Muon Production Height Studies with the Air Shower Experiment KASCADE-Grande

W.D. Apel (1) , J.C. Arteaga (2) , K. Bekk (1) , M. Bertaina (3) , J. Blümer (1, 2) , H. Bozdog (1) , I.M. Brancus (4) , P. Buchholz , C. Büttner (2) , E. Cantoni (3, 5) , A. Chiavassa (3) , F. Cossavella (2) , K. Daumiller (1) , V. de Souza (2) , F. Di Pierro (3) , P. Doll (1) , R. Engel (1) , J. Engler (1) , M. Finger (1) , D. Fuhrmann , P.L. Ghia (5) , H.J. Gils (1) , R. Glasstetter , C. Grupen , A. Haungs (1) , D. Heck (1) , J.R. Hörandel (2) , T. Huege (1) , P.G. Isar (1) , K.-H. Kampert , D. Kang (2) , D. Kickelbick , H.O. Klages (1) , K. Link (2) , M. Ludwig (2) , P. Łuczak (6) , H.J. Mathes (1) , H.J. Mayer (1) , M. Melissas (2) , J. Milke (1) , B. Mitrica (4) , C. Morello (5) , G. Navarra (3) , S. Nehls (1) , R. Obenland (1) , J. Oehlschläger (1) , S. Ostapchenko (1) , S. Over , N. Palmieri (2) , M. Petcu (4) , T. Pierog (1) , H. Rebel (1) , M. Roth (1) , G. Schatz (1) , H. Schieler (1) , F. Schröder (1) , O. Sima (7) , G. Toma (4) , G.C. Trinchero (5) , H. Ulrich (1) , A. Weindl (1) , J. Wochele (1) , M. Wommer (1) , J. Zabierowski (6)

1 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - Campus Nord
2 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - Campus Süd
3 Dipartimento di Fı'sica Generale dell'Università
4 National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
5 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
6 The Andrzej Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies
7 Department of Physics

A large area (128 m) muon tracking detector, located within the KASCADE experiment, has been built with the aim to identify muons (E> 0.8 GeV) and their angular correlation in extensive air showers by track measurements under 18 r.l. shielding. Orientation of the muon track with respect to the shower axis is expressed in terms of the radial and tangential angles, which are the basic tools for all muon investigations with the tracking detector. By means of triangulation the muon production height is determined. Distributions of measured production heights are compared to CORSIKA shower simulations. Analysis of these heights reveals a transition from light to heavy cosmic ray primary particles with increasing shower energy in the energy region of the 'Knee' of the cosmic ray spectrum.

Mots clés: Cosmic rays; Air shower; Muons; Muon production height

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]

W.D. Apel, J.C. Arteaga, K. Bekk, M. Bertaina, J. Blümer, et al.. Muon Production Height Studies with the Air Shower Experiment KASCADE-Grande. Astroparticle Physics, 2010, 34 (6), pp.476. ⟨10.1016/j.astropartphys.2010.10.016⟩. ⟨hal-00710473⟩