278 research outputs found
Initial simulation study on high-precision radio measurements of the depth of shower maximum with SKA1-low
As LOFAR has shown, using a dense array of radio antennas for detecting
extensive air showers initiated by cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere makes
it possible to measure the depth of shower maximum for individual showers with
a statistical uncertainty less than . This allows detailed studies
of the mass composition in the energy region around where the
transition from a Galactic to an Extragalactic origin could occur. Since
SKA1-low will provide a much denser and very homogeneous antenna array with a
large bandwidth of it is expected to reach an uncertainty on the
reconstruction of less than . We present first results
of a simulation study with focus on the potential to reconstruct the depth of
shower maximum for individual showers to be measured with SKA1-low. In
addition, possible influences of various parameters such as the numbers of
antennas included in the analysis or the considered frequency bandwidth will be
discussed.Comment: To appear as part of the proceedings of the ARENA2016 meeting
(Groningen, The Netherlands), published by EPJ-Wo
CORSIKA 8 -- the next-generation air shower simulation framework
For more than 20 years, the community has heavily relied on CORSIKA for the
simulation of extensive air showers, their Cherenkov light emission and their
radio signals. While tremendously successful, the Fortran-based monolithic
design of CORSIKA up to version 7 limits adaptation to new experimental needs,
for example, in complex scenarios where showers transition from air into dense
media, and to new computing paradigms such as the use of multi-core and GPU
parallelization. With CORSIKA 8, we have reimplemented the core functionality
of CORSIKA in a modern, modular, C++-based simulation framework, and
successfully validated it against CORSIKA 7. Here, we discuss the philosophy of
CORSIKA 8, showcase some example applications, and present the current state of
implementation as well as the plans for the future.Comment: Submission to SciPost Phys. Proc. - Proceedings of the ISVHECRI 2022
conference; only very minor language changes in v
A Rotationally Symmetric Lateral Distribution Function for Radio Emission from Inclined Air Showers
Radio detection of inclined air showers is currently receiving great
attention. To exploit the potential, a suitable event reconstruction needs to
be developed. The first step in this direction is the development of a model
for the lateral distribution of the radio signals, which in the case of
inclined air showers exhibits asymmetries due to "early-late" effects in
addition to the usual asymmetries from the superposition of charge-excess and
geomagnetic emission. We present a model which corrects for all asymmetries and
successfully describes the lateral distribution of the energy fluence with a
rotationally symmetric function. This gives access to the radiation energy as a
measure of the energy of the cosmic-ray primary, and is also sensitive to the
depth of the shower maximum.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the ARENA2018 conference;
revised version with important fix of former equation (2
Modelling uncertainty of the radiation energy emitted by extensive air showers
Recently, the energy determination of extensive air showers using radio
emission has been shown to be both precise and accurate. In particular, radio
detection offers the opportunity for an independent measurement of the absolute
energy of cosmic rays, since the radiation energy (the energy radiated in the
form of radio signals) can be predicted using first-principle calculations
involving no free parameters, and the measurement of radio waves is not subject
to any significant absorption or scattering in the atmosphere. Here, we verify
the implementation of radiation-energy calculations from microscopic simulation
codes by comparing Monte Carlo simulations made with the two codes CoREAS and
ZHAireS. To isolate potential differences in the radio-emission calculation
from differences in the air-shower simulation, the simulations are performed
with equivalent settings, especially the same model for the hadronic
interactions and the description of the atmosphere. Comparing a large set of
simulations with different primary energies and shower directions we observe
differences amounting to a total of only 3.3 %. This corresponds to an
uncertainty of only 1.6 % in the determination of the absolute energy scale and
thus opens the potential of using the radiation energy as an accurate
calibration method for cosmic ray experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, ICRC2017 contributio
Determination of the absolute energy scale of extensive air showers via radio emission: systematic uncertainty of underlying first-principle calculations
Recently, the energy determination of extensive air showers using radio
emission has been shown to be both precise and accurate. In particular, radio
detection offers the opportunity for an independent measurement of the absolute
energy scale of cosmic rays, since the radiation energy (the energy radiated in
the form of radio signals) can be predicted using first-principle calculations
involving no free parameters, and the measurement of radio waves is not subject
to any significant absorption or scattering in the atmosphere. To quantify the
uncertainty associated with such an approach, we collate the various
contributions to the uncertainty, and we verify the consistency of
radiation-energy calculations from microscopic simulation codes by comparing
Monte Carlo simulations made with the two codes CoREAS and ZHAireS. We compare
a large set of simulations with different primary energies and shower
directions and observe differences in the radiation energy prediction for the
30 - 80 MHz band of 5.2 %. This corresponds to an uncertainty of 2.6 % for the
determination of the absolute cosmic-ray energy scale. Our result has general
validity and can be built upon directly by experimental efforts for the
calibration of the cosmic-ray energy scale on the basis of radio emission
measurements.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
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