Disentangling the Air Shower Components Using Scintillation and Water Cherenkov Detectors

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method using combined scintillation and water Cherenkov detectors to accurately determine the muon content in air showers, enhancing our understanding of cosmic ray interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation-based approach to disentangle air shower components by leveraging the different responses of scintillation and Cherenkov detectors.

Findings

Simulation shows detector size impacts muon component estimation

Combined detector responses improve air shower component analysis

Method enhances accuracy of muon content measurement in air showers

Abstract

We consider a ground array of scintillation and water Cherenkov detectors with the purpose of determining the muon content of air showers. The different response characteristics of these two types of detectors to the components of the air shower provide a way to infer their relative contributions. We use a detailed simulation to estimate the impact of parameters, such as scintillation detector size, in the determination of the size of the muon component.