Secondary Cosmic Ray particles due to GCR interactions in the Earth's atmosphere

TL;DR

This paper investigates secondary cosmic ray particles produced by GCR interactions in Earth's atmosphere, using Monte Carlo simulations with FLUKA to analyze fluxes and shower properties, and validates the physics models involved.

Contribution

It provides new simulation results of atmospheric particle fluxes and shower characteristics using FLUKA, highlighting model validation and uncertainties in high-energy hadronic physics.

Findings

Fluxes of secondary particles characterized across energy ranges

Validation of FLUKA physics models against experimental data

Identification of uncertainties in high-energy hadronic interactions

Abstract

Primary GCR interact with the Earth's atmosphere originating atmospheric showers, thus giving rise to fluxes of secondary particles in the atmosphere. Electromagnetic and hadronic interactions interplay in the production of these particles, whose detection is performed by means of complementary techniques in different energy ranges and at different depths in the atmosphere, down to the Earth's surface. Monte Carlo codes are essential calculation tools which can describe the complexity of the physics of these phenomena, thus allowing the analysis of experimental data. However, these codes are affected by important uncertainties, concerning, in particular, hadronic physics at high energy. In this paper we shall report some results concerning inclusive particle fluxes and atmospheric shower properties as obtained using the FLUKA transport and interaction code. Some emphasis will also be given to the validation of the physics models of FLUKA involved in these calculations.