UHECR primary identification using the lateral profile of muons in EAS

TL;DR

This paper uses simulations to analyze muon lateral profiles and Xmax in extensive air showers, demonstrating their combined potential to identify primary cosmic rays across a wide energy range.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation-based method combining muon lateral profiles and Xmax to improve primary cosmic ray identification.

Findings

Muon observables and Xmax can identify primaries in many events

The method's effectiveness depends on energy and detector performance

Provides parameters for designing future muon detectors

Abstract

New developments in detector technology allow for a realistic cost of large area surface detectors for cosmic ray air showers, with some limitations on particle identification, energy resolutions, directional information and dynamic range. In this paper, we present a simulation study using CORSIKA to quantify the lateral profile of the muons at ground level, characterized by their energy spectrum and lateral spread, and combine it with the depth at shower maximum (X$_{max}$) of an EAS initiated by a primary at energies $10^{16}$ eV - $10^{19}$ eV. Using different primaries, we show that the combined muon observables and X$_{max}$ can identify the primary in a large fraction of the events, depending on the energy and the detector performance. This study provides important input parameters for the design of a future muon detector for surface array, which will be able to boost the knowledge of primaries and of the QCD interactions in the atmosphere.