Effects of the new hadronic interaction models on the reconstruction of KASCADE-Grande observables

Abstract

In previous studies based on CORSIKA EAS simulations with the QGSJet-II-02 hadronic interaction model, the observables S(200) and S(500) (the charged particle densities at 200 m and 500 m from the shower axis) were found to be good candidates for mass discrimination and energy estimation. In order to study the effects of new hadronic interaction models on the reconstruction of EAS from the KASCADE-Grande experiment, a set of CORSIKA simulated showers was computed using the QGSJet-II.04 and EPOS-LHC models. Lateral Energy Correction Functions (LECF) are obtained for the Grande array using a Geant4 simulation code containing a realistic geometry of the Grande station. The LECFs are used to reconstruct the charged particle densities from the energy deposits in the Grande stations. We are using the real and reconstructed lateral distributions of charged particles in order to find corresponding observables for mass discrimination and energy estimation.

Two Decades of KASCADE and KASCADE-Grande Measurements: Some Achievements

“…Related to the uncertainties in estimating the energy spectra there is an analysis ongoing that energy (eV) investigates the use of another observable, namely S(500), for the reconstruction of the primary energy [21,22]. It is based on the assumption that, for the KASCADE-Grande array, the lateral density distributions for all elements cross at a distance of around 500 meters from the shower-core.…”