Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: measurement of atmospheric production depth

0436648 - FZÚ 2015 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Aab, A. - Abreu, P. - Aglietta, M. - Boháčová, Martina - Chudoba, Jiří - Ebr, Jan - Mandát, Dušan - Nečesal, Petr - Palatka, Miroslav - Pech, Miroslav - Prouza, Michael - Řídký, Jan - Schovánek, Petr - Trávníček, Petr - Vícha, Jakub … Total 485 authors
Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: measurement of atmospheric production depth.
Physical Review D: Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology. Roč. 90, č. 1 (2014), "012012-1"-"012012-15". ISSN 1550-7998
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-17501S; GA MŠMT(CZ) 7AMB14AR005; GA MŠMT(CZ) LG13007
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : Pierre Auger Observatory * detector * cosmic rays * muons * air showers
Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics
Impact factor: 4.643, year: 2014

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides information about the longitudinal development of the muonic component of extensive air showers. Using the timing information from the flash analog-to-digital converter traces of surface detectors far from the shower core, it is possible to reconstruct a muon production depth distribution. We characterize the goodness of this reconstruction for zenith angles around 60 degrees and different energies of the primary particle. From these distributions, we define X-max(mu) as the depth along the shower axis where the production of muons reaches maximum. We explore the potentiality of X-max(mu) as a useful observable to infer the mass composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Likewise, we assess its ability to constrain hadronic interaction models.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0240341