Longitudinal development of extensive air showers: hybrid code SENECA and full Monte Carlo

Abstract

New experiments, exploring the ultra-high energy tail of the cosmic ray spectrum with unprecedented detail, are exerting a severe pressure on extensive air hower modeling. Detailed fast codes are in need in order to extract and understand the richness of information now available. Some hybrid simulation codes have been proposed recently to this effect (e.g., the combination of the traditional Monte Carlo scheme and system of cascade equations or pre-simulated air showers). In this context, we explore the potential of SENECA, an efficient hybrid tridimensional simulation code, as a valid practical alternative to full Monte Carlo simulations of extensive air showers generated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. We extensively compare hybrid method with the traditional, but time consuming, full Monte Carlo code CORSIKA which is the de facto standard in the field. The hybrid scheme of the SENECA code is based on the simulation of each particle with the traditional Monte Carlo method at two steps of the shower development: the first step predicts the large fluctuations in the very first particle interactions at high energies while the second step provides a well detailed lateral distribution simulation of the final stages of the air shower. Both Monte Carlo simulation steps are connected by a cascade equation system which reproduces correctly the hadronic and electromagnetic longitudinal profile. We study the influence of this approach on the main longitudinal characteristics of proton-induced air showers and compare the predictions of the well known CORSIKA code using the QGSJET hadronic interaction model.

arXiv comment11 pages (LaTeX), 15 postscript figures, 3 tables

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• Acceptance of fluorescence detectors and its implication in energy spectrum inference at the highest energies
• Interpretation of measurements of the number of muons in extensive air shower experiments
• Road map for the tuning of hadronic interaction models with accelerator-based and astroparticle data
• The shower size parameter as estimator of extensive air shower energy in fluorescence telescopes