A Monte Carlo study to check the hadronic interaction models by a new EAS hybrid experiment in Tibet

TL;DR

This study introduces a new hybrid air shower experiment in Tibet, using the YAC-I detector array to directly test and compare hadronic interaction models at energies of several tens of TeV.

Contribution

It presents the design and Monte Carlo validation of YAC-I, a novel detector array for directly checking hadronic interaction models in air shower simulations.

Findings

YAC-I can detect high-energy electromagnetic components in air shower cores.

The experiment's sensitivity varies with different hadronic interaction models.

YAC-I provides a new method for model validation at tens of TeV energies.

Abstract

A new EAS hybrid experiment has been designed by constructing a YAC (Yangbajing Air shower Core) detector array inside the existing Tibet-III air shower array. The first step of YAC, called "YAC-I", consists of 16 plastic scintillator units (4 rows times 4 columns) each with an area of 40 cm * 50 cm which is used to check hadronic interaction models used in AS simulations. A Monte Carlo study shows that YAC-I can record high energy electromagnetic component in the core region of air showers induced by primary particles of several tens TeV energies where the primary composition is directly measured by space experiments. It may provide a direct check of the hadronic interaction models currently used in the air shower simulations in the corresponding energy region. In present paper, the method of the observation and the sensitivity of the characteristics of the observed events to the different interaction models are discussed.