KASCADE-Grande is a large detector array for observations of the energy spectrum as well as the chemical composition of cosmic ray air showers up to primary energies of 1 EeV. The multi-detector ...arrangement allows to measure the electromagnetic and muonic components for individual air showers. In this analysis, the reconstruction of the all-particle energy spectrum is based on the size spectra of the charged particle component. The energy is calibrated by using Monte Carlo simulations performed with CORSIKA and high-energy interaction models QGSJet, EPOS and SIBYLL. In all cases FLUKA has been used as low-energy interaction model. In this contribution the resulting spectra by means of different hadronic interaction models will be compared and discussed.
The KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande experiments operated in KIT-Campus North, Karlsruhe (Germany) from 1993 to 2012. The two experiments studied primary cosmic rays in the energy range from 10
14
eV to 10
...18
eV, investigating the change of slope of the spectrum detected at 2 - 4 × 10
15
eV, the so called knee. We briefly review the performance of the experiments and then the main results obtained in the operation of both experiments: the test of hadronic interaction models, the all particle primary spectrum, the elemental composition of primary cosmic rays (with the first claim of a knee-like feature of the heavy primaries spectrum) and the search for large scale anisotropies.
KASCADE, together with its extension KASCADE-Grande measured individual air showers of cosmic rays in the primary energy range of 100 TeV to 1 EeV. The data collection was fully completed at the end ...of 2013 and the experiment was dismantled. However, the data analysis is still in progress. Recently, we published a new result on upper limits to the flux of ultra-high energy gamma rays, which set constraints on some fundamental astrophysical models. We also use the data to investigate the validity of the new hadronic interactions models like SIBYLL version 2.3c or EPOS-LHC. In addition, we updated and improved the webbased platform of the KASCADE Cosmic Ray Data Centre (KCDC), where now the data from KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande of more than 20 years measurements is available, including corresponding Monte-Carlo simulated events based on three different hadronic interaction models. In this contribution, recent results from KASCADE-Grande and the update of KCDC is briefly discussed.
The Pierre Auger Observatory is exploring the potential of the radio detection technique to study extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Auger Engineering Radio Array ...(AERA) addresses both technological and scientific aspects of the radio technique. A first phase of AERA has been operating since September 2010 with detector stations observing radio signals at frequencies between 30 and 80 MHz. In this paper we present comparative studies to identify and optimize the antenna design for the final configuration of AERA consisting of 160 individual radio detector stations. The transient nature of the air shower signal requires a detailed description of the antenna sensor. As the ultra-wideband reception of pulses is not widely discussed in antenna literature, we review the relevant antenna characteristics and enhance theoretical considerations towards the impulse response of antennas including polarization effects and multiple signal reflections. On the basis of the vector effective length we study the transient response characteristics of three candidate antennas in the time domain. Observing the variation of the continuous galactic background intensity we rank the antennas with respect to the noise level added to the galactic signal.
The detection of high-energy cosmic rays above a few hundred TeV is realized by the observation of extensive air-showers. By using the multi-detector setup of KASCADE-Grande, and here in particular ...the detectors of the large Grande array, the energy spectrum and the elemental composition of high-energy cosmic rays in the energy range from 10 PeV to 1 EeV are investigated. The estimation of energy and mass of the high-energy primary particles is based on the combined analysis of the total number of charged particles and the total number of muons measured by the detector arrays of Grande and KASCADE, respectively. The latest analysis results have shown that in the all-particle spectrum two features are present: a hardening of the spectrum at energies around 20 PeV and a steepening, i.e. a knee-like structure, at 80-90 PeV. The latter one was found to be due to a decrease of flux of the heavy mass component.
In this work, we report measurements on the muon content (E
th
> 230 MeV) of extensive air showers (EAS) induced by cosmic rays with primary energy from 10 PeV up to 1 EeV performed with the ...KASCADE-Grande experiment. The measurements are confronted with SIBYLL 2.3. The results are focused on the dependence of the total muon number and the lateral density distribution of muons in EAS on the zenith angle and the total number of charged particles in the shower. We also present updated results of a detailed study of the attenuation length of shower muons, which reveal a deviation between the measured data and the predictions of the post-LHC hadronic interaction models SIBYLL 2.3, QGSJET-II-04 and EPOS-LHC.
The KASCADE-Grande observatory was a ground-based air shower array dedicated to study the energy and composition of cosmic rays in the energy interval
E
= 1 PeV –1 EeV. The experiment consisted of ...different detector systems which allowed the simultaneous measurement of distinct components of air showers (EAS), such as the muon content. In this contribution, we study the total muon number and the lateral density distribution of muons in EAS detected by KASCADE-Grande as a function of the zenith angle and the total number of charged particles. The attenuation length of the muon content of EAS is also measured. The results are compared with the predictions of the SIBYLL 2.3 high-energy hadronic interaction model.
The KASCADE-Grande experiment operated at KIT from January 2004 to November 2012, measuring Extensive Air Showers (EAS) generated by primary cosmic rays in the 1016–1018eV energy range. The ...experiment measured, for each single event, with a high resolution, the total number of charged particles (Nch) and of muons (Nμ).
In this contribution we summarize the results obtained about:
(i) the measurement of the all particle energy spectrum, discussing the influence of the hadronic interaction model used to derive the energy calibration of the experimental data.
(ii) The energy spectra derived separating the events according to the Nμ/Nch ratio. This technique allowed us to unveil a steepening of the spectrum of heavy primaries at E∼1016.92±0.04eV and a hardening of the spectrum of light primaries at E∼1017.08±0.08eV.
(ii) A search for large scale anisotropies.
KASCADE-Grande was an air-shower experiment aimed to investigate cosmic rays between 1016 and 1018 eV. The instrument was located at the site of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany at an ...altitude of 110 m a.s.l. and covered an area of 0.5 km2. KASCADE-Grande consisted of several detector systems dedicated to measure different components of the cosmic ray induced air showers, e.g. the muon content (Eth > 230 MeV) and the number of charged particles (Eth > 3 MeV) at ground, which are the basis for several energy and composition studies of cosmic rays. In this contribution, using these observables, the KASCADE-Grande data is divided into light and heavy mass groups and their respective muon densities are reconstructed at different zenith angle intervals. The results are compared with the expectations of the post-LHC hadronic-interaction models, EPOS-LHC and QGSJET-II-04, in order to test the validity of the model predictions.
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