Measurement of attenuation length of the muon content in extensive air showers from 0.3 to 30 PeV with LHAASO

Abstract

The attenuation length of the muon content in extensive air showers provides important information regarding the generation and development of air showers. This information can be used not only to improve the description of such showers but also to test fundamental models of hadronic interactions. Using data from the LHAASO-KM2A experiment, the development of the muon content in high-energy air showers was studied. The attenuation length of muon content in the air showers was measured from experimental data in the energy range from 0.3 to 30 PeV using the constant intensity cut method. By comparing the attenuation length of the muon content with predictions from high-energy hadronic interaction models (QGSJET-II-04, SIBYLL 2.3d, and EPOS-LHC), it is evident that LHAASO results are significantly shorter than those predicted by the first two models (QGSJET-II-04 and SIBYLL 2.3d) but relatively close to those predicted by the third model (EPOS-LHC). Thus, the LHAASO data favor the EPOS-LHC model over the other two models. The three interaction models confirmed an increasing trend in the attenuation length as the cosmic-ray energy increases.

References in corpus (12)

• EPOS LHC : test of collective hadronization with LHC data
• Monte Carlo treatment of hadronic interactions in enhanced Pomeron scheme: I. QGSJET-II model
• On the knee in the energy spectrum of cosmic rays
• Hadronic interaction model Sibyll 2.3d and extensive air showers
• Testing Hadronic Interactions at Ultrahigh Energies with Air Showers Measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
• The observation of the Crab Nebula with LHAASO-KM2A for the performance study
• Study of muons from ultra-high energy cosmic ray air showers measured with the Telescope Array experiment
• Probing the evolution of the EAS muon content in the atmosphere with KASCADE-Grande
• Measurements of All-Particle Energy Spectrum and Mean Logarithmic Mass of Cosmic Rays from 0.3 to 30 PeV with LHAASO-KM2A
• Density of GeV muons in air showers measured with IceTop
• Muon content of extensive air showers: comparison of the energy spectra obtained by the Sydney University Giant Air-shower Recorder and by the Pierre Auger Observatory
• LHAASO-KM2A detector simulation using Geant4