CORSIKA implementation of heavy quark production and propagation in extensive air showers

Abstract

Heavy quarks are commonly produced in current accelerator experiments. Hence it is natural to think that they should be likewise created in collisions with larger center of mass energies like the ones involving ultra-high energy cosmic rays and atmospheric nuclei. Despite this fact, a detailed treatment of heavy hadrons is missing in Monte Carlo generators of Extensive Air Showers (EAS). It is a must to improve the description of how heavy flavors appear and evolve in atmospheric showers. With this goal in mind, we study two different models for heavy quark production in proton–air collisions. We also analyze a dedicated treatment of heavy hadrons interactions with atmospheric nuclei. This paper shows how those models have been implemented as new options available in CORSIKA, one of the most used EAS simulators. This new computational tool allows us to analyze the effects that the propagation of heavy hadrons has in the EAS development. Program summaryProgram title: corsika-6990-HeavyCatalogue identifier: AERC_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AERC_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 7681No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 91906Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: FORTRAN77.Computer: Intel-Pentium based Personal Computers.Operating system: Linux.RAM: 373 MbClassification: 1.1.External routines: Corsika (http://www-ik.fzk.de/~corsika/)Nature of problem:Charmed and bottom hadron production and propagation inside Extensive Air Showers.Solution method:Heavy quarks are produced according to two different production models. Propagation in the atmosphere is handled using already present CORSIKA subroutines. New subroutines are written to simulate their interactions with air nuclei.Restrictions:Heavy quark production has only been implemented in the first interaction.Running time:From 4.2 h (output file size ∼120 Mb) at 1019 eV to 4.7 h (output file size ∼170 Mb) at 1019.75 eV, with thinning 10−6 E(GeV).