Related papers: Probing Hadronic Interactions with Cosmic Rays
Space-based experiments, either orbiting the Earth or from scientific balloon altitudes, measure high-energy cosmic rays by measuring from above the atmosphere the optical and radio signals generated by extensive air showers (EAS). These…
Hadronic cosmic particles (cosmic rays) and gamma rays are constantly absorbed in the Earth's atmosphere and result in air showers of secondary particles. Cherenkov radiation from these atmospheric events is used to measure cosmic gamma…
Since 2002, the CODALEMA experiment located within the Nan\c{c}ay Radio Observatory studies the ultra-high energy cosmic rays (above 10^{17} eV) arriving in the Earth atmosphere. These cosmic rays interact with the component of the…
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 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…
An analysis has been made of the present situation with the high energy hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interaction models. As is already known there are inconsistencies in the interpretation of experimental data on the primary mass…
Ultrahigh energy cosmic ray air showers probe particle physics at energies beyond the reach of accelerators. Here we introduce a new method to test hadronic interaction models without relying on the absolute energy calibration, and apply it…
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…
Extensive air showers initiated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays are sensitive to the details of hadronic interactions models, so we present the main results obtained using the data of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The depth at which the…
We discuss that hadron-induced atmospheric air showers from ultra-high energy cosmic rays are sensitive to QCD interactions at very small momentum fractions x where nonlinear effects should become important. The leading partons from the…
General physics of very high energy hadronic interactions is discussed. Special attention is payed to the contribution of semihard processes to the interaction dynamics and to the role of parton shadowing and parton density saturation. In…
An analysis has been made of the present situation with respect to the high energy hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interaction models as applied to cosmic rays. As is already known, there are inconsistencies in the interpretation of…
Studies of the nature of cosmic ray particles at the highest energies are based on the measurement of extensive air showers. Most cosmic ray properties can therefore only be obtained from the interpretation of air shower data and are thus…
Cosmic ray primary particles initiate extended air showers (EAS) in the atmosphere. The directions of these cosmic rays approximate a homogeneous isotropic distribution. The HiSPARC experiment, consisting of a growing number of measurement…
Measurements of the products of UHECR interactions with the Earth's atmosphere, as obtained in Extended Air Shower experiments, offer important information concerning hadronic interactions, which for some aspects overlaps and for many…
The predictions of hadronic interaction models for cosmic-ray induced air showers contain inherent uncertainties due to limitations of available accelerator data and theoretical understanding in the required energy and rapidity regime.…
The Pierre Auger Observatory, recently completed, has been operational since 2004. As a hybrid experiment, it allows for a wide range of measurements of UHECR-induced extensive air showers (EAS), including measurements of the EAS particle…
The study of hadronic showers, which are produced by cosmic rays penetrating the Earth's atmosphere, is essential for shedding light on the origins and characteristics of high-energy particles originating from space and reaching our planet.…
The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 10**6 GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air…
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…