Characteristics of air showers with energy more than 1017 eV reconstructed by the Yakutsk array radio emission measurements

Stanislav Knurenko,Igor Petrov,B Pattison,T Sako,Y Itow,H Menjo

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201920808017

Stanislav Knurenko, Igor Petrov + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201920808017

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Abstract

The paper presents results on the longitudinal development of air showers of ultra-high energies obtained from radio emission measurements at the Yakutsk array. The energy, the depth of maximum development of individual showers are determined and a statistical analysis of Xmax in order to estimate the fluctuation of air shower development σ(Xmax) in the energy region 1017-1018 eV is performed. It is shown that σ(Xmax) in the energy region 1017-1018 eV is equal to 50-60 g·cm-2, which doesn’t contradict with a mixed composition of cosmic rays - protons and helium nuclei. This is also indicated by data of the Xmax value dependence on energy.

Highlights

To study cosmic rays (CR), the Extensive Air Shower (EAS) method uses ground and underground particle detectors
Cherenkov light of EAS propagates along the shower axis and this light can be detected with Cherenkov light detectors, and fluorescent emission is emitted isotropically by nitrogen molecules in the air when excited by EAS particles, which allows them to be observed from a long distance by fluorescent telescopes [1]
The second mechanism is that an excess of negative charge is formed in the EAS disk when air showers propagate in the atmosphere, which leads to the emission of an electromagnetic wave in the radio frequency [5]

Summary

Introduction

To study cosmic rays (CR), the Extensive Air Shower (EAS) method uses ground and underground particle detectors These detectors register muons, electrons, positrons, and photons. Cherenkov light of EAS propagates along the shower axis and this light can be detected with Cherenkov light detectors, and fluorescent emission is emitted isotropically by nitrogen molecules in the air when excited by EAS particles, which allows them to be observed from a long distance by fluorescent telescopes [1]. Another method of registering air showers is radio emission observation [2]. As was shown in [6,7,8,9], it is possible to de-

Yakutsk Radio Array

Relationship between LDF shape and Xmax development of EAS

Complex measurements example

Conclusion