Air showers and hadronic interactions with CORSIKA 8

TL;DR

CORSIKA 8 is a new C++ framework for simulating extensive air showers, focusing on hadronic and muonic components, with innovative features like cascade lineage and integration of Pythia 8.3 for improved interaction modeling.

Contribution

The paper introduces CORSIKA 8, a versatile C++ simulation framework that advances air shower modeling with new features and the integration of modern interaction models.

Findings

Demonstrated cascade lineage feature for hadronic interactions.

Showcased initial results with Pythia 8.3 as an interaction model.

Highlighted capabilities in simulating muonic components.

Abstract

The CORSIKA 8 project is a collaborative effort aiming to develop a versatile C++ framework for the simulation of extensive air showers, intended to eventually succeed the long-standing FORTRAN version. I present an overview of its current capabilities, focusing on aspects concerning the hadronic and muonic shower components. In particular, I demonstrate the "cascade lineage" feature and its application to quantify the importance of certain phase-space regions in hadronic interactions for muon production. Additionally, I show first results using Pythia 8.3, which as of late is usable as interaction model in cosmic-ray applications and is currently being integrated into CORSIKA 8.