Related papers: Learning the Composition of Ultra High Energy Cosm…
The muon charge ratio of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays may provide information to detect the composition of the primary cosmic rays. We propose to extract the charge information of high energy muons in very inclined extensive air showers by…
The Pierre Auger Observatory aims to determine the nature and origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR). The Auger hybrid detector combines fluorescence observations of extended air showers, initiated in the atmosphere by these…
Energy-dependent patterns in the arrival directions of cosmic rays are searched for using data of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We investigate local regions around the highest-energy cosmic rays with $E \geq 6 \cdot 10^{19}$ eV by analyzing…
The southern Pierre Auger Observatory, presently under construction in Malarg"ue, Argentina, is nearing completion. The instrument is designed to measure extensive air-showers with energies ranging from $10^{18}$-$10^{20}$ eV and beyond. It…
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays impinging onto the atmosphere induce huge cascades of secondary particles. The measurement of the energy radiated by these air showers in form of radio waves enables an accurate measurement of the cosmic-ray…
Cosmic ray data may allow the determination of the proton-air cross section at ultra-high energy. For example, the distribution of the first interaction point in air showers reflects the particle production cross section. As it is not…
High energy Astroparticles include Cosmic Ray, gamma ray and neutrinos, all of them coming from the universe. The origin and production, acceleration and propagation mechanisms of ultrahigh-energy CR (up to $10^{20}$ eV) are still unknown.…
One of the most challenging open questions regarding the origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) deals with the shape of the source emission spectra. A commonly-used simplifying assumption is that the source spectra of the highest…
In this work we argue that, in the interpretation of the energy dependence of the depth of the shower maximum and of the muon content in high energy cosmic ray showers ($E > 10^{17}$ eV), other variables besides the composition may play an…
Cosmic-ray particles with ultra-high energies (above $10^{18}$ eV) are studied through the properties of extensive air showers which they initiate in the atmosphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory detects these showers with unprecedented…
The chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is a key question in particle astrophysics. The measured composition, inferred from the elongation rates of cosmic ray showers, looks in general very different from the initial…
Large scale airshower simulations around the GZK cutoff are performed. An extensive analysis of the behaviour of the various subcomponents of the cascade is presented. We focus our investigation both on the study of total and partial…
The energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) provides essential information on the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Beyond EeV energies, the Telescope Array and Pierre Auger Observatory have the largest exposures…
Despite the significant experimental effort made in the last decades, the origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays is still largely unknown. Key astrophysical information to identify where these energetic particles come from is provided…
This analysis aims to determine the mass composition and energy of cosmic rays at energies above 100 TeV based on the lateral distribution of extensive air showers. Here, we propose quite a few air shower observables for reconstructing the…
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…
Measurements of air showers are accumulating at an increasing rate while construction proceeds at the Pierre Auger Observatory. Although the southern site is only half complete, the cumulative exposure is already similar to those achieved…
With the knowledge and statistical precision derived from two decades of measurement, the Pierre Auger Observatory has significantly deepened our understanding of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays while unearthing an increasingly complex…
We have used recently published data from the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array Project to conclude some inferences concerning the origin and composition of ultra high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR). We advocate for model the…
Firm evidence for a radio emission counterpart of cosmic ray air showers is presented. By the use of an antenna array set up in coincidence with ground particle detectors, we find a collection of events for which both time and arrival…