A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters

Although the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays is still unknown, significant progress has been achieved in last decades with the construction of large arrays that are currently taking data. One of the most important pieces of information comes from the chemical composition of primary particles...

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Publicado: 2015
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Acceso en línea:https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani
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spelling paper:paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani2023-06-08T15:51:57Z A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters Cosmic ray primary mass composition Lateral distribution function Muon counters Ultra-high energy cosmic rays Charged particles Cosmic ray measurement Cosmology Distribution functions Chemical compositions Lateral distributions Primary mass Primary particles Reconstruction method Statistical uncertainty Systematic uncertainties Ultra high-energy cosmic rays Cosmic rays Although the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays is still unknown, significant progress has been achieved in last decades with the construction of large arrays that are currently taking data. One of the most important pieces of information comes from the chemical composition of primary particles. It is well known that the muon content of air showers generated by the interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere is rather sensitive to primary mass. Therefore, the measurement of the number of muons at ground level is an essential ingredient to infer the cosmic ray mass composition. In this work we present a new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution function with an array of segmented counters. The energy range from 4×1017eV to 2.5×1018eV is considered. For a triangular array spaced at 750 m we found that 450 m is the optimal distance to evaluate the number of muons. The corresponding statistical and systematic uncertainties of the new and of a previous reconstruction methods are compared. Since the statistical uncertainty of the new reconstruction is less than in the original one, the power to discriminate between heavy and light cosmic ray primaries is enhanced. The detector dynamic range is also extended in the new reconstruction, so events falling closer to a detector can be included in composition studies. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. 2015 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Cosmic ray primary mass composition
Lateral distribution function
Muon counters
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays
Charged particles
Cosmic ray measurement
Cosmology
Distribution functions
Chemical compositions
Lateral distributions
Primary mass
Primary particles
Reconstruction method
Statistical uncertainty
Systematic uncertainties
Ultra high-energy cosmic rays
Cosmic rays
spellingShingle Cosmic ray primary mass composition
Lateral distribution function
Muon counters
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays
Charged particles
Cosmic ray measurement
Cosmology
Distribution functions
Chemical compositions
Lateral distributions
Primary mass
Primary particles
Reconstruction method
Statistical uncertainty
Systematic uncertainties
Ultra high-energy cosmic rays
Cosmic rays
A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
topic_facet Cosmic ray primary mass composition
Lateral distribution function
Muon counters
Ultra-high energy cosmic rays
Charged particles
Cosmic ray measurement
Cosmology
Distribution functions
Chemical compositions
Lateral distributions
Primary mass
Primary particles
Reconstruction method
Statistical uncertainty
Systematic uncertainties
Ultra high-energy cosmic rays
Cosmic rays
description Although the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays is still unknown, significant progress has been achieved in last decades with the construction of large arrays that are currently taking data. One of the most important pieces of information comes from the chemical composition of primary particles. It is well known that the muon content of air showers generated by the interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere is rather sensitive to primary mass. Therefore, the measurement of the number of muons at ground level is an essential ingredient to infer the cosmic ray mass composition. In this work we present a new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution function with an array of segmented counters. The energy range from 4×1017eV to 2.5×1018eV is considered. For a triangular array spaced at 750 m we found that 450 m is the optimal distance to evaluate the number of muons. The corresponding statistical and systematic uncertainties of the new and of a previous reconstruction methods are compared. Since the statistical uncertainty of the new reconstruction is less than in the original one, the power to discriminate between heavy and light cosmic ray primaries is enhanced. The detector dynamic range is also extended in the new reconstruction, so events falling closer to a detector can be included in composition studies. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.
title A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
title_short A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
title_full A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
title_fullStr A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
title_full_unstemmed A new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
title_sort new method for reconstructing the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters
publishDate 2015
url https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_09276505_v65_n_p1_Ravignani
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