Energy and composition sensitivity of geosynchrotron radio emission from EAS

TL;DR

This paper investigates how geosynchrotron radio emission from inclined extensive air showers can be used to determine the energy and mass of primary cosmic rays with high precision, using measurements at specific lateral distances or frequency bands.

Contribution

It demonstrates that radio emission measurements can accurately infer the number of particles and the atmospheric depth of maximum, providing a new method to analyze primary cosmic ray properties.

Findings

Achieves 5% RMS error in particle number estimation.

Radio measurements can determine primary cosmic ray energy and mass.

Measurements at specific lateral distances or frequency bands are effective.

Abstract

We analyse the sensitivity of geosynchrotron radio emission from inclined extensive air showers to the energy and mass of primary cosmic rays. We demonstrate that radio emission measurements at suitable lateral distances can infer both the number of electrons and positrons in the shower maximum and the atmospheric depth of the maximum on a shower-to-shower basis. Alternatively, measurements at a fixed lateral distance but in two different observing frequency bands yield comparable information. An RMS error of 5% in the determination of the number of electrons and positrons at shower maximum can be achieved. Through the determination of these quantities, geosynchrotron radiation provides access to the energy and mass of primary cosmic rays on a shower-to-shower basis.