Limits on the TeV flux of diffuse gamma rays as measured with the HEGRA air shower array

Using data from the HEGRA air shower array. taken in the period from April 1998 to March 2000, upper limits on the ratio I-gamma/I-CR of the diffuse photon flux I-gamma to the hadronic cosmic ray flux I-CR are determined for the energy region 20, 100 TeV. The analysis uses a gamma-hadron discrimination which is based on differences in the development of photon- and hadron-induced air showers after the shower maximum, A method which is sensitive only to the non-isotropic component of the diffuse photon flux yields an upper limit of I-gamma/I-CR (at 54 TeV) < 2.0 x 10 (3) (at the 90% confidence level) for a sky region near the inner galaxy (20degrees < galactic longitude < 60degrees and \galactic latitude\ < 5degrees). A method which is sensitive to both the isotropic and the non-isotropic component yields global upper limits of I-gamma/I-CR (at 31 TeV) < 1.2 x 10(-2) and I-gamma/(CR) (at 53 TeV) < 1.4 x 10 (2) (at the 90% confidence level). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.