Study of the muon component in the core-corona model using CONEX 3D

TL;DR

This paper extends the CONEX simulation framework to multidimensional analysis and applies it to study the muon content in air showers, addressing the muon puzzle in ultra-high energy cosmic ray observations.

Contribution

The paper introduces a multidimensional extension of CONEX and demonstrates its application to the core-corona model, revealing its impact on muon content in cosmic ray air showers.

Findings

Increased muon content by 15-20% at 10^19 eV due to core effects.

Comparison shows CONEX performance aligns with CORSIKA for muon features.

Core-corona model influences muon production in air-shower simulations.

Abstract

The discrepancy between models and data regarding the muon content in air showers generated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays still needs to be solved. The CONEX simulation framework provides a flexible tool to assess the impact of different interaction properties and thus address the muon puzzle. In this work, we present the multidimensional extension of CONEX and show its performance compared to CORSIKA by discussing muon-related air-shower features for three experiments: KASCADE, IceTop, and the Pierre Auger Observatory. We also implement an effective version of the core-corona model to demonstrate the impact of the core effect, as observed at the LHC, on the muon content in air showers produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. At a primary energy of $E_0 = 10^{19}\,$eV, we obtain an increase of $15\%$ to $20\%$ in the muon content.