Depth of maximum of air-shower profiles at the Pierre Auger Observatory : I. Measurements at energies above 10<sup>17.8</sup>eV
We report a study of the distributions of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of extensive air-shower profiles with energies above 10<sup>17.8</sup>eV as observed with the fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The analysis method for selecting a data sample with minimal sampli...
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2014 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Universidad Nacional de La Plata |
| Repositorio: | SEDICI (UNLP) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/85047 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/85047 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Física Ciencias Exactas Pierre Auger observatory Radiación Cósmica Cascada atmosférica extensa |
| Sumario: | We report a study of the distributions of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of extensive air-shower profiles with energies above 10<sup>17.8</sup>eV as observed with the fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The analysis method for selecting a data sample with minimal sampling bias is described in detail as well as the experimental cross-checks and systematic uncertainties. Furthermore, we discuss the detector acceptance and the resolution of the Xmax measurement and provide parametrizations thereof as a function of energy. The energy dependence of the mean and standard deviation of the Xmax distributions are compared to air-shower simulations for different nuclear primaries and interpreted in terms of the mean and variance of the logarithmic mass distribution at the top of the atmosphere. |
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