Ultrahigh energy cosmic ray composition from surface air shower and underground muon measurements at Soudan 2

Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Physical Review, D

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.52.2760· OSTI ID:115929

Longley, N P; Bode, C R; Border, P M; Courant, H; DeMuth, D M; Gray, R N; Johns, K; Kasahara, S M.S.; Lowe, M J; Marshak, M L; Miller, W H; Mualem, L; Peterson, E A; Roback, D M; Ruddick, K; Schmid, D J; Schub, M H; Shupe, M A; Vassiliev, V; Villaume, G ; Werkema, S J ^[1]; Ayres, D S; Fields, T H; Gallagher, H M; Goodman, M C; Lopez, F V; May, E N; Price, L E; Seidlein, R V; Thron, J L; Trost, H; Uretsky, J L ^[2]; Allison, W W.M.; Barr, G D; Brooks, C B; Cobb, J H; Giller, G L; Stassinakis, A; Thomson, M A; West, N; Wielgosz, U ^[3]; Alner, G J; Cockerill, D J.A.; Cotton, R J; Garcia-Garcia, C; Litchfield, P J; Pearce, G F ^[4]; Ewen, B; Kafka, T; Kochocki, J; Leeson, W; Mann, W A; Milburn, R H; Napier, A; Oliver, W; Saitta, B; Schneps, J; Sundaralingam, N ^[5]; Barrett, W L ^[6]

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1. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)
2. High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
3. Nuclear Physics Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
4. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire X11 OQX (United Kingdom)
5. Physics Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 (United States)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225 (United States)

The Soudan 2 experiment has performed time-coincident cosmic ray air shower and underground muon measurements. Comparisons to Monte Carlo predictions show that such measurements can make statistically significant tests of the primary composition in the knee region of the cosmic ray spectrum. The results do not support any significant increase in the average primary mass with energy in the range of {similar_to}10{sup 4} TeV per nucleus. Some systematic uncertainties remain, however, particularly in the Monte Carlo modeling of the cosmic ray shower.

• OSTI ID: 115929
• Journal Information: Physical Review, D, Journal Name: Physical Review, D Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 52; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
COSMIC RAY FLUX
EXTENSIVE AIR SHOWERS
MONTE CARLO METHOD
MUONS
SPECTRA
SURFACES
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES