Untersuchung der hadronischen Komponente ausgedehnter Luftschauer und Messung der Elementzusammensetzung der kosmischen Strahlung

The 320 m"2 hadron calorimeter of the experiment KASCADE allows to prove and to separate single hadrons in the core of extensive air showers. In coincidence with the 200 x 200 m"2 scintillator array, the hadronic, electromagnetic and muonic components of extensive air showers can be measured simultaneously. Showers in the energy range from 0.1 to 40 PeV have been investigated using different hadronic observables. The events have been classified according to the shower size of the hadronic, muonic and electromagnetic component. In order to test three high energy hadronic interaction models as implemented in the CORSIKA air shower simulation program, measured and simulated observables are compared to each other. The model QGSJET describes the data well. The model VENUS systematically produces deviations between the measurements and simulations if the showers are classified according to the number of electrons, but in total it shows a satisfying agreement. For SIBYLL there are large systematical differences when correlated with the muonic shower size. In the energy range from 0.2 to 40 PeV, the hadronic shower size spectrum has been measured for the first time. A ''knee'' is observed at an energy of 3 - 4 PeV. The spectral indices are determined to #gamma#_1 = 2.72 #+-# 0.04_s_t_a_t #+-# 0.14_s_y_s_t below and #gamma#_2 = 3.02 #+-# 0.09_s_t_a_t #+-# 0.16_s_y_s_t above the ''knee''. The cosmic ray mass composition is investigated for the first time using the hadronic component of extensive air showers. With rising energy, a trend to a heavier composition is been observed within all observables examined. (orig.)122 refs.Available from TIB Hannover: ZA 5141(6015) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with the AMANDA-II neutrino telescope.

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