Abstract
One of the uncertainties in the interpretation of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray data comes from the hadronic interaction models used for air shower Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The number of muons observed at the ground from ultrahigh energy cosmic ray-induced air showers is expected to depend upon the hadronic interaction model. One may therefore test the hadronic interaction models by comparing the measured number of muons with the MC prediction. In this paper, we present the results of studies of muon densities in ultrahigh energy extensive air showers obtained by analyzing the signal of surface detector stations which should have high muon purity. The muon purity of a station will depend on both the inclination of the shower and the relative position of the station. In seven years' data from the Telescope Array experiment, we find that the number of particles observed for signals with an expected muon purity of ∼65% at a lateral distance of 2000 m from the shower core is 1.72±0.10(stat)±0.37(syst) times larger than the MC prediction value using the QGSJET II-03 model for proton-induced showers. A similar effect is also seen in comparisons with other hadronic models such as QGSJET II-04, which shows a 1.67±0.10±0.36 excess. We also studied the dependence of these excesses on lateral distances and found a slower decrease of the lateral distribution of muons in the data as compared to the MC, causing larger discrepancy at larger lateral distances.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 022002 |
| Journal | Physical Review D |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 Jul 15 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Telescope Array experiment is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science through Grants-in-Aid for Priority Area 431, for Specially Promoted Research JP21000002, for Scientific Research (S) JP19104006, for Specially Promoted Research JP15H05693, for Scientific Research (S) JP15H05741 and for Young Scientists (A) JPH26707011; by the joint research program of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo; by the U.S. National Science Foundation Awards No. PHY-0601915, No. PHY-1404495, No. PHY-1404502 and No. PHY-1607727; by the National Research Foundation of Korea (Grants No. 2017K1A4A3015188, No. 2016R1A2B4014967, No. 2017R1A2A1A05071429 and No. 2016R1A5A1013277); by the Russian Academy of Sciences, RFBR Grant No. 16-02-00962a (INR), IISN Project No. 4.4502.13; and Belgian Science Policy under IUAP VII/37 (ULB). The foundations of Dr. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke, Willard L. Eccles and George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles all helped with generous donations. The State of Utah supported the project through its Economic Development Board and the University of Utah through the Office of the Vice President for Research. The experimental site became available through the cooperation of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Air Force. We appreciate the assistance of the State of Utah and Fillmore offices of the BLM in crafting the Plan of Development for the site. Patrick Shea assisted the collaboration with valuable advice on a variety of topics. The people and the officials of Millard County, Utah, have been a source of steadfast and warm support for our work, which we greatly appreciate. We are indebted to the Millard County Road Department for their efforts to maintain and clear the roads which get us to our sites. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution from the technical staffs of our home institutions. An allocation of computer time from the Center for High Performance Computing at the University of Utah is gratefully acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Physical Society.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics