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Title: The muon component in extensive air showers and new p+C data in fixed target experiments

Abstract

One of the most promising approaches to determine the energy spectrum and composition of the cosmic rays with energies above 1015 eV is the measurement of the number of electrons and muons produced in extensive air showers (EAS). Therefore simulation of air showers using electromagnetic and hadronic interaction models are necessary. These simulations show uncertainties which come mainly from hadronic interaction models. One aim of this work is to specify the low energy hadronic interactions which are important for the muon production in EAS. Therefore we simulate extensive air showers with a modified version of the simulation package CORSIKA. In particular we investigate in detail the energy and the phase space regions of secondary particle production, which are most important for muon production. This phase space region is covered by fixed target experiments at CERN. In the second part of this work we present preliminary momentum spectra of secondary {pi}+ and {pi}- in p+C collisions at 12 GeV/c measured with the HARP spectrometer at the PS accelerator at CERN. In addition we use the new p+C NA49 data at 158 GeV/c to check the reliability of hadronic interaction models for muon production in EAS. Finally, possibilities to measure relevant quantitiesmore » of hadron production in existing and planned accelerator experiments are discussed.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Institut fuer Kernphysik, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, Postfach 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21054991
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
AIP Conference Proceedings
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 896; Journal Issue: 1; Conference: Hadronic shower simulation workshop, Batavia, IL (United States), 6-8 Sep 2006; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2720466; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; CARBON 12 TARGET; CERN; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; ELECTRONS; ENERGY SPECTRA; EXTENSIVE AIR SHOWERS; GEV RANGE; MULTIPARTICLE SPECTROMETERS; MUONS; PARTICLE IDENTIFICATION; PARTICLE INTERACTIONS; PARTICLE PRODUCTION; PHASE SPACE; PIONS MINUS; PIONS PLUS; PROTON REACTIONS

Citation Formats

Meurer, C, Bluemer, J, Engel, R, Haungs, A, and Roth, M. The muon component in extensive air showers and new p+C data in fixed target experiments. United States: N. p., 2007. Web. doi:10.1063/1.2720466.
Meurer, C, Bluemer, J, Engel, R, Haungs, A, & Roth, M. The muon component in extensive air showers and new p+C data in fixed target experiments. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2720466
Meurer, C, Bluemer, J, Engel, R, Haungs, A, and Roth, M. 2007. "The muon component in extensive air showers and new p+C data in fixed target experiments". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2720466.
@article{osti_21054991,
title = {The muon component in extensive air showers and new p+C data in fixed target experiments},
author = {Meurer, C and Bluemer, J and Engel, R and Haungs, A and Roth, M},
abstractNote = {One of the most promising approaches to determine the energy spectrum and composition of the cosmic rays with energies above 1015 eV is the measurement of the number of electrons and muons produced in extensive air showers (EAS). Therefore simulation of air showers using electromagnetic and hadronic interaction models are necessary. These simulations show uncertainties which come mainly from hadronic interaction models. One aim of this work is to specify the low energy hadronic interactions which are important for the muon production in EAS. Therefore we simulate extensive air showers with a modified version of the simulation package CORSIKA. In particular we investigate in detail the energy and the phase space regions of secondary particle production, which are most important for muon production. This phase space region is covered by fixed target experiments at CERN. In the second part of this work we present preliminary momentum spectra of secondary {pi}+ and {pi}- in p+C collisions at 12 GeV/c measured with the HARP spectrometer at the PS accelerator at CERN. In addition we use the new p+C NA49 data at 158 GeV/c to check the reliability of hadronic interaction models for muon production in EAS. Finally, possibilities to measure relevant quantities of hadron production in existing and planned accelerator experiments are discussed.},
doi = {10.1063/1.2720466},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21054991}, journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
issn = {0094-243X},
number = 1,
volume = 896,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Mon Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}