Simulation of in-ice cosmic ray air shower induced particle cascades

Abstract

We present detailed microscopic simulations of high-energy cosmic-ray air showers penetrating high-altitude ice layers that can be found at the polar regions. We use a combination of the CORSIKA Monte Carlo code and the Geant4 simulation toolkit, and focus on the particle cascade that develops in the ice to describe its most prominent features. We discuss the impact of the ice layer on the total number of particles in function of depth of the air shower, and we give a general parameterization of the charge distribution in the cascade front in function of Xmax of the cosmic ray air shower, which can be used for analytical and semi-analytical calculations of the expected Askaryan radio emission of the in-ice particle cascade. We show that the core of the cosmic ray air shower dominates during the propagation in ice, therefore creating an in-ice particle cascade strongly resembling a neutrino-induced particle cascade. Finally, we present the results of microscopic simulations of the Askaryan radio emission of the in-ice particle cascade, showing that the emission is dominated by the shower core, and discuss the feasibility of detecting the plasma created by the particle cascade in the ice using RADAR echo techniques.

14 pages, 18 figures

References in corpus (6)

• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detector Design, Performance, and Sensitivity for 2006-2007 Balloon Flight
• Radio detection of Cosmic-Ray Air Showers and High-Energy Neutrinos
• In situ radioglaciological measurements near Taylor Dome, Antarctica and implications for UHE neutrino astronomy
• Final results of the LOPES radio interferometer for cosmic-ray air showers
• The SLAC T-510 experiment for radio emission from particle showers: detailed simulation study and interpretation
• Simulation of the propagation of CR air shower cores in ice

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Radio Detection of High Energy Neutrinos in Ice
• Near-future discovery of point sources of ultra-high-energy neutrinos
• Simulation of radio signals from cosmic-ray cascades in air and ice as observed by in-ice Askaryan radio detectors
• Atmospheric muons at PeV energies in radio neutrino detectors
• Simulations of cross media showers with CORSIKA 8
• Observation of In-ice Askaryan Radiation from High-Energy Cosmic Rays
• In-ice Askaryan Emission from Air Showers: Implications for Radio Neutrino Detectors
• Macroscopic approach to the radar echo scatter from high-energy particle cascades
• CORSIKA 8: A General Framework for Particle Cascade Simulations
• Progress Towards a Diffuse Neutrino Search in the Full Livetime of the Askaryan Radio Array