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Reconstruction of inclined air showers detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

Here, we describe the method devised to reconstruct inclined cosmic-ray air showers with zenith angles greater than 60° detected with the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured signals at the ground level are fitted to muon density distributions predicted with atmospheric cascade models to obtain the relative shower size as an overall normalization parameter. The method is evaluated using simulated showers to test its performance. The energy of the cosmic rays is calibrated using a sub-sample of events reconstructed with both the fluorescence and surface array techniques. The reconstruction method described here provides the basis of complementary analyses including an independent measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using very inclined events collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory.

Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
Contributing Organization:
The Pierre Auger collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359
OSTI ID:
1296744
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 22373361
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB--14-234-AD-AE-CD-TD; arXiv:1407.3214; 1305882
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Journal Issue: 08 Vol. 2014; ISSN 1475-7516
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (10)

Probing the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with neutrinos in the EeV energy range using the Pierre Auger Observatory journal October 2019
Data-driven estimation of the invisible energy of cosmic ray showers with the Pierre Auger Observatory journal October 2019
Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: Mean number in highly inclined events journal February 2015
Physics at the $$e^+ e^-$$ e + e - linear collider journal August 2015
Measurement of nearly horizontal cosmic muons at high altitudes with the MEV telescope journal June 2019
Multi-Messenger Physics With the Pierre Auger Observatory text January 2019
Probing the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with neutrinos in the EeV energy range using the Pierre Auger Observatory text January 2019
Multi-Messenger Physics With the Pierre Auger Observatory journal April 2019
Data-driven estimation of the invisible energy of cosmic ray showers with the Pierre Auger Observatory text January 2019
Probing the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with neutrinos in the EeV energy range using the Pierre Auger Observatory text January 2019

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