Abstract
In order to examine a muon excess observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory, detailed Monte Carlo simulations were carried out, assuming the existence of strangelets (hypothetical stable lumps of strange quark matter) in the primary cosmic rays. We obtain a rough agreement between the simulations and the data for ordinary nuclei without any contribution of strangelets in the primary flux of cosmic rays.
Highlights
Over the past few decades, it has been suspected that the number of registered muons at the surface of the Earth is tens of percentage points higher than what it should be, according to existing hadronic interaction models [1, 2]
We show the simulated muon content Rμ of individual showers generated by primary protons, iron nuclei, and strange quark matter (SQM), as a function of the primary energy E
The mass composition of cosmic rays can be derived from certain air shower observables, but the inference is limited by our theoretical understanding of the air shower development
Summary
Over the past few decades, it has been suspected that the number of registered muons at the surface of the Earth is tens of percentage points higher than what it should be, according to existing hadronic interaction models [1, 2]. The new analysis of Auger data suggests that the hadronic component of showers with primary energy E > 1018 eV contains about 30% to 60% more muons than expected. The number of muons with energies above 0.75 GeV, determined by the Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder (SUGAR) [4], exceeds the simulated one by the factors ∼ 1.67 and ∼ 1.28 for 1017 eV proton and iron primaries, respectively.
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