Interpretation of the depths of maximum of extensive air showers measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

Authors

P. Abreu, LIP - Lisboa
M. Aglietta, Università degli Studi di Torino
M. Ahlers, University of Wisconsin-Madison
E. J. Ahn, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
I. F.M. Albuquerque, Universidade de Sao Paulo - USP
I. Allekotte, Instituto Balseiro
J. Allen, New York University
P. Allison, The Ohio State University
A. Almela, Instituto de Tecnologías en Detección y Astropartículas
J. Alvarez Castillo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
J. Alvarez-Muñiz, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
R. Alves Batista, Universidade Estadual de Campinas
M. Ambrosio, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
A. Aminaei, Radboud University Nijmegen
L. Anchordoqui, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
S. Andringa, LIP - Lisboa
T. Antičič, Institute Ruder Boskovic
C. Aramo, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
F. Arqueros, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
H. Asorey, Instituto Balseiro
P. Assis, LIP - Lisboa
J. Aublin, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Energies
M. Ave, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
M. Avenier, Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie de Grenoble
G. Avila, Pierre Auger Observatory
A. M. Badescu, University Politehnica of Bucharest
K. B. Barber, The University of Adelaide
A. F. Barbosa, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
R. Bardenet, Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire
B. Baughman, The Ohio State University
J. Bäuml, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus North
C. Baus, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus North

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2013

Abstract

To interpret the mean depth of cosmic ray air shower maximum and its dispersion, we parametrize those two observables as functions of the first two moments of the ln A distribution. We examine the goodness of this simple method through simulations of test mass distributions. The application of the parameterization to Pierre Auger Observatory data allows one to study the energy dependence of the mean ln A and of its variance under the assumption of selected hadronic interaction models. We discuss possible implications of these dependences in term of interaction models and astrophysical cosmic ray sources. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.

Publication Title

Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

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