Dependence of the Energy Spectrum of UHE Cosmic Rays on the Latitude of an Extensive Air Shower Array

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the measured energy spectra of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays vary with the latitude of different air shower arrays, revealing a latitude-dependent correction factor for spectrum alignment.

Contribution

It introduces a latitude-dependent correction factor to reconcile different cosmic ray energy spectra measured at various arrays.

Findings

Spectrum shapes align better after applying latitude-specific factors.

Factors show a clear dependence on array latitude.

Results suggest observational biases related to array location.

Abstract

Several energy spectra of cosmic rays with energies E_0 \geq 10^17 eV measured at the Yakutsk EAS, AGASA, Haverah Park, HiRes, Auger, and SUGAR arrays are considered. It is shown that the fairly good mutual agreement of the spectrum shapes can be achieved if the energy of each spectrum is multiplied by a factor K specific for each spectrum. These factors exhibit a pronounced dependence on the latitude of the above-mentioned arrays.