Modified hadronic interactions in 3-dimensional simulations

Abstract

We present a method to test the impact of ad-hoc modifications of some of the generic parameters of hadronic interactions -- cross section, elasticity, and multiplicity -- on any observable quantity using full 3-dimensional simulations of extensive air showers induced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. Our approach not only extends the existing 1-dimensional tools to three dimensions, but also introduces more flexible features to better respond to the needs of both theory and experiment. We first thoroughly validate the \conexD framework for the simulation of both longitudinal and lateral features of air showers, in particular for a non-standard configuration of the framework in which different energy thresholds for modifications are applied. Moreover, we show that the implementations of the ad-hoc modifications in this configuration are consistent with the previous one-dimensional simulations. Lastly, we discuss the importance of studying the interaction modifications in three dimensions and the effects of parallel modifications of multiple parameters.

Figures (17)

• Figure 1: Total cross section in a p-p interaction as a function of CMS and laboratory collision energy predicted by various hadronic interaction models. The Sibyll 2.3d model is shown together with modifications utilized in icrc2021. The data points are taken from several experiments. The lower energy data (blue crosses) were compiled from PDG. Black upper triangles represent the results of TOTEM totem_cross_section. Black lower triangles represent results from the ALFA detector ALFA2016, ALFA2022. The most energetic points show the results obtained by Pierre Auger Collaboration PierreAuger:CS and the Telescope Array TA:CS. The grey line represents the energy used for validation between the different frameworks in this work.
• Figure 2: Evolution of elasticity for various hadronic interaction models for a proton-proton interaction. The Sibyll 2.3d model is shown together with modifications utilized in icrc2021.
• Figure 3: Evolution of multiplicity of charged particles for various hadronic interaction models for a proton-proton interaction. The Sibyll 2.3d model is shown together with modifications utilized in icrc2021.
• Figure 4: Average longitudinal profiles of energy deposit for iron and proton primaries simulated with Conex, Corsika and Conex 3D and the ratio between the average profiles for Conex 3D and Corsika. In the upper part of the plot, the dotted line ( Conex) overlaps with the dashed line ( Conex 3D).
• Figure 5: Relative fluctuations of energy deposit for iron and proton primaries simulated with Conex, Corsika and Conex 3D and the ratios between them for Conex 3D and Corsika.