V. A. Kuz'min, G. I. Rubtsov, “No-thinning simulations of extensive air showers and small scale fluctuations at the ground level”, Pis'ma v Zh. Èksper. Teoret. Fiz., 2007, Volume 85, Issue 11,Pages <nobr>663

This article is cited in 4 papers

GRAVITY, ASTROPHYSICS

No-thinning simulations of extensive air showers and small scale fluctuations at the ground level

V. A. Kuz'min^a, G. I. Rubtsov^b

^a Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences
^b M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Physics

Abstract: The particle density in extensive air showers fluctuates at the ground level. These fluctuations, at the scale of the scintillator detector size (several meters), lead to the diversity of the individual detector responses. Therefore, small scale fluctuations contribute to the error in the estimation of the primary energy by a ground array. This contribution is shown to be non-Gaussian. The impact on the primary energy spectrum measured by a ground array is estimated. It is argued that super-GZK events observed by AGASA experiment do not result from the energy overestimation, due to small scale fluctuations, of lower energy events.

PACS: 96.40.-z, 98.70.Sa,

Received: 27.03.2007
Revised: 24.04.2007

Language: English