Related papers: A method to estimate primary composition with the …
New developments in detector technology allow for a realistic cost of large area surface detectors for cosmic ray air showers, with some limitations on particle identification, energy resolutions, directional information and dynamic range.…
The muonic and electromagnetic components of air showers are sensitive to the mass of the primary cosmic particle. The sizes of the components can be measured with particle detectors on ground, and the electromagnetic component in addition…
We find that the ratio r_{mu e} of the muon to the electromagnetic component of an extended air shower at the ground level provides an indirect measure of the depth X_{max} of the shower maximum. This result, obtained with the air-shower…
Measuring the angles of muons and electrons in air showers is proposed as a method for studying the primary cosmic-ray mass composition near the knee of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum at a few $10^{15}$ eV. Conventional tracking detectors…
Measurements of cosmic ray particles at energies above E = 5 x 10^{14} eV are performed by large area ground based air shower experiments. Only they provide the collection power required for obtaining sufficient statistics at the low flux…
The mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays can be studied from the distributions of the depth of shower maximum and/or the muon shower size. Here, we study the dependence of the mean muon shower size on the depth of shower…
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…
We present the first measurement of the fluctuations in the number of muons in extensive air showers produced by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. We find that the measured fluctuations are in good agreement with predictions from air shower…
The detection of extensive air showers (EAS) induced by cosmic rays via radio signals has undergone significant advancements in the last two decades. Numerous ultra-high energy cosmic ray experiments routinely capture radio pulses in the…
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…
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…
Telescope Array (TA) has completed analysis of nearly nine years of data measuring the atmospheric depth of air shower maximum ($X_{\textrm{max}}$) utilizing the TA surface detector array and the Black Rock Mesa and Long Ridge fluorescence…
The lateral distribution of particles in extensive air showers from cosmic rays with energy above $10^{17}$ eV registered at the Yakutsk complex array was analyzed. Experimentally measured particle densities were compared to the predictions…
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…
Extensive air showers are the result of billions of particle reactions initiated by single cosmic rays at ultra-high energy. Their characteristics are sensitive both to the mass of the primary cosmic ray and to the fine details of hadronic…
In this paper we study, using Monte Carlo simulations, the possibility to discriminate the mass of the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) by combining information obtained from the maximum $X_{max}^{\mu}$ of the muon production rate…
We present arguments aiming at reconciling apparently contradictory results concerning the chemical composition of cosmic rays of highest energy, coming recently from the Auger and HiRes collaborations. In particular, we argue that the…
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…
The latest observations of extensive air showers (EAS) induced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) appear to indicate, prima facie, a transition to heavy primaries at the highest energies. However, this interpretation, which is based…
The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) aims at the detection of air showers induced by high-energy cosmic rays. As an extension of the Pierre Auger Observatory, it measures complementary information to the particle detectors, fluorescence…