Related papers: Anomalous Longitudinal Shower Profiles and Hadroni…
The interaction of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) with the atoms of the atmosphere can occur at center-of-mass energies that surpass 100 TeV, while present human-made accelerators go up to 13 TeV. Therefore it provides a unique…
Using CORSIKA for simulating extensive air showers, we study the relation between the shower characteristics and features of hadronic multiparticle production at low energies. We report about investigations of typical energies and phase…
Hadronic cross sections at ultra-high energy have a significant impact on the development of extensive air shower cascades. Therefore the interpretation of air shower data depends critically on hadronic interaction models that extrapolate…
In the sub-TeV regime, the most widely used hadronic interaction models disagree significantly in their predictions of particle spectra from cosmic ray induced air showers. We investigate the nature and impact of model uncertainties,…
In this paper, we will discuss the prospects of deducing the proton-air cross section from fluorescence telescope measurements of extensive air showers. As it is not possible to observe the point of first interaction $X_{\rm 1}$ directly,…
The hybrid design of the Pierre Auger Observatory allows for the measurement of a number of properties of extensive air showers initiated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. By comparing these measurements to predictions from air shower…
We propose a novel approach for the determination of the nature of ultra-high energy cosmic rays by exploiting the geomagnetic deviation of muons in nearly horizontal showers. The distribution of the muons at ground level is well described…
At Auger energies only model predictions enable us to extract primary cosmic ray features. The simulation of the shower evolution depends sensitively on the first few interactions, necessarily related to the quality of our understanding of…
The identification of string relics, or of other very massive states, at forthcoming ultra high energy cosmic rays experiments, requires a good reconstruction of the main properties of the extensive air showers produced by the collision of…
Contemporary models of hadronic interactions are reviewed. Basic phenomenological approaches are compared, with an emphasizes on the predicted air shower characteristics. Special attention is payed to the remaining discrepancies between…
The extension of the longitudinal hadronic shower profile parameterization which takes into account non-compensations of calorimeters and the algorithm of the longitudinal hadronic shower profile curve making for a combined calorimeter are…
High-energy cosmic rays interact in the Earth's atmosphere and produce extensive air showers (EASs) which can be measured with large detector arrays at the ground. The interpretation of these measurements relies on models of the EAS…
Extensive air showers are generated through interactions of high-energy cosmic rays impinging the Earth's atmosphere. A new method is described to infer the attenuation of hadrons in air showers. The numbers of electrons and muons,…
A re-examination of the atmospheric cascade profile of the highest energy cosmic ray is presented. The study includes air-shower simulations considering different cross sections, particle multiplicity and variation of the…
Experiments measuring cosmic rays above an energy of 10^14 eV deduce the energy and mass of the primary cosmic ray particles from air-shower simulations. We investigate the importance of hadronic interactions at low and high energies on the…
In this article I review the main theoretical problems that are posed by the highest energy end of the observed cosmic ray spectrum, stressing the importance of establishing their composition in order to decide between proposed scenarios. I…
The interaction of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with air nuclei triggers extensive air showers that reach their maximal energy deposition at the atmospheric depth $X_{\max}$. The distribution of this shower observable encodes information…
The combined data of Fluorescence and Surface Detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory has recently provided the strongest constraints on the validity of predictions from current models of hadronic interactions. The unmodified predictions…
Whereas air shower simulations are very valuable tools for interpreting cosmic ray data, there is a long standing problem: is seems to be impossible to accommodate at the same time the longitudinal development of air showers and the number…
Charm and bottom particles are rare in Extensive Air Showers but the effect of its presence can be radical in the development of the Extensive Air Showers (EAS). If such particles arise with a large fraction of the primary energy, they can…