The measurement of the mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays constitutes a prime challenge in astroparticle physics. Most detailed information on the composition can be obtained from measurements of the depth of maximum of air showers, Xmax, with the use of fluorescence telescopes, which can be operated only during clear and moonless nights. Using deep neural networks, it is now possible for the first time to perform an event-by-event reconstruction of Xmax with the Surface Detector (SD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Therefore, previously recorded data can be analyzed for information on Xmax, and thus, the cosmic-ray composition. Since the SD operates with a duty cycle of almost 100% and its event selection is less strict than for the Fluorescence Detector (FD), the gain in statistics with respect to the FD is almost a factor of 15 for energies above 1019.5 eV. In this contribution, we introduce the neural network particularly designed for the SD of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We evaluate its performance using three different hadronic interaction models, verify its functionality using Auger hybrid measurements, and find that the method can extract mass information on an event level.

Event-by-event reconstruction of the shower maximum Xmax with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory using deep learning / Glombitza, J., Abreu, P., Aglietta, M., Albury, J.M., Allekotte, I., Almela, A., Alvarez-Muniz, J., Alves Batista, R., Anastasi, G.A., Anchordoqui, L., Andrada, B., Andringa, S., Aramo, C., Araujo Ferreira, P.R., Arteaga Velazquez, J.C., Asorey, H., Assis, P., Avila, G., Badescu, A.M., Bakalova, A., et al.. - In: POS PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENCE. - ISSN 1824-8039. - 395:(2022), pp. 1-12. (37th International cosmic ray conference, ICRC 2021 Berlin, Germany ) [10.22323/1.395.0359].

Event-by-event reconstruction of the shower maximum Xmax with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory using deep learning

Mastrodicasa M.;
2022

Abstract

The measurement of the mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays constitutes a prime challenge in astroparticle physics. Most detailed information on the composition can be obtained from measurements of the depth of maximum of air showers, Xmax, with the use of fluorescence telescopes, which can be operated only during clear and moonless nights. Using deep neural networks, it is now possible for the first time to perform an event-by-event reconstruction of Xmax with the Surface Detector (SD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Therefore, previously recorded data can be analyzed for information on Xmax, and thus, the cosmic-ray composition. Since the SD operates with a duty cycle of almost 100% and its event selection is less strict than for the Fluorescence Detector (FD), the gain in statistics with respect to the FD is almost a factor of 15 for energies above 1019.5 eV. In this contribution, we introduce the neural network particularly designed for the SD of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We evaluate its performance using three different hadronic interaction models, verify its functionality using Auger hybrid measurements, and find that the method can extract mass information on an event level.
2022
37th International cosmic ray conference, ICRC 2021
pierre auger observatory; cosmic rays; mass composition
04 Pubblicazione in atti di convegno::04c Atto di convegno in rivista
Event-by-event reconstruction of the shower maximum Xmax with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory using deep learning / Glombitza, J., Abreu, P., Aglietta, M., Albury, J.M., Allekotte, I., Almela, A., Alvarez-Muniz, J., Alves Batista, R., Anastasi, G.A., Anchordoqui, L., Andrada, B., Andringa, S., Aramo, C., Araujo Ferreira, P.R., Arteaga Velazquez, J.C., Asorey, H., Assis, P., Avila, G., Badescu, A.M., Bakalova, A., et al.. - In: POS PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENCE. - ISSN 1824-8039. - 395:(2022), pp. 1-12. (37th International cosmic ray conference, ICRC 2021 Berlin, Germany ) [10.22323/1.395.0359].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1752322
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