INVESTIGADORES
HANSEN Patricia Maria
artículos
Título:
Measurement of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers above 10^18 eV
Autor/es:
THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (P HANSEN PERTENECE A LA COLABORACIÓN AUGER)
Revista:
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Editorial:
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Referencias:
Lugar: New York; Año: 2010 vol. 104 p. 1 - 7
ISSN:
0031-9007
Resumen:
We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of the longitudinal development of airshowers induced by cosmic rays. Almost 4000 events above 1018 eV observed by the fluorescencedetector of the Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to evolve with energy at a rate ofð106þ3521 Þ g=cm2=decade below 1018:240:05 eV, and ð24 3Þ g=cm2=decade above this energy. Themeasured shower-to-shower fluctuations decrease from about 55 to 26 g=cm2. The interpretation of theseresults in terms of the cosmic ray mass composition is briefly discussed