2005/07/31 by J. Dias de Deus, M. Esṕırito Santo, M. C. Espirito Santo +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Bar (unit) #COSMIC cancer database #Cosmic ray #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Energy (signal processing) #High energy #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Meteorology #Nuclear physics #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Percolation (cognitive psychology) #Physics #Quantum chromodynamics #Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.96.162001
published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 96 (2006) 162001 · Correction of equation (19) and figures 3 and 4. 4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2005/10/31 · openalex publication_date 2006/04/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Cosmic ray data at high energies present a number of well-known puzzles. At very high energies (E approximately 10(20) eV) there are indications of a discrepancy between ground array experiments and fluorescence detectors. On the other hand, the dependence of the depth of the shower maximum Xmax with the primary energy shows a change in slope (E approximately 10(17) eV) which is usually explained assuming a composition change. Both effects could be accounted for in models predicting that above a certain energy showers would develop deeper in the atmosphere. In this Letter we argue that this can be done naturally by including percolation effects in the description of the shower development, which cause a change in the behavior of the inelasticity K above E approximately 10(17) eV.