140 research outputs found
Calculation of rescaling factors and nuclear multiplication of muons in extensive air showers
Recent results obtained from leading cosmic ray experiments indicate that
simulations using LHC-tuned hadronic interaction models underestimate the
number of muons in extensive air showers compared to experimental data. This is
the so-called muon deficit problem. Determination of the muon component in the
air shower is crucial for inferring the mass of the primary particle, which is
a key ingredient in the efforts to pinpoint the sources of ultra-high energy
cosmic rays.In this paper, we present a new method to derive the muon signal in
detectors, which uses the difference between the total reconstructed (data) and
simulated signals is roughly independent of the zenith angle, but depends on
the mass of the primary cosmic ray. Such a method offers an opportunity not
only to test/calibrate the hadronic interaction models, but also to derive the
exponent, which describes an increase of the number of muons in a
shower as a function of the energy and mass of the primary cosmic ray. Detailed
simulations show a dependence of the exponent on hadronic interaction
properties, thus the determination of this parameter is important for
understanding the muon deficit problem. We validate the method by using Monte
Carlo simulations for the EPOS-LHC and QGSJetII-04 hadronic interaction models,
and showing that this method allows us to recover the ratio of the muon signal
between EPOS-LHC and QGSJetII-04 and the average exponent for the
studied system, within less than a few percent. This is a consequence of the
good recovery of the muon signal for each primary included in the analysis.Comment: This work corresponds to the presentation at the ICNFP 2022 at
Kolymbari, Crete, in September 2022. The proceedings will be published in
Physica Scripta. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2108.0752
The muon deficit problem: a new method to calculate the muon rescaling factors and the Heitler-Matthews β exponent
Simulations of extensive air showers using current hadronic interaction models predict too small numbers of muons compared to events observed in the air-shower experiments, which is known as the muon-deficit problem. In this work, we present a new method to calculate the factor by which the muon signal obtained via Monte-Carlo simulations must be rescaled to match the data, as well as the exponent from the Heitler-Matthews model which governs the number of muons found in an extensive air shower as a function of the mass and the energy of the primary cosmic ray. This method uses the so-called variable (difference between the total reconstructed and the simulated signals), which is connected to the muon signal and is roughly independent of the zenith angle, but depends on the mass of the primary cosmic ray. Using a mock dataset built from QGSJetII-04, we show that such a method allows us to reproduce the average muon signal from this dataset using Monte-Carlo events generated with the EPOS-LHC hadronic model, with accuracy better than 6%. As a consequence of the good recovery of the muon signal for each primary included in the analysis, also the exponent can be obtained with accuracy of less than 1% for the studied system. Detailed simulations show a dependence of the exponent on hadronic interaction properties, thus the determination of this parameter is important for understanding the muon deficit problem
The muon deficit problem: a new method to calculate the muon rescaling factors and the Heitler-Matthews beta exponent
Simulations of extensive air showers using current hadronic interaction
models predict too small numbers of muons compared to events observed in the
air-shower experiments, which is known as the muon-deficit problem. In this
work, we present a new method to calculate the factor by which the muon signal
obtained via Monte-Carlo simulations must be rescaled to match the data, as
well as the beta exponent from the Heitler-Matthews model which governs the
number of muons found in an extensive air shower as a function of the mass and
the energy of the primary cosmic ray. This method uses the so-called z variable
(difference between the total reconstructed and the simulated signals), which
is connected to the muon signal and is roughly independent of the zenith angle,
but depends on the mass of the primary cosmic ray. Using a mock dataset built
from QGSJetII-04, we show that such a method allows us to reproduce the average
muon signal from this dataset using Monte-Carlo events generated with the
EPOS-LHC hadronic model, with accuracy better than 6%. As a consequence of the
good recovery of the muon signal for each primary included in the analysis,
also the beta exponent can be obtained with accuracy of less than 1% for the
studied system. Detailed simulations show a dependence of the beta exponent on
hadronic interaction properties, thus the determination of this parameter is
important for understanding the muon deficit problem.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in the
proceedings of the 27th European Cosmic Ray Symposiu
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger
Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers.
These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of
the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray
energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30
to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of
the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is
determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated
using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due
to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components.
The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of
the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the
AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air
shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy
-- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy
estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the
surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator
scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent
emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for
the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at
least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy
We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio
emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate
energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of
15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV
arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling
quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from
state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our
measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric
energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with
our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector
against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI.
Supplemental material in the ancillary file
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