High energy physics in the atmosphere: Phenomenology of cosmic ray air showers

The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 106 GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air showers. We describe the hadronic interaction models used to extrapo...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Anchordoqui, Luis A., Dova, Maria Teresa, Mariazzi, Analisa Gabriela, Thomas P. McCauley, Paul, Thomas, Reucroft, Stephen, Swain, John
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2004
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/72427
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/72427
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cosmic Rays
Extensive Air Showers
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 106 GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air showers. We describe the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from collider data to ultra high energies, and discuss the prospects for insights into forward physics at the LHC. We also describe the main electromagnetic processes that govern the longitudinal shower evolution, as well as the lateral spread of particles. Armed with these two principal shower ingredients and motivation from the underlying physics, we provide an overview of some of the different methods proposed to distinguish primary species. The properties of neutrino interactions and the potential of forthcoming experiments to isolate deeply penetrating showers from baryonic cascades are also discussed. We finally venture into a terra incognita endowed with TeV-scale gravity and explore anomalous neutrino-induced showers. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.