Study of the extensive air shower mass sensitive parameters in prototype of ALBORZ array

Abstract

In this work we have used muon production depth distribution as well as the lateral distribution of the secondary particles of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) as two main parameters to infer the mass composition of primary cosmic rays. In order to achieve a realistic estimate of the mass composition, a sample of showers initiated by proton and iron particles as primaries have been simulated by CORSIKA code with zenith angle between 0° and 18° and discrete energies in a range between 1014 and 1016eV for ALBORZ (1200m a.s.l, Tehran, Iran) and KASKADE (110m a.s.l, Karlsruhe, Germany) observation levels. Moreover lateral density distribution functions of energy for charged particles of air showers have been proposed for both proton and Iron primaries. We have indicated that among these two EAS parameters, lateral distribution of secondary particles provides better mass discrimination.