Measurements of the Cosmic Ray Composition with Air Shower Experiments
Abstract
In this paper we review air shower data related to the mass composition of cosmic rays above 10 eV. After explaining the basic relations between air shower observables and the primary mass and energy of cosmic rays, we present different approaches and results of composition studies with surface detectors. Furthermore, we discuss measurements of the longitudinal development of air showers from non-imaging Cherenkov detectors and fluorescence telescopes. The interpretation of these experimental results in terms of primary mass is highly susceptible to the theoretical uncertainties of hadronic interactions in air showers. We nevertheless attempt to calculate the logarithmic mass from the data using different hadronic interaction models and to study its energy dependence from 10 to 10 eV.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1201.0018,
title = {Measurements of the Cosmic Ray Composition with Air Shower Experiments},
author = {Karl-Heinz Kampert and Michael Unger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1201.0018},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
21 pages, invited review accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics, Topical Issue on Cosmic Rays