Astroparticles offer a new path for research in the field of particle
physics, allowing investigations at energies above those accesible with
accelerators. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays can be studied via the observation
of the showers they generate in the atmosphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory is
a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays, combining two
complementary measurement techniques used by previous experiments, to get the
best possible measurements of these air showers. Shower observations enable one
to not only estimate the energy, direction and most probable mass of the
primary cosmic particles but also to obtain some information about the
properties of their hadronic interactions. Results that are most relevant in
the context of determining hadronic interaction characteristics at ultra-high
energies will be presented.Comment: Proceedings of the XXXIII international symposium on Physics in
Collision held in Beijing, China from 03 - 07 September 2013. To appear in
International Journal of Modern Physics: Conference Series. 4 page
