New method to measure the attenuation of hadrons in extensive air showers

2009/07/09 by W. D. Apel, W.D. Apel, J.C. Arteaga +62
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #astro-ph.HE

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.80.022002

published as Phys.Rev.D80:022002,2009 · accepted for publication in Physical Review D

arxiv created 2009/07/09 · openalex publication_date 2009/07/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03

Abstract

Extensive air showers are generated through interactions of high-energy cosmic rays impinging the Earth's atmosphere. A new method is described to infer the attenuation of hadrons in air showers. The numbers of electrons and muons, registered with the scintillator array of the KASCADE experiment, are used to estimate the energy of the shower inducing primary particle. A large hadron calorimeter is used to measure the hadronic energy reaching observation level. The ratio of energy reaching ground level to the energy of the primary particle is used to derive an attenuation length of hadrons in air showers. In the energy range from 10⁶ to 3\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10⁷ GeV the attenuation length obtained increases from 170 to 210 g/cm². The experimental results are compared to predictions of simulations based on contemporary high-energy interaction models.

Citations

• Electron, muon, and hadron lateral distributions measured in air showers by the KASCADE experiment
• KASCADE measurements of energy spectra for elemental groups of cosmic rays: Results and open problems