Fingerprint of Tsallis statistics in cosmic ray showers

TL;DR

This paper explores how Tsallis non-extensive statistics, accounting for temperature fluctuations, influence key cosmic ray shower observables like Xmax and muon number, aligning with theoretical models.

Contribution

It demonstrates the significant impact of Tsallis statistics on cosmic ray shower observables, providing a novel approach to modeling ultra high energy interactions.

Findings

Temperature fluctuations significantly affect Xmax and n_mu.

Results qualitatively agree with the Heitler model.

Tsallis statistics offer a useful framework for cosmic ray analysis.

Abstract

We investigate the impact of the Tsallis non extensive statistics introduced by intrinsic temperature fluctuations in p-Air ultra high energy interactions on observables of cosmic ray showers, such as the slant depth of the maximum Xmax and the muon number on the ground $n_{\mu}$. The results show that these observables are significantly affected by temperature fluctuations and agree qualitatively with the Heitler model predictions.