Related papers: Testing chemical composition of highest energy com…
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…
A new method of investigating ultra-high energy cosmic ray sources is suggested. The method is based on analysis of gamma-ray emission that is generated in extragalactic space when ultra-high energy cosmic particles interact with cosmic…
It is shown that the shape of any electron distribution in a high energy air shower is the same in all such showers, if taken at the same age, independently of the primary energy, mass and thus, of the interaction model.
We present a parameterized model of atmospheric particle showers initiated by cosmic rays. Few physics shower parameters are tuned in a comparison to the Conex generator. Resulting shower properties are studied, with a comment on the cases…
The bulk of air showers initiated by very high energy cosmic rays exhibits a longitudinal development in depth with a single well-defined shower maximum. However, a small fraction of showers has a profile that differs considerably from this…
Historically cosmic rays have always been at the intersection of astrophysics with particle physics. This is still and especially true in current days where experimenters routinely observe atmospheric showers from particles whose energies…
We explore the feasibility of estimating primary cosmic ray composition at ultra high energies from the sum of muon, electron and photon densities and the depth of maximum of extensive air showers detected by the Auger Observatory. From the…
Irregularity in spectrum of the primary cosmic rays (PCR) mass composition at an energy of ~ 10 PeV is considered. To assess changes of the PCR mass composition, the X-ray emulsion chamber (XREC) method and the halo-method based on the XEC…
The paper presents the results of the longitudinal development of extensive air showers (X$_{max}$) of ultra-high energies and mass composition of cosmic rays. The measurements of X$_{max}$ are based on data from observations of the…
We demonstrate that a substantial part of the present uncertainties in model predictions for the average maximum depth of cosmic ray-induced extensive air showers is related to very high energy pion-air collisions. Our analysis shows that…
Based on CORSIKA and REAS2 simulations, we investigate the dependence of geosynchrotron radio emission from extensive air showers on the energy of the primary cosmic ray and the depth of the shower maximum. It is found that at a…
We briefly review the status of cosmic ray studies between $10^{14}$ eV and the highest observed energies, namely a few times $10^{20}$ eV. Because of the rather low incident fluxes in this energy range, the studies mostly rely on ground…
We present an introductory lecture on general features of cosmic rays, for non-experts, and some recent developments concerning cascade equations for air shower developments.
An accurate knowledge of the fluorescence yield and its dependence on atmospheric properties such as pressure, temperature or humidity is essential to obtain a reliable measurement of the primary energy of cosmic rays in experiments using…
Air shower simulation programs are essential tools for the analysis of data from cosmic ray experiments and for planning the layout of new detectors. They are used to estimate the energy and mass of the primary particle. Unfortunately the…
The mass composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is an open problem in astroparticle physics. It is usually inferred from the depth of the shower maximum (Xmax) of cosmic-ray showers, which is only ambiguously determined by modern…
Interpretation of the energy spectrum and arrival distribution of cosmic rays is complicated by lack of knowledge of the nature of the primaries. We review claims for the mass composition above 1017 eV where it can be determined only…
Extensive air showers still are our only access to the highest-energy particles in the universe, namely cosmic-ray nuclei with energies up to several 100 EeV. Studying open questions in cosmic-ray physics, like their yet unknown origin…
Radio Cherenkov emission underlines detection of high energy particles via a signal growing like the particle-energy-squared. Cosmic ray-induced electromagnetic showers are a primary application. While many studies have treated 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…