Muons in air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory: measurement of atmospheric production depth

THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION.; S. J. SCIUTTO

PHYSICAL REVIEW D

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014 vol. 90 p. 12012 - 12012

1550-7998

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides information about the longitudinaldevelopment of the muonic component of extensive air showers. Using the timing information from theflash analog-to-digital converter traces of surface detectors far from the shower core, it is possible toreconstruct a muon production depth distribution. We characterize the goodness of this reconstruction forzenith angles around 60° and different energies of the primary particle. From these distributions, we defineXμmax as the depth along the shower axis where the production of muons reaches maximum. We explore thepotentiality of Xμmax as a useful observable to infer the mass composition of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays.Likewise, we assess its ability to constrain hadronic interaction models.