333 research outputs found
Distortions of Experimental Muon Arrival Time Distributions of Extensive Air Showers by the Observation Conditions
Event-by-event measured arrival time distributions of Extensive Air Shower
(EAS) muons are affected and distorted by various interrelated effects which
originate from the time resolution of the timing detectors, from fluctuations
of the reference time and the number (multiplicity) of detected muons spanning
the arrival time distribution of the individual EAS events. The origin of these
effects is discussed, and different correction procedures, which involve
detailed simulations, are proposed and illustrated. The discussed distortions
are relevant for relatively small observation distances (R < 200 m) from the
EAS core. Their significance decreases with increasing observation distance and
increasing primary energies. Local arrival time distributions which refer to
the observed arrival time of the first local muon prove to be less sensitive to
the mass of the primary. This feature points to the necessity of arrival time
measurements with additional information on the curvature of the EAS disk.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
KASCADE-Grande Limits on the Isotropic Diffuse Gamma-Ray Flux between 100 TeV and 1 EeV
KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande were multi-detector installations to measure
individual air showers of cosmic rays at ultra-high energy. Based on data sets
measured by KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande, 90% C.L. upper limits to the flux of
gamma-rays in the primary cosmic ray flux are determined in an energy range of
eV. The analysis is performed by selecting air showers
with a low muon content as expected for gamma-ray-induced showers compared to
air showers induced by energetic nuclei. The best upper limit of the fraction
of gamma-rays to the total cosmic ray flux is obtained at eV with . Translated to an absolute gamma-ray
flux this sets constraints on some fundamental astrophysical models, such as
the distance of sources for at least one of the IceCube neutrino excess models.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 848, Number 1. Posted
on: October 5, 201
First results of the air shower experiment KASCADE
The main goals of the KASCADE (KArlsruhe Shower Core and Array DEtector)
experiment are the determination of the energy spectrum and elemental
composition of the charged cosmic rays in the energy range around the knee at
ca. 5 PeV. Due to the large number of measured observables per single shower a
variety of different approaches are applied to the data, preferably on an
event-by-event basis. First results are presented and the influence of the
high-energy interaction models underlying the analyses is discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures included, to appear in the TAUP 99 Proceedings,
Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.), ed. by M. Froissart, J. Dumarchez and D.
Vignau
Electron, Muon, and Hadron Lateral Distributions Measured in Air-Showers by the KASCADE Experiment
Measurements of electron, muon, and hadron lateral distributions of extensive
air showers as recorded by the KASCADE experiment are presented. The data cover
the energy range from about 5x10^14 eV up to almost 10^17 eV and extend from
the inner core region to distances of 200 m. The electron and muon
distributions are corrected for mutual contaminations by taking into account
the detector properties in the experiment. All distributions are well described
by NKG-functions. The scale radii describing the electron and hadron data best
are approx. 30 m and 10 m, respectively. We discuss the correlation between
scale radii and `age' parameter as well as their dependence on shower size,
zenith angle, and particle energy threshold.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
Energy Spectra of Elemental Groups of Cosmic Rays: Update on the KASCADE Unfolding Analysis
The KASCADE experiment measures extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays
in the energy range around the so-called knee. The data of KASCADE have been
used in a composition analysis showing the knee at 3-5 PeV to be caused by a
steepening in the light-element spectra. Since the applied unfolding analysis
depends crucially on simulations of air showers, different high energy hadronic
interaction models (QGSJet and SIBYLL) were used. The results have shown a
strong dependence of the relative abundance of the individual mass groups on
the underlying model. In this update of the analysis we apply the unfolding
method with a different low energy interaction model (FLUKA instead of GHEISHA)
in the simulations. While the resulting individual mass group spectra do not
change significantly, the overall description of the measured data improves by
using the FLUKA model. In addition data in a larger range of zenith angle are
analysed. The new results are completely consistent, i.e. there is no hint to
any severe problem in applying the unfolding analysis method to KASCADE data.Comment: accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic
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