1. Measurement of the Depth of Maximum of Air-Shower Profiles with energies between $\mathbf{10^{18.5}}$ and $\mathbf{10^{20}}$ eV using the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory and Deep Learning
- Author
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The Pierre Auger Collaboration, Halim, A. Abdul, Abreu, P., Aglietta, M., Allekotte, I., Cheminant, K. Almeida, Almela, A., Aloisio, R., Alvarez-Muñiz, J., Yebra, J. Ammerman, Anastasi, G. A., Anchordoqui, L., Andrada, B., Dourado, L. Andrade, Andringa, S., Apollonio, L., Aramo, C., Ferreira, P. R. Araújo, Arnone, E., Velázquez, J. C. Arteaga, Assis, P., Avila, G., Avocone, E., Bakalova, A., Barbato, F., Mocellin, A. Bartz, Berat, C., Bertaina, M. E., Bhatta, G., Bianciotto, M., Biermann, P. L., Binet, V., Bismark, K., Bister, T., Biteau, J., Blazek, J., Bleve, C., Blümer, J., Boháčová, M., Boncioli, D., Bonifazi, C., Arbeletche, L. Bonneau, Borodai, N., Brack, J., Orchera, P. G. Brichetto, Briechle, F. L., Bueno, A., Buitink, S., Buscemi, M., Büsken, M., Bwembya, A., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Cabana-Freire, S., Caccianiga, L., Campuzano, F., Caruso, R., Castellina, A., Catalani, F., Cataldi, G., Cazon, L., Cerda, M., Čermáková, B., Cermenati, A., Chinellato, J. A., Chudoba, J., Chytka, L., Clay, R. W., Cerutti, A. C. Cobos, Colalillo, R., Coluccia, M. R., Conceição, R., Condorelli, A., Consolati, G., Conte, M., Convenga, F., Santos, D. Correia dos, Costa, P. J., Covault, C. E., Cristinziani, M., Sanchez, C. S. Cruz, Dasso, S., Daumiller, K., Dawson, B. R., de Almeida, R. M., de Errico, B., de Jesús, J., de Jong, S. J., Neto, J. R. T. de Mello, De Mitri, I., de Oliveira, J., Franco, D. de Oliveira, de Palma, F., de Souza, V., De Vito, E., Del Popolo, A., Deligny, O., Denner, N., Deval, L., di Matteo, A., do, J. A., Dobre, M., Dobrigkeit, C., D'Olivo, J. C., Mendes, L. M. Domingues, Dorosti, Q., Anjos, J. C. dos, Anjos, R. C. dos, Ebr, J., Ellwanger, F., Emam, M., Engel, R., Epicoco, I., Erdmann, M., Etchegoyen, A., Evoli, C., Falcke, H., Farrar, G., Fauth, A. C., Fehler, T., Feldbusch, F., Fenu, F., Fernandes, A., Fick, B., Figueira, J. M., Filip, P., Filipčič, A., Fitoussi, T., Flaggs, B., Fodran, T., Fujii, T., Fuster, A., Galea, C., García, B., Gaudu, C., Gherghel-Lascu, A., Ghia, P. L., Giaccari, U., Glombitza, J., Gobbi, F., Gollan, F., Golup, G., Berisso, M. Gómez, Vitale, P. F. Gómez, Gongora, J. P., González, J. M., González, N., Góra, D., Gorgi, A., Gottowik, M., Guarino, F., Guedes, G. P., Guido, E., Gülzow, L., Hahn, S., Hamal, P., Hampel, M. R., Hansen, P., Harari, D., Harvey, V. M., Haungs, A., Hebbeker, T., Hojvat, C., Hörandel, J. R., Horvath, P., Hrabovský, M., Huege, T., Insolia, A., Isar, P. G., Janecek, P., Jilek, V., Johnsen, J. A., Jurysek, J., Kampert, K. -H., Keilhauer, B., Khakurdikar, A., Covilakam, V. V. Kizakke, Klages, H. O., Kleifges, M., Knapp, F., Köhler, J., Krieger, F., Kunka, N., Lago, B. L., Langner, N., de Oliveira, M. A. Leigui, Lema-Capeans, Y., Letessier-Selvon, A., Lhenry-Yvon, I., Lopes, L., Lu, L., Luce, Q., Lundquist, J. P., Payeras, A. Machado, Majercakova, M., Mandat, D., Manning, B. C., Mantsch, P., Mariani, F. M., Mariazzi, A. G., Mariş, I. C., Marsella, G., Martello, D., Martinelli, S., Bravo, O. Martínez, Martins, M. A., Mathes, H. -J., Matthews, J., Matthiae, G., Mayotte, E., Mayotte, S., Mazur, P. O., Medina-Tanco, G., Meinert, J., Melo, D., Menshikov, A., Merx, C., Michal, S., Micheletti, M. I., Miramonti, L., Mollerach, S., Montanet, F., Morejon, L., Mulrey, K., Mussa, R., Namasaka, W. M., Negi, S., Nellen, L., Nguyen, K., Nicora, G., Niechciol, M., Nitz, D., Nosek, D., Novotny, V., Nožka, L., Nucita, A., Núñez, L. A., Oliveira, C., Palatka, M., Pallotta, J., Panja, S., Parente, G., Paulsen, T., Pawlowsky, J., Pech, M., Pękala, J., Pelayo, R., Pelgrims, V., Pereira, L. A. S., Martins, E. E. Pereira, Bertolli, C. Pérez, Perrone, L., Petrera, S., Petrucci, C., Pierog, T., Pimenta, M., Platino, M., Pont, B., Pothast, M., Shahvar, M. Pourmohammad, Privitera, P., Prouza, M., Querchfeld, S., Rautenberg, J., Ravignani, D., Akim, J. V. Reginatto, Reininghaus, M., Reuzki, A., Ridky, J., Riehn, F., Risse, M., Rizi, V., de Carvalho, W. Rodrigues, Rodriguez, E., Rojo, J. Rodriguez, Roncoroni, M. J., Rossoni, S., Roth, M., Roulet, E., Rovero, A. C., Saftoiu, A., Saharan, M., Salamida, F., Salazar, H., Salina, G., Gomez, J. D. Sanabria, Sánchez, F., Santos, E. M., Santos, E., Sarazin, F., Sarmento, R., Sato, R., Savina, P., Schäfer, C. M., Scherini, V., Schieler, H., Schimassek, M., Schimp, M., Schmidt, D., Scholten, O., Schoorlemmer, H., Schovánek, P., Schröder, F. G., Schulte, J., Schulz, T., Sciutto, S. J., Scornavacche, M., Sedoski, A., Segreto, A., Sehgal, S., Shivashankara, S. U., Sigl, G., Simkova, K., Simon, F., Smau, R., Šmída, R., Sommers, P., Squartini, R., Stadelmaier, M., Stanič, S., Stasielak, J., Stassi, P., Strähnz, S., Straub, M., Suomijärvi, T., Supanitsky, A. D., Svozilikova, Z., Szadkowski, Z., Tairli, F., Tapia, A., Taricco, C., Timmermans, C., Tkachenko, O., Tobiska, P., Peixoto, C. J. Todero, Tomé, B., Torrès, Z., Travaini, A., Travnicek, P., Tueros, M., Unger, M., Uzeiroska, R., Vaclavek, L., Vacula, M., Galicia, J. F. Valdés, Valore, L., Varela, E., Vašíčková, V., Vásquez-Ramírez, A., Veberič, D., Quispe, I. D. Vergara, Verzi, V., Vicha, J., Vink, J., Vorobiov, S., Watanabe, C., Watson, A. A., Weindl, A., Wiencke, L., Wilczyński, H., Wittkowski, D., Wundheiler, B., Yue, B., Yushkov, A., Zapparrata, O., Zas, E., Zavrtanik, D., and Zavrtanik, M.
- Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics - Abstract
We report an investigation of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies from 3 to 100 EeV (1 EeV=$10^{18}$ eV) using the distributions of the depth of shower maximum $X_\mathrm{max}$. The analysis relies on ${\sim}50,000$ events recorded by the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory and a deep-learning-based reconstruction algorithm. Above energies of 5 EeV, the data set offers a 10-fold increase in statistics with respect to fluorescence measurements at the Observatory. After cross-calibration using the Fluorescence Detector, this enables the first measurement of the evolution of the mean and the standard deviation of the $X_\mathrm{max}$ distributions up to 100 EeV. Our findings are threefold: (1.) The evolution of the mean logarithmic mass towards a heavier composition with increasing energy can be confirmed and is extended to 100 EeV. (2.) The evolution of the fluctuations of $X_\mathrm{max}$ towards a heavier and purer composition with increasing energy can be confirmed with high statistics. We report a rather heavy composition and small fluctuations in $X_\mathrm{max}$ at the highest energies. (3.) We find indications for a characteristic structure beyond a constant change in the mean logarithmic mass, featuring three breaks that are observed in proximity to the ankle, instep, and suppression features in the energy spectrum., Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. D, 28 pages, 18 figures, 5 tables
- Published
- 2024