2005/12/16 by M. Risse, P. Homola, R. Engel +8
Physics and Astronomy · #Air shower #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Energy (signal processing) #Extrapolation #Observable #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Photon #Shower #astro-ph #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10582-006-0166-7
published as Czech.J.Phys. 56 (2006) A327-A336 · Based on a talk presented at the international conference "From Colliders to Cosmic Rays", Prague, September 7-13 (2005)
arxiv created 2005/12/16 · openalex publication_date 2006/09/01 · arxiv updated 2015/06/24 · openalex created_date 2019/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Experimental conclusions from air shower observations on cosmic-ray photons above 1019 eV are based on the comparison to detailed shower simulations. For the calculations, the photonuclear cross-section needs to be extrapolated over several orders of magnitude in energy. The uncertainty from the cross-section extrapolation translates into an uncertainty of the predicted shower features for primary photons and, thus, into uncertainties for a possible data interpretation. After briefly reviewing the current status of ultra-high energy photon studies, the impact of the uncertainty of the photonuclear cross-section for shower calculations is investigated. Estimates for the uncertainties in the main shower observables are provided. Photon discrimination is shown to be possible even for rapidly rising cross-sections. When photon-initiated showers are identified, it is argued that the sensitivity of photon shower observables to the photonuclear cross-section can in turn be exploited to constrain the cross-section at energies not accessible at colliders.