Abstract
The HiRes stereo uorescence detector can precisely measure the profile of the extensive air showers caused by ultra-high energy cosmic ray particles. The distribution of the depth of the air shower maxima, X max , can serve as an indication of the atomic mass of the cosmic particles. It can also be used to measure the p-air inelastic cross-section. We discuss the consistency of the mass composition measurements done by the Fly’s Eye, the HiRes prototype/MIA and the HiRes stereo experiments. We introduce the first cross-section measurement at 1018:5 eV done using the HiRes stereo data and a newly developed deconvolution technique. The atmosphere can introduce a significant bias into these measurements. We estimate the systematic errors comparing the HiRes standard atmospheric model with the balloon data from the Salt Lake international airport.
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P. Sokolsky for the HiRes collaboration
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Belov, K., Fedorova, Y. Composition and cross-section measurements using the HiRes detector. Czech J Phys 56 (Suppl 1), A313–A326 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10582-006-0165-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10582-006-0165-8