Depth of maximum of air-shower profiles at the Pierre Auger Observatory. I. Measurements at energies above 10.sup.17.8./sup.  eV

0441353 - 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
Depth of maximum of air-shower profiles at the Pierre Auger Observatory. I. Measurements at energies above 10^17.8  eV.
Physical Review D: Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology. Roč. 90, č. 12 (2014), "122005-1"-"122005-25". ISSN 1550-7998
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) 7AMB14AR005; GA MŠMT(CZ) LG13007; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-17501S
Institutional support: RVO:68378271
Keywords : astroparticle physics * Pierre Auger Observatory * cosmic rays * air showers * depth of maximum * Xmax
Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics
Impact factor: 4.643, year: 2014

We report a study of the distributions of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of extensive air-shower profiles with energies above 1017.8  eV as observed with the fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The analysis method for selecting a data sample with minimal sampling bias is described in detail as well as the experimental cross-checks and systematic uncertainties. Furthermore, we discuss the detector acceptance and the resolution of the Xmax measurement and provide parametrizations thereof as a function of energy. The energy dependence of the mean and standard deviation of the Xmax distributions are compared to air-shower simulations for different nuclear primaries and interpreted in terms of the mean and variance of the logarithmic mass distribution at the top of the atmosphere
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0244379