Palestrante
Descrição
The production of high energy particles in the Universe remains one of the most important mysteries of modern science. The mechanisms of particle acceleration from astrophysical sources are still unknown and recent results suggest that a multi-messenger approach is necessary. Similarly, the detection of the highest energy particles to date shows that models that describe elementary interactions must be revised. The main parameter used to study cosmic ray composition from the shower development perspective is the atmospheric depth in which the shower reaches its maximum development ($X_{\text{max}}$). Some of its features are the agreement between experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulation data and the possibility of measuring it directly from fluorescence telescopes. Muons are simultaneously the main messengers of the primary particle and of the hadronic interactions taking place in the shower development since they are produced via the charged pion and kaon decay. Recent results (1) suggest a deficit of up to 80% in the muon production in Monte Carlo simulations of ultra-high energy primaries ($>10^{18}$ eV). Efforts have been made (2) to study the muonic component under the perspective of the Muon Production Depth distribution (MPD) and of the depth in which the muonic production reaches it's maximum ($X_{\text{max}}^{\mu}$). Since muons rely directly on the hadronic production, the shape of the MPD contains information about the evolution of the hadronic cascade, likewise, the $X_{\text{max}}^{\mu}$ parameter relies on properties of hadronic interaction models. Thus, the study of muon related parameters allows us to set constraints on hadronic interaction models as well as to investigate the unsatisfactory description of muon production in extensive air showers. In this work, our efforts were guided towards a new analysis method based on Monte Carlo simulations and solving cascade equations (3) to study the first and the second moments of the MPD, as well as extracting information on the maximum muon production and its related depth in order to study primary cosmic ray composition.
Referências
1 AAB, A. et al. Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: mean number in highly inclined events. Physical Review D, v. 91, n. 3, p. 032003-1-032003-12, Feb. 2015.
2 AAB, A. et al. Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: measurement of atmospheric production depth. Physical Review D, v. 90, n. 1, p. 012012-1-012012-15, July 2014.
3 BERGMANN, T. et al. One-dimensional hybrid approach to extensive air shower simulation. Astroparticle Physics, v. 26, n. 6, p. 420-432, 2007.
| Subárea | Física de Altas Energias, Partículas e Campos |
|---|---|
| Apresentação do trabalho acadêmico para o público geral | Não |
