A new observable in extensive air showers

We find that the ratio r<sub>μe</sub> of the muon to the electromagnetic component of an extended air shower at the ground level provides an indirect measure of the depth X<sub>max</sub> of the shower maximum. This result, obtained with the air-shower code AIRES, is independe...

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Autores principales: García Canal, Carlos Alberto, Illana, J. I., Masip, M., Sciutto, Sergio Juan
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2016
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Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/104964
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092765051630144X
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Sumario:We find that the ratio r<sub>μe</sub> of the muon to the electromagnetic component of an extended air shower at the ground level provides an indirect measure of the depth X<sub>max</sub> of the shower maximum. This result, obtained with the air-shower code AIRES, is independent of the hadronic model used in the simulation. We show that the value of r<sub>μe</sub> in a particular shower discriminates its proton or iron nature with a 98% efficiency. We also show that the eventual production of forward heavy quarks inside the shower may introduce anomalous values of r<sub>μe</sub> in isolated events.