Determination of the cosmic-ray chemical composition: open issues and prospects

0564567 - FZÚ 2023 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Supanitsky, A. D.
Determination of the cosmic-ray chemical composition: open issues and prospects.
Galaxies. Roč. 10, č. 3 (2022), č. článku 75. E-ISSN 2075-4434
Research Infrastructure: AUGER-CZ II - 90102
Keywords : cosmic rays * chemical composition * extensive air showers
OECD category: Particles and field physics
Impact factor: 2.5, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access

Cosmic rays are relativistic particles that come to the Earth from outer space. Despite a great effort made in both experimental and theoretical research, their origin is still unknown. One of the main keys to understand their nature is the determination of its chemical composition as a function of primary energy. In this paper, we review the measurements of the mass composition above 10(15) eV. We first summarize the main aspects of air shower physics that are relevant in composition analyses. We discuss the composition measurements made by using optical, radio, and surface detectors and the limitations imposed by current high-energy hadronic interaction models that are used to interpret the experimental data.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0336259