Interpretation of the depths of maximum of extensive air showers measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

Journal Article · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2013/02/026· OSTI ID:1405087

Abreu, Pedro

To interpret the mean depth of cosmic ray air shower maximum and its dispersion, we parametrize those two observables as functions of the first two moments of the ln A distribution. We examine the goodness of this simple method through simulations of test mass distributions. The application of the parameterization to Pierre Auger Observatory data allows one to study the energy dependence of the mean ln A and of its variance under the assumption of selected hadronic interaction models. We discuss possible implications of these dependences in term of interaction models and astrophysical cosmic ray sources.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Contributing Organization: Pierre Auger
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1405087
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-13-033-AD-AE-CD-TD; arXiv:1301.6637; 1216496
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2013, Issue 02; ISSN 1475-7516
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS