Related papers: Extracting a less model dependent cosmic ray compo…
The mass composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is usually inferred from the depth of the shower maximum ($X_{\rm{max}}$) of cosmic-ray showers, which is only ambiguously determined by modern hadronic interaction models. We…
We present an updated cosmic-ray mass composition analysis in the energy range $10^{16.8}$ to $10^{18.3}$ eV from 334 air showers measured with the LOFAR radio telescope, and selected for minimal bias. In this energy range, the origin of…
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…
The mass composition of ultra high-energy cosmic ray (UHECRs) can be inferred from measurements of $X_{\rm max}$ distributions by fitting them with Monte Carlo (MC) predictions for different primary species of nuclei in each energy…
Using the data taken at the Pierre Auger Observatory between December 2004 and December 2012, we have examined the implications of the distributions of depths of atmospheric shower maximum (Xmax), using a hybrid technique, for composition…
We report studies of ultra-high energy cosmic ray composition via analysis of depth of airshower maximum (Xmax), for airshower events collected by the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) observatory. The HiRes data are consistent with a…
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…
We assume an extreme scenario, in which the arriving cosmic rays are composed of only iron nuclei at energies above $10^{19.6}\,\text{eV}\simeq40\,\text{EeV}$, while allowing a freedom in the scale of the depth of shower maximum…
We present a new parametrization of the cosmic-ray flux and its mass composition over an energy range from 10 GeV to $10^{11}$ GeV. Our approach is data-driven and relies on theoretical assumptions as little as possible. We combine…
The determination of the mass composition of the highest energy cosmic rays is one of the greatest challenges in cosmic ray experiments. The highest energy cosmic rays are only detected indirectly because of their very low flux. Using the…
The shape of the longitudinal development of the showers generated in the atmosphere by very high energy cosmic ray particles encodes information about the mass composition of the flux, and about the properties of hadronic interactions that…
We present measurements of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum $X_\mathrm{max}$, inferred for the first time on an event-by-event level using the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Using deep learning, we were able to…
A review of several analyses is presented that forces the conclusion that the mass composition of the highest-energy cosmic rays is not proton-dominated. This deduction, combined with the use of a modern hadronic interaction model, should…
Using the Auger mass-composition analysis of ultra high energy cosmic rays, based on the shape-fitting of $X_{max}$ distributions, we demonstrate that mass composition and energy spectra measured by Auger, Telescope Array and HiRes can be…
There are multiple techniques to determine the chemical composition of the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. While most of the methods are primarily sensitive to the average atomic mass, it is challenging to discriminate between the two…
We consider multivariate skew-t distributions for modeling composition data of high energy cosmic rays. The model has been validated with simulated data for different primary nuclei and hadronic models focusing on the depth of maximum Xmax…
Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical composit ion of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged slant depth of the shower maximum, $X_{max}$, as a function of energy to the slant…
The chemical composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays is still uncertain. The latest results obtained by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the HiRes Collaboration, concerning the measurement of the mean value and the fluctuations of the…
In this paper we infer the mass composition of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) from measurements of $X_{\rm max}$ distributions recorded at the Pierre Auger (2014) and Telescope Array (TA) (2016) Observatories, by fitting them…
The atmospheric depth where the energy deposit profile of secondary particles from extensive air showers (EAS) reaches its maximum, $X_{\rm max}$, is related to the primary particle mass. The mass composition of the ultra-high energy cosmic…