Simulation of ultra-high energy photon propagation with PRESHOWER 2.0

TL;DR

This paper introduces PRESHOWER 2.0, an improved Monte Carlo simulation tool for modeling ultra-high energy photon propagation in Earth's magnetic field, with enhanced speed and flexibility for various magnetic environments.

Contribution

The paper presents a faster, more flexible version of the PRESHOWER program, incorporating an updated geomagnetic model and broader applicability to different magnetic field configurations.

Findings

Significantly increased simulation speed.

Updated geomagnetic field model implementation.

Enhanced applicability to diverse magnetic environments.

Abstract

In this paper we describe a new release of the PRESHOWER program, a tool for Monte Carlo simulation of propagation of ultra-high energy photons in the magnetic field of the Earth. The PRESHOWER program is designed to calculate magnetic pair production and bremsstrahlung and should be used together with other programs to simulate extensive air showers induced by photons. The main new features of the PRESHOWER code include a much faster algorithm applied in the procedures of simulating the processes of gamma conversion and bremsstrahlung, update of the geomagnetic field model, and a minor correction. The new simulation procedure increases the flexibility of the code so that it can also be applied to other magnetic field configurations such as, for example, encountered in the vicinity of the sun or neutron stars.