Air Shower Cores Research Articles

Dependence of normalized phase angle of cosmic ray radio signals on core location of an extensive air shower

High energy cosmic rays hitting the earth atmosphere induce extensive air showers propagating downward with a high gamma factor. Determining the core location of such air shower is a necessary step to measure other important characteristics of a cosmic ray such as the lateral distribution function. In this study and based on computer simulations and radio signal analyses we investigate the relation between normalized radio signal phase angle emitted from particles in an air shower to the position of a shower core. We perform a series of simulations based on CORSIKA and COREAS code for cosmic rays with different types of primary particles with an energy range from 0.1 to 1 EeV. The results show a direct relationship between the average slope of normalized radio signal phase angle as a function of frequency to the absolute distance from extensive air shower core location. We have calculated the normalized radio signal phase angle to have the absolute minimum value at close distances to a shower core location. We discuss a possible approach to estimate core location with different types of virtual radio arrays.

A Monte Carlo study to check muon numbers in hadronic interaction models observed by the Tibet hybrid experiment (YAC-II + Tibet-III + MD)

The interpretation of the EAS data relies on the employment of hadronic interaction models, which are subject to theoretical and experimental uncertainties that may hamper composition studies of cosmic rays. To check the reliability of such models at the energies relevant for EAS studies, the predictions of the models can be compared with data from air shower observatories. In this regard, the study of the number of muons becomes extremely useful, since they are sensitive to the hadronic interactions that occur in the early phases of the EAS development. In the paper, we propose a Monte Carlo study to test the number of muons in hadronic interaction models by the hybrid experiment (YAC-II + Tibet-III + MD). For an air-shower event, the Tibet air-shower array (Tibet-III) provides the arrival direction and the air-shower size which are interrelated to primary energy, the Yangbajing Air shower Core detector (YAC-II) array measures the high energy electromagnetic particles in the very forward region so as to obtain the characteristic parameters of air-shower cores, at the same time, the underground MDs record the number of high-energy muons above 1 GeV. Since we can select proton events with high accuracy by YAC-II almost independently of the hadronic interaction models, the accompanying number of muons induced by proton events can be fed out. With the unique settle of YAC-II, our results show that the description of muon numbers in different hadronic interaction models can be well systematics-checked to avoid the ambiguity of the primary cosmic-ray mass composition around the knee energy region by the Tibet hybrid experiment (YAC-II + Tibet-III + MD).

Fair Weather Neutron Bursts From Photonuclear Reactions by Extensive Air Shower Core Interactions in the Ground and Implications for Terrestrial Gamma‐ray Flash Signatures

AbstractWe report on anomalously long duration (2 ms) count rate bursts following the impact of cosmic ray showers near a 7.62 cm x⊘7.62 cm LaBr3 scintillation detector at the High Altitude Water Cherenkov array in Mexico, previously described by Stenkin et al. (2001), and termed “neutron bursts.” The largest burst produced 198 counts within 2 ms in our LaBr3 detector. We simulate the neutron burst albedo flux (that is, secondary emissions from an extensive air shower core impacting the ground), and show that (1) the characteristic spectra and count rates are well explained by neutron absorption in the ground and (2) any cosmic ray secondary that produces neutrons, either through hadron inelastic collisions, or photoneutron production by gamma‐rays, produces the same characteristic spectra. This implies that other natural phenomena that produce downward beams of gamma‐rays, like Terrestrial gamma ray flashes, should produce a similar “neutron burst” signature from the photoneutron reactions occurring in the soil.

Attenuation of Hadronic Cascades in Ionization Calorimeter and Long-Range Component

The propagation and detection of electron–nuclear cascades in an ionization calorimeter are considered, and it is shown that the attenuation length associated with ionization may differ strongly from the attenuation length for the energy flux. A possible reason for the hypothesis of a long-range component in detecting cores of extensive air showers is proposed.

Calibration of the Yangbajing air-shower core detector

Aiming at the observation of cosmic-ray chemical composition at the `knee' energy region, a new type air-shower core detector (YAC, Yangbajing Air shower Core array) consisting of a lead plate of 3.5 cm thick and a scintillation counter with an area of 0.5 m2 has been developed and set up at Yangbajing, 4300 m a.s.l. in Tibet, China since 2014. The main purpose of YAC detector is to separate primary cosmic-ray mass by detecting high energy electromagnetic particles at the air-shower (AS) core generated by the secondary particles after passing through the lead plate. In order to precisely measure the number of shower particles, the calibration procedure of the YAC detector is described in this paper. We found that the linear relationship between YAC scintillation detector output and incident particles is good below 5×106 MIPs while the non-linearity is less than 3%. Such a wide dynamic range shows that YAC experiment may make it possible to obtain the primary mass composition and energy spectrum covering and above the `knee' energy region.

Estimation of the $$\boldsymbol{p+\textrm{He}}$$ Fraction in the Mass Composition of Primary Cosmic Radiation the Energy Range of $$\boldsymbol{E_{0}=1}$$–100 PeV according to Gamma-Ray Families Featuring Halo

The present article reports on an analysis of the properties that gamma-ray families featuring a halo exhibit in the cores of extensive air showers (EAS). The events under analysis were obtained in the XREC (x-ray emulsion chambers) PAMIR experiment, and the properties of these events were studied at distances extending up to about 10 cm from the EAS axis with a resolution of approximately 30 $$\mu$$ m. The investigation of the parameters of events in EAS cores by the halo method permitted analyzing the mass composition of primary cosmic radiation (PCR) at $$E_{0}=10$$ PeV and assessing the fraction of light nuclei in PCR, which depend only slightly on the model of EAS propagation through the atmosphere. From an analysis of gamma-ray families featuring a halo and multicenter halos obtained in the PAMIR XREC, it was found that the fraction of the ( $$p+\textrm{He}$$ ) component of PCR was about 40 $${\%}$$ . The properties of proton-induced EAS events detected at the Tien-Shan high-mountain Scientific Station (TShSS) were studied along with the KASCADE-Grande experimental data. On the basis of studying the dependence of the EAS age and $$N_{\mu}$$ on $$N_{e}$$ in the TShSS EAS (EAS $$+$$ XREC TShSS) data, it is concluded that PCR mass composition becomes heavier in the range of $$E_{0}=1$$ –100 PeV.

On the Dominant Role of Charm Production in the Forward Kinematic Region According to Cosmic-Ray Experiments

A phenomenon of abnormally weak absorption of very-high-energy cosmic-ray hadrons in lead is discussed. This phenomenon was first observed in Tien-Shan high-altitude experiments in hadronic cores of extensive air showers and has encouraged to introduce the hypothesis of a so-called long-flying or penetrating cosmic-ray component. A similar effect was detected later with deep uniform lead X-ray emulsion chambers (XREC) at the Pamirs. Experiments, which are sensitive to the production of charmed hadrons in the forward kinematic region (xLab ≳ 0.1), have been carried out at the Tien-Shan and Pamirs with exposing two-storey XRECs with large air gaps to prove explanation of the experimental results with high charm production cross section $${\sigma _{pp \to c\bar c}} \sim 8$$ at xLab ≳ 0.1 at ⟨ELab⟩ ∼ 75 TeV. This $${\sigma _{pp \to c\bar c}}$$ value makes it possible to reproduce the experimental hadron-absorption curve observed with XRECs, including curve’s bending at a depth of ∼70 c.u.

Towards a better estimation of energy and species of primary cosmic rays in the knee region with the Tibet hybrid experiment: Utilization of refined EAS lateral distributions

A new hybrid experiment (YAC-II+Tibet-III+MD) located at Yangbajing has started to improve the capability of explicit measurements of the cosmic-ray components (P, He, CNO, Fe, etc) at the knee energy region since 2014. Considering the different features of air shower development for different primary cosmic-ray nuclei, using a full Monte Carlo simulation, we modified the lateral distribution functions for proton-induced, helium-induced and iron-induced air showers, respectively. The results show that the air shower size of different nuclei obtained by the modified Nishimura-Kamata-Greisen function is consistent with the true shower size within 5% systematic errors. Furthermore, we studied the Extensive Air Shower age parameter determination from the lateral distribution functions of charged particles near the air shower core with the Tibet hybrid experiment. The derived age parameter can be well used to estimate the particle type of the incident primary cosmic rays.

Investigation of abnormal absorption of cosmic-ray hadrons in lead calorimeters

A phenomenon of abnormally weak absorption of very high energy cosmic ray hadrons in thick lead blocks is discussed. This phenomenon was first observed in a Tien Shan high altitude experiment to study hadronic cores of extensive air showers (EAS) with a deep ionization calorimeter and encouraged researchers to introduce the hypothesis of the so-called long-flying or penetrating cosmic ray component. A similar effect was detected later with deep uniform lead X-ray emulsion chambers (XREC) at the Pamirs, which we discuss in detail. To establish the nature of the phenomenon we are have carried out dedicated experiments at the Tien Shan and at the Pamirs by exposing two-storey XRECs with large air gaps. According to detailed simulation of the chamber response, these experiments are very sensitive to the production of charmed hadrons in the forward kinematic region and can prove a hypothesis that the phenomenon under study can be explained on the assumption of very high values of charm particle production cross section at 〈ELab〉 ~ 75 TeV in the forward kinematic region at xLab≳ 0.1 which are near the upper limit of recent results of collider experiments, i.e., σpp→c¯c~ 8 mb. The same factor makes it possible to fit all the features of the experimental hadron absorption curve observed by means of deep uniform lead XRECs, including its bending at a depth of ~ 70 c.u.

Exotic model of the cosmic ray spectrum

A detailed study of the cores of extensive air showers (EAS) at mountain level (Tien-Shan 690 g/cm2) was carried out in the hybrid experiment HADRON. An analysis of the fine structure of the EAS spectrum in the energy region1015- 1017(knee) showed that there are two breaks in the spectrum. Along with the previously known break at an energy of 3 · 1015eV, a change in the slope of the EAS spectrum is observed at an energy slightly below 1017eV. In addition the use of a large X-ray emulsion chamber (XREC) as a detector of EAS cores allowed us to obtain several new results. An abnormal scaling violation in hadron spectra for Ne~ 107(E0~ 1016eV) means the existence of a penetrating component of non-nuclear origin. The conclusion about the non-nuclear origin of the penetrating component in the primary radiation of CR is confirmed by the data about the excess of muons in the EAS containing hadrons of maximum energies. It is assumed that the mass composition of primary cosmic radiation varies sharply at energies of 1015- 1016eV, where quasi-nuclei (strangelets) appear instead of nuclei. A new model of the mass composition of cosmic rays in the region of ultrahigh energies is proposed on this basis .

Nuclear-Physics Model of the Knee in the EAS Spectrum

Spectra of the most energetic hadrons in cores of extensive air showers (EAS) were obtained for the first time in the HADRON hybrid experiment in Tien Shan mountains. The spectra in question exhibit a scaling violation, which requires invoking nontrivial effects in order to explain this circumstance. In the present article, unusual data on pp-interaction cross sections from recent experiments at the Large Hadron Collider are analyzed with this aim in view. A comparison with data at lower energies shows that the elastic cross section for pp interaction grows faster than the respective inelastic cross section. It would be natural to expect that a similar or a stronger effect is present in nucleus–nucleus interactions in cosmic rays. A possible change in the properties of nuclear cascades in the Earth’s atmosphere provides the possibility of discussing a new interpretation of the knee in the EAS spectrum and some exotic phenomena observed in cosmic-ray experiments. This interpretation is proposed for the first time. Particular attention is given to unique data from the HADRON hybrid experiment.

Detection of high energy electromagnetic and hadron components of air-shower cores in the new hybrid experiment “Pamir-XXI”

In the Chacaltaya hybrid experiment we have shown that the observed characteristics of the events accompanying atmospheric families (a bundle of high energy particles in the air-shower core) can not be well described by current simulations. The atmospheric families detected so far by emulsion chambers (sandwiches of X-ray films and lead plates) are key ingredients in the analysis. But the number of analyzed events with atmospheric family is still small due to the limited size of the experiment. Now a new very large hybrid experiment “PAMIR-XXI” is proposed to be constructed at the Pamirs. The notable feature of the experiment is to construct large hadron calorimeters at the center of air-shower arrays to study the air-shower core in detail. We study the possibility to analyze high energy air-shower cores in the “Pamir-XXI” experiment by using the burst density of scintillation detectors instead of using the family data of emulsion chambers. It is shown that the unusual characteristics of the events observed by the Chacaltaya hybrid experiment can be well seen in the hybrid experiment “PAMIR-XXI” too.

Detection of high energy electromagnetic and hadron components of air-shower cores in the new hybrid experiment “Pamir-XXI”

In the Chacaltaya hybrid experiment we have shown that the observed characteristics of the events accompanying atmospheric families (a bundle of high energy particles in the air-shower core) can not be well described by current simulations. The atmospheric families detected so far by emulsion chambers (sandwiches of X-ray films and lead plates) are key ingredients in the analysis. But the number of analyzed events with atmospheric family is still small due to the limited size of the experiment. Now a new very large hybrid experiment “PAMIR-XXI” is proposed to be constructed at the Pamirs. The notable feature of the experiment is to construct large hadron calorimeters at the center of air-shower arrays to study the air-shower core in detail. We study the possibility to analyze high energy air-shower cores in the “Pamir-XXI” experiment by using the burst density of scintillation detectors instead of using the family data of emulsion chambers. It is shown that the unusual characteristics of the events observed by the Chacaltaya hybrid experiment can be well seen in the hybrid experiment “PAMIR-XXI” too.

Investigation of EAS cores

The development of nuclear-electromagnetic cascade models in air in the late forties have shown informational content of the study of cores of extensive air showers (EAS). These investigations were the main goal in different experiments which were carried out over many years by a variety of methods. Outcomes of such investigations obtained in the HADRON experiment using an X-ray emulsion chamber (XREC) as a core detector are considered. The N e spectrum of EAS associated with γ-ray families, spectra of γ-rays (hadrons) in EAS cores and the N e dependence of the muon number, ⟨N μ ⟩, in EAS with γ-ray families are obtained for the first time at energies of 1015 –1017 eV with this method. A number of new effects were observed, namely, an abnormal scaling violation in hadron spectra which are fundamentally different from model predictions, an excess of muon number in EAS associated with γ-ray families, and the penetrating component in EAS cores. It is supposed that the abnormal behavior of γ-ray spectra and N e dependence of the muon number are explained by the emergence of a penetrating component in the 1st PCR spectrum ‘knee’ range. Nuclear and astrophysical explanations of the origin of the penetrating component are discussed. The necessity of considering the contribution of a single close cosmic-ray source to explain the PCR spectrum in the knee range is noted.

Cosmic Ray Mass Measurements with LOFAR

In the dense core of LOFAR individual air showers are detected by hundreds of dipole antennas simultaneously. We reconstruct X max by using a hybrid technique that combines a two-dimensional fit of the radio profile to CoREAS simulations and a one-dimensional fit of the particle density distribution. For high-quality detections, the statistical uncertainty on X max is smaller than 20 g/cm 2 . We present results of cosmic-ray mass analysis in the energy regime of 10 17 - 10 17.5 eV. This range is of particular interest as it may harbor the transition from a Galactic to an extragalactic origin of cosmic rays.

Development of Yangbajing air shower core detector for a new EAS hybrid experiment**Supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11078002, 11275212, 11165013), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (H9291450S3, Y4293211S5) and the Knowledge Innovation Fund of Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), China (H95451D0U2, H8515530U1)

Aiming at the observation of cosmic-ray chemical composition in the “knee” energy region, we have been developing a new type of air-shower core detector (YAC, Yangbajing Air shower Core detector array) to be set up at Yangbajing (90.522° E, 30.102° N, 4300 m above sea level, atmospheric depth: 606 g/m2) in Tibet, China. YAC works together with the Tibet air-shower array (Tibet-III) and an underground water Cherenkov muon detector array (MD) as a hybrid experiment. Each YAC detector unit consists of lead plates of 3.5 cm thickness and a scintillation counter which detects the burst size induced by high energy particles in the air-shower cores. The burst size can be measured from 1 MIP (Minimum Ionization Particle) to 106 MIPs. The first phase of this experiment, named “YAC- I”, consists of 16 YAC detectors each with a size of 40 cm×50 cm and distributed in a grid with an effective area of 10 m2. YAC- I is used to check hadronic interaction models. The second phase of the experiment, called “YAC- II”, consists of 124 YAC detectors with coverage of about 500 m2. The inner 100 detectors of 80 cm×50 cm each are deployed in a 10×10 matrix with a 1.9 m separation; the outer 24 detectors of 100 cm×50 cm each are distributed around these to reject non-core events whose shower cores are far from the YAC- II array. YAC- II is used to study the primary cosmic-ray composition, in particular, to obtain the energy spectra of protons, helium and iron nuclei between 5×1013 eV and 1016 eV, covering the “knee” and also connected with direct observations at energies around 100 TeV. We present the design and performance of YAC- II in this paper.

Evidence for the charge-excess contribution in air shower radio emission observed by the CODALEMA experiment

CODALEMA is one of the pioneer experiments dedicated to the radio detection of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR), located at the radio observatory of Nançay (France). The CODALEMA experiment uses both a particle detector array and a radio antenna array. Data from both detection systems have been used to determine the ground coordinates of the core of extensive air showers (EAS). We discuss the observed systematic shift of the core positions determined with these two detection techniques. We show that this shift is due to the charge-excess contribution to the total radio emission of air showers, using the simulation code SELFAS. The dependences of the radio core shift to the primary cosmic ray characteristics are studied in details. The observation of this systematic shift can be considered as an experimental signature of the charge excess contribution.

The analog Resistive Plate Chamber detector of the ARGO-YBJ experiment

The ARGO-YBJ experiment has been in stable data taking from November 2007 till February 2013 at the YangBaJing Cosmic Ray Observatory (4300m a.s.l.). The detector consists of a single layer of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) (6700m2) operated in streamer mode. The signal pick-up is obtained by means of strips facing one side of the gas volume. The digital readout of the signals, while allows a high space–time resolution in the shower front reconstruction, limits the measurable energy to a few hundred TeV. In order to fully investigate the 1–10PeV region, an analog readout has been implemented by instrumenting each RPC with two large size electrodes facing the other side of the gas volume. Since December 2009 the RPC charge readout has been in operation on the entire central carpet (∼5800m2). In this configuration the detector is able to measure the particle density at the core position where it ranges from tens to many thousands of particles per m2. Thus ARGO-YBJ provides a highly detailed image of the charge component at the core of air showers. In this paper we describe the analog readout of RPCs in ARGO-YBJ and discuss both the performance of the system and the physical impact on the EAS measurements.

Investigating hadronic cores of exstensive air showers at the CARPET-2 array

Characteristics of the hadronic component of exstensive air shower (EAS) trunks are investigated at the CARPET-2 array of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory, Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences. In this work, we study showers with axes that located within its muon detector (MD). We discuss the procedure for selecting such showers in our experiment. The relationship between the number of thermal neutrons detected by heat detectors installed in the muon detector’s tunnel and the total energy of a cascade generated by hadrons in the magnetic detector’s absorbent matter is presented.

Muon and neutrino collimation in extensive air shower cores

Detailed simulations of extensive air showers have been carried out with the CORSIKA program in order to evaluate the energy brought by the different shower components at ground level and transmitted underground. A special attention is given to the angular distributions and to the collimation of beams penetrating deep underground or underwater. The natural collimation of high energy particles in extensive air shower cores results mainly from the ratio between the transverse and the longitudinal momenta of secondary particles generated in the earliest interactions. This collimation is partly conserved by the high energy muons and neutrinos. It is comparable to the magnetic focusing of charged pions and kaons decaying in tunnels of suitable length after production in accelerators. Such is the case for neutrino beams of KEK J-PARC/T2K (300km to Kamiokande), OPERA (730km to Gran Sasso) and MINOS (735km to Irvine Mine).