Measuring extensive air showers with Cherenkov light detectors of the Yakutsk array: The energy spectrum of cosmic rays

Autor: Ivanov, A. A., Knurenko, S. P., Sleptsov, I. Ye.
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: New J.Phys.11:065008,2009
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/11/6/065008
Popis: The energy spectrum of cosmic rays in the range 10^15 eV to 6*10^19 eV has been studied using the air Cherenkov light detectors of the Yakutsk array. The total flux of photons produced by relativistic electrons (including positrons as well, hereafter) of extensive air showers in the atmosphere is used as the energy estimator of the primary particle initiating a shower. The resultant differential flux of cosmic rays exhibits, in accordance with previous measurements, a knee and ankle features at energies 3*10^15 and ~10^19 eV, respectively. A comparison of observational data with simulations is made in the knee and ankle regions in order to choose the models of galactic and extragalactic components of cosmic rays which describe better the energy spectrum measured.
Comment: 27 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physics (Focus Issue)
Databáze: arXiv