Extensive Air Showers

Extensive air showers are a very unique phenomenon. This book gives a thorough overview of the phenomonolgy, facts, and experiments of cosmic ray triggered extensive air showers. It discusses aspects of the primary radiation and addresses puzzling questions.

Extensive air showers are a very unique phenomenon. In the more than six decades since their discovery by Auger and collaborators we have learned a lot about these extremely energetic events and gained deep insight into high-energy phenomena, particle physics and astrophysics.

In this Tutorial, Reference Manual and Data Book Peter K. F. Grieder provides the reader with a comprehensive view of the phenomenology and facts of the various types of interactions and cascades, theoretical background, experimental methods, data evaluation and interpretation and air shower simulation. He discusses astrophysical aspects of the primary radiation and addresses remaining puzzling questions that cannot yet be answered. They remain as a challenge for present and future research in the field.

The book is split into two volumes. Volume I deals mainly with the basic theoretical framework of the processes that determine an air shower and ends with a summary of ways and means to extract information from air shower observations on the primary radiation. It also presents a compilation of data of our current knowledge of the high energy portion of the primary spectrum and composition. Volume II contains mainly compilations of data of experimental and theoretical nature as well as predictions from simulations of individual air shower constituents. Also included are chapters dedicated exclusively to special processes and detection methods. Extensive up-to-date reference lists appear at the end of each chapter.

Researchers and students working in the field of cosmic ray detection and astroparticle physics will appreciate finding this book in their library.

Comprehensive Tutorial, Reference Manual and Data Book giving a thorough overview of phenomonolgy, facts, experiments of cosmic ray triggered extensive air showers and shows the history of the field

Extensive up-to-date reference lists at the end of each chapter

The book reflects the author's breadth of comprehension and his high engagement as active researcher in the field

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Contenu
I.- Introduction, Facts and Phenomenology.- Shower Detection Methods and Basic Event Reconstruction.- Hadronic Interactions and Cascades.- Electromagnetic Interactions and PhotonElectron Cascades.- Muon and Neutrino Interactions.- Longitudinal Development and Equal Intensity Distributions.- Depth of Shower Maximum and Elongation Rate.- Lateral Structure of Showers and Energy Flow.- Temporal Structure of Showers and Front Curvature.- Derived Shower and Interaction Parameters, Refined Event Reconstruction.- Primary Cosmic Radiation and Astrophysical Aspects.- II.- Common Shower Properties, Observables and Data.- Hadrons.- Muons.- Electrons and Photons.- Atmospheric Cherenkov Radiation.- Atmospheric Fluorescence.- Radio Emission and Detection.- Correlations and Miscellaneous Topics.- Air Shower Simulations.- Definitions and Relations.- Experimental Installations.