Related papers: Improving photon-hadron discrimination based on co…
The simple interpretation of PAO's UHECRs' penetration depth measurements suggests a transition at the energy range $1.1 - 35 \cdot 10^{18} $ eV from protons to heavier nuclei. A detailed comparison of this data with air shower simulations…
It has become apparent in recent years that it is important, notably for a range of physics studies at the Large Hadron Collider, to have accurate knowledge on the distribution of photons in the proton. We show how the photon parton…
Extensions of the standard model of particle physics, in particular those based on string theory, often predict a new U(1) gauge symmetry in a hidden sector. The corresponding gauge boson, called hidden photon, naturally interacts with the…
We propose a new beam-dump experiment, SHADOWS, to search for a large variety of feebly-interacting particles possibly produced in the interactions of a 400 GeV proton beam with a high-Z material dump. SHADOWS will use the 400 GeV primary…
Gamma-ray induced air showers are notable for their lack of muons, compared to hadronic showers. Hence, air shower arrays with large underground muon detectors can select a sample greatly enriched in photon showers by rejecting showers…
The origin and composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) remain a mystery. The proton dip model describes their spectral shape in the energy range above $10^9$ GeV by pair production and photohadronic interactions with the…
Flares produced by certain classes of astrophysical objects may be sources of some ultra-high-energy particles, which, if they are photons, would group into clusters of events correlated in space and time. Identification of such clustering…
The Pierre Auger Observatory's (PAO) shower profile measurements can be used to constrain the chemical composition of the ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum. In particular, the PAO's measurements of the average depth of shower…
IceTop, the surface array of IceCube, measures air showers from cosmic rays within the energy range of 1 PeV to a few EeV and a zenith angle range of up to $\approx$ 36$^\circ$. This detector array can also measure air showers arriving at…
The composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is an important issue in astroparticle physics research, and additional experimental results are required for further progress. Here we investigate what can be learned from the statistical…
A thorough search of the sky exposed at the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory reveals no statistically significant excess of events in any small solid angle that would be indicative of a flux of neutral particles from a discrete source.…
We present a new design for the water Cherenkov detectors that are in use in various cosmic ray observatories. This novel design can provide a significant improvement in the independent measurement of the muonic and electromagnetic…
We present an updated estimate of the cosmic radio background (CRB) and the corresponding attenuation lengths for ultra-high energy photons. This new estimate provides associated uncertainties as a function of frequency derived from…
Current knowledge of the relative abundances and the energy spectra of the elemental mass groups of cosmic rays in the $10$ TeV - $1$ PeV interval is uncertain. This situation prevents carrying out precision tests that may lead to…
The Pierre Auger Observatory, the world's largest observatory of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR), offers a unique insight into the properties of hadronic interactions occurring in air showers at energies well above those reached at…
Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory~(LHAASO) opens the window of ultra-high-energy~(UHE) photon detection, broadens the path of testing basic physical concept such as Lorentz symmetry, and brings possibility of potential high-energy…
The nature of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies >10^20 eV remains a mystery. They are likely to be of extragalactic origin, but should be absorbed within ~50 Mpc through interactions with the cosmic microwave background. As…
We argue that an astrophysical solution to UHECR problem is viable. The pectral features of extragalactic protons interacting with CMB are calculated in model-independent way. Using the power-law generation spectrum $\propto E^{-\gamma_g}$…
The detection of photons above 10 keV through MeV and GeV energies is challenging due to the penetrating nature of the radiation, which can require large detector volumes, resulting in correspondingly high background. In this energy range,…
The current methods to determine the primary energy in surface arrays are different when dealing with hadron or photon initiated showers. In this work, we adapt a method previously developed for photon-initiated showers to hadron primaries.…