Percolation effects in very-high-energy cosmic rays

Cosmic ray data at high energies present a number of well-known puzzles. At very high energies (E approximately 10(20) eV) there are indications of a discrepancy between ground array experiments and fluorescence detectors. On the other hand, the dependence of the depth of the shower maximum Xmax wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2006-04, Vol.96 (16), p.162001-162001, Article 162001
Main Authors: Dias de Deus, J, Santo, M C Espírito, Pimenta, M, Pajares, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMIC RAY PROPAGATION
COSMIC SHOWERS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EEV RANGE
ENERGY SPECTRA
PEV RANGE
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Summary:Cosmic ray data at high energies present a number of well-known puzzles. At very high energies (E approximately 10(20) eV) there are indications of a discrepancy between ground array experiments and fluorescence detectors. On the other hand, the dependence of the depth of the shower maximum Xmax with the primary energy shows a change in slope (E approximately 10(17) eV) which is usually explained assuming a composition change. Both effects could be accounted for in models predicting that above a certain energy showers would develop deeper in the atmosphere. In this Letter we argue that this can be done naturally by including percolation effects in the description of the shower development, which cause a change in the behavior of the inelasticity K above E approximately 10(17) eV.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.162001