# Probing the cosmic ray mass composition in the knee region through TeV secondary particle fluxes from solar surroundings

## TL;DR

This paper explores how high-energy secondary particles like gamma rays, muons, and neutrinos produced near the Sun can reveal the mass composition of cosmic rays above the knee of their spectrum, with implications for future detection.

## Contribution

It introduces a method to estimate cosmic ray mass composition above the knee using TeV secondary particle fluxes from solar surroundings, highlighting their sensitivity to primary cosmic ray composition.

## Key findings

- TeV gamma ray, muon, and neutrino fluxes are sensitive to cosmic ray composition.
- Fluxes from around 15° of the Sun can indicate primary cosmic ray mass.
- Future experiments could detect these secondary particles to study cosmic rays.

## Abstract

The possibility of estimating the mass composition of primary cosmic rays above the knee of its energy spectrum through the study of high energy gamma rays, muons and neutrinos produced in the interactions of cosmic rays with the solar ambient matter and radiation has been explored. It is found that the theoretical fluxes of TeV gamma rays, muons and neutrinos from a region around $15^{o}$ of the Sun are sensitive to mass composition of cosmic rays in the PeV energy range. The experimental prospects for detection of such TeV gamma rays/neutrinos by future experiments are discussed.