Universality of electron-positron distributions in extensive air showers

S. Lafebre , R. Engel , H. Falcke , J. Hörandel , T. Huege , J. Kuijpers , R. Ulrich

Using a large set of simulated extensive air showers, we investigate universality features of electron and positron distributions in very-high-energy cosmic-ray air showers. Most particle distributions depend only on the depth of the shower maximum and the number of particles in the cascade at this depth. We provide multi-dimensional parameterizations for the electron-positron distributions in terms of particle energy, vertical and horizontal momentum angle, lateral distance, and time distribution of the shower front. These parameterizations can be used to obtain realistic electron-positron distributions in extensive air showers for data analysis and simulations of Cherenkov radiation, fluorescence signal, and radio emission.

Mots clés: Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays; Extensive air showers; Electron angular distributions; Electron energy spectra; Electron lateral distributions; Shower front structure; 96.50.S-; 96.50.sd

S. Lafebre, R. Engel, H. Falcke, J. Hörandel, T. Huege, et al.. Universality of electron-positron distributions in extensive air showers. Astroparticle Physics, 2010, 31 (3), pp.243. ⟨10.1016/j.astropartphys.2009.02.002⟩. ⟨hal-00621295⟩