A bi-effect model of muon deflections in air showers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a bi-effect model combining geomagnetic and atmospheric influences to accurately describe muon deflections in air showers, aiding in detector design and data analysis.

Contribution

It presents the first combined model of geomagnetic and atmospheric effects on muon deflections in air showers, with a simple formula validated by simulations.

Findings

A simple formula accurately describes muon deflections.

Model parameters relate to primary particle info.

Model improves air shower reconstruction.

Abstract

Recent progress has shown that the geomagnetic field exerts a more significant impact than expected on the behavior of charged secondary particles in inclined air showers. In this study, we for the first time combine it with atmospheric effects to construct a bi-effect model, aiming to investigate the lateral distribution of particles on the ground plane. Despite the complex physical interactions during the development of air showers, a simple formula can describe the overall deflection of $\mu^{\pm}$ and accurately fit the deflection in simulated air showers, thereby validating the hypotheses about these effects in this study. Furthermore, we have obtained the relationship between model parameters and primary particle information for different experimental sites. This new model is highly successful and is promising to provide new insights for improving detector layout design and air shower reconstruction.