Published December 31, 2014
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Depth of maximum of air-shower profiles at the Pierre Auger Observatory. I. Measurements at energies above 10(17.8) eV

Creators

  • 1. Folkwang University of the Arts
  • 2. Instituto Superior Técnico
  • 3. University of Lisbon
  • 4. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
  • 5. University of Turin
  • 6. United States Department of Energy
  • 7. Centre national de la recherche scientifique
  • 8. University of São Paulo
  • 9. National Scientific and Technical Research Council
  • 10. New York University
  • 11. Ohio State University
  • 12. National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • 13. University of Santiago de Compostela
  • 14. University of Hamburg
  • 15. University of Naples Federico II
  • 16. Radboud University Nijmegen
  • 17. City University of New York
  • 18. Complutense University of Madrid
  • 19. University of Bucharest
  • 20. University of Adelaide
  • 21. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • 22. Max Planck Society
  • 23. University of Salento
  • 24. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  • 25. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
  • 26. Polish Academy of Sciences
  • 27. Colorado State University
  • 28. University of Siegen
  • 29. University of Granada
  • 30. CINVESTAV
  • 31. University of Milan
  • 32. University of Rome Tor Vergata
  • 33. University of Catania
  • 34. Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
  • 35. State University of Campinas
  • 36. Pennsylvania State University
  • 37. Case Western Reserve University
  • 38. University of Chicago
  • 39. University of Nantes
  • 40. University of Buenos Aires
  • 41. Federal Fluminense University
  • 42. University of Alcalá
  • 43. Michigan Technological University
  • 44. University of L'Aquila
  • 45. University of Groningen
  • 46. National University of La Plata
  • 47. RWTH Aachen University
  • 48. Fermilab
  • 49. National Technological University
  • 50. National University of General San Martín
  • 51. ASTRON
  • 52. University of Nova Gorica
  • 53. Politehnica University of Bucharest
  • 54. State University of Feira de Santana
  • 55. University of Wuppertal
  • 56. University of New Mexico
  • 57. University of Grenoble
  • 58. Universidade Federal do ABC
  • 59. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
  • 60. University of Leeds
  • 61. Louisiana State University
  • 62. Colorado School of Mines
  • 63. University of Hawaii
  • 64. Universidade Federal de Pelotas
  • 65. Charles University in Prague
  • 66. Northeastern University
  • 67. Federal University of Bahia
  • 68. University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • 69. INAF
  • 70. Université Paris-Saclay

Description

We report a study of the distributions of the depth of maximum, X-max, of extensive air-shower profiles with energies above 10(17.8) eV as observed with the fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The analysis method for selecting a data sample with minimal sampling bias is described in detail as well as the experimental cross-checks and systematic uncertainties. Furthermore, we discuss the detector acceptance and the resolution of the X-max measurement and provide parametrizations thereof as a function of energy. The energy dependence of the mean and standard deviation of the X-max distributions are compared to air-shower simulations for different nuclear primaries and interpreted in terms of the mean and variance of the logarithmic mass distribution at the top of the atmosphere.
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