Air shower development

• Grant number: 17/19337-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2017
• End date: November 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Elementary Particle Physics and Fields
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Vitor de Souza Filho
• Grantee: Eliane Gniech Karasawa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/15897-1 - Cherenkov Telescope Array - CTA, AP.TEM

Abstract

The production of energetic particles in the Universe remains one of the great mysteries of modern science. The mechanisms of particle acceleration in astrophysical sources are still unknown and recent results point to the need for a multi-messenger approach to solve this problem. The interpretation of the measured data depends on the knowledge of the properties of the interactions between particles in energies unreachable by terrestrial experiments. In this way, the analysis of cosmic particles can bring precious information about astrophysical objects as well as about the elementary interactions of nature. This project focuses on the analysis of extensive atmospheric showers in order to extract relevant information about the type of the primary particle. We will study the models that describe the longitudinal development of the shower, considering the measurable properties, such as the depth where the shower reaches the maximum number of particles (Xmax) and the direct emission Cherenkov. We will study the proposed phenomenological models to describe the distributions of Xmax and its two central moments. We will also study the Cherenkov emission of the primary particle and the possibility of measuring this signal. We will analyze the effect and the possibility of using these models in the determination of the primary particle type. The outcome of this project is part of the experimental efforts of the CTA and Pierre Auger Observatories. (AU)