Lateral-angular and temporal characteristics of EAS optical radiation

Characteristics of the direct and scattered components of electron-photon shower optical radiation for distances R 500 m from the shower core to a detector, allowing for the Cerenkov and fluorescent mechanism of photon generation are presented. The results of calculations are employed to clarify the techniques for determination of the shower parameters detected by both installations registering fluorescent light and those recording Cerenkov light

Deterministic growth model of Laplacian charged particle aggregates

The results of the computer simulation of the aggregates growth of the similarly charged particles in the framework of deterministic Laplacian growth model on a square lattice are presented. Cluster growth is controlled by three parameters ${p, E,\lambda}$, where $p$ - Laplacian growth parameter, $E$ - energy of a particle sticking to a cluster, $\lambda$ - the screening length of electrostatic interactions. The phase diagram of cluster growth is built in the co-ordinates ${E,\lambda}$. The zones of different cluster morphology are selected: I-the zone of finite X-like structures,II-the zone of infinite ramified structures, controlled by electrostatic interactions, III-the zone of infinite structures with electrostatic interactions effectively switched off. Simple electrostatic estimations of the locations of the zone boundaries are presented. It is shown that in general case within the zone II the continuous change of $D_f$, controlled by parameters ${p, E,\lambda}$, takes place. In the degeneration limit when the given model transforms into deterministic version of the Eden model (at $p=0$), the crossover from linear $(D_f=1)$ to compact $(D_f=2)$ structures is observed when passing through the boundary between the zones I and II.Comment: REVTEX, 3 pages with 4 postscript figure

Integral functions of electron lateral distribution and their fluctuations in electron-photon cascades

Monte Carlo simulated lateral distribution functions for electrons of EPC developing in lead, at superhigh energies (.1-1 PeV) for depths t or = 60 c.u. delta t=1t. c.u. are presented. The higher moment characteristics, i.e., variation, asymmetry, excess, are presented along with analytical solutions for the same characteristics at fixed observation level calculated to theory approximations A and B by using numerical inversion of the Laplace transformation. The conclusion is made of a complex, usually non-Gaussian shape of the function of the particle number distribution within a circle of given radius at fixed depth

Analytical-numerical methods of calculations of energy and three-dimensional particle distributions in electromagnetic cascades

Analytical and numerical methods of calculation of the energy and three dimensional EPS characteristics are reported. The angular and lateral functions of electrons in EPS have been obtained by the Landau and small angle approximations A and B and compared with earlier data. A numerical method of solution of cascade equations for the EPS distribution function moments has been constructed. Considering the equilibrium rms angle as an example, errors appearing when approximating the elementary process cross sections by their asymptotic expressions are analyzed

Sensitivity of depth of maximum and absorption depth of EAS to hadron production mechanism

Comparison of experimental data on depth of extensive air showers (EAS) development maximum in the atmosphere, T sub M and path of absorption, lambda, in the lower atmosphere of EAS with fixed particle number in the energy region eV with the results of calculation show that these parameters are sensitive mainly to the inelastic interaction cross section and scaling violation in the fragmentation and pionization region. The data are explained in a unified manner within the framework of a model in which scaling is violated slightly in the fragmentation region and strongly in the pionization region at primary cosmic rays composition close to the normal one and a permanent increase of inelastic interaction cross section. It is shown that, while interpreting the experimental data, disregard of two methodical points causes a systematic shift in T sub M: (1) shower selection system; and (2) EAS electron lateral distribution when performing the calculations on basis of which the transfer is made from the Cerenkov pulse FWHM to the depth of shower maximum, T sub M

Cosmic ray spectral hardening due to dispersion in the source injection spectra

Recent cosmic ray (CR) experiments discovered that the CR spectra experience a remarkable hardening for rigidity above several hundred GV. We propose that this is caused by the superposition of the CR energy spectra of many sources that have a dispersion in the injection spectral indices. Adopting similar parameters as those of supernova remnants derived from the Fermi $\gamma$-ray observations, we can reproduce the observational CR spectra of different species well. This may be interpreted as evidence to support the supernova remnant origin of CRs below the knee. We further propose that the same mechanism may explain the "ankle" of the ultra high energy CR spectrum.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures and 1 table. Updated with the diffusion propagation model, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Results of investigation of muon fluxes of superhigh energy cosmic rays with X-ray emulsion chambers

The overall data from the investigation of the cosmic ray muon flux in the range of zenith angles (0-90) deg within the energy range (3.5 to 5.0) TeV is presented. The exposure of large X-ray emulsion chambers underground was 1200 tons. year. The data were processe using the method which was applied in the experiment Pamir and differred from the earlier applied one. The obtained value of a slope power index of the differential energy spectrum of the global muon flux is =3.7 that corresponds to the slope of the pion generation differential spectrum, gamma sub PI = 2.75 + or - .04. The analysis of the muon zenith-angular distribution showed that the contribution of rapid generation muons in the total muon flux agree the best with the value .2% and less with .7% at a 90% reliability level

Instanton dominance of topological charge fluctuations in QCD?

We consider the local chirality of near-zero eigenvectors from Wilson-Dirac and clover improved Wilson-Dirac lattice operators as proposed recently by Horv\'ath et al. We studied finer lattices and repaired for the loss of orthogonality due to the non-normality of the Wilson-Dirac matrix. As a result we do see a clear double peak structure on lattices with resolutions higher than 0.1 fm. We found that the lattice artifacts can be considerably reduced by exploiting the biorthogonal system of left and right eigenvectors. We conclude that the dominance of instantons on topological charge fluctuations is not ruled out by local chirality measurements.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Shape of primary proton spectrum in multi-TeV region from data on vertical muon flux

It is shown, that primary proton spectrum, reconstructed from sea-level and underground data on muon spectrum with the use of QGSJET 01, QGSJET II, NEXUS 3.97 and SIBYLL 2.1 interaction models, demonstrates not only model-dependent intensity, but also model-dependent form. For correct reproduction of muon spectrum shape primary proton flux should have non-constant power index for all considered models, except SIBYLL 2.1, with break at energies around 10-15 TeV and value of exponent before break close to that obtained in ATIC-2 experiment. To validate presence of this break understanding of inclusive spectra behavior in fragmentation region in p-air collisions should be improved, but we show, that it is impossible to do on the basis of the existing experimental data on primary nuclei, atmospheric muon and hadron fluxes.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.