of the international CREDO collaboration (Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory), with a primary goal of searching for Cosmic Ray Ensembles (CRE)—correlated cosmic ray events potentially originating from a common astrophysical or exotic source. This paper presents an overview of GELATICA’s instrumentation and methodology, along with an analysis of multi-year data. We evaluate detector performance, characterize the distribution of recorded signals, and assess the potential for detecting CREs via coincident signals across spatially separated arrays. We report the detection of two pairs of events coinciding in time with 0.5 millisecond accuracy. However, the arrival directions of these coincident events do not suggest a common origin. Nevertheless, further data collection and an increased number of observatories could enhance the likelihood of identifying true CRE candidates.