Measurement of the proton-air cross section at √s=57 TeV with the Pierre Auger Observatory.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2012;
109:062002. [PMID:
23006259 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.109.062002]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2011] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
We report a measurement of the proton-air cross section for particle production at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon of 57 TeV. This is derived from the distribution of the depths of shower maxima observed with the Pierre Auger Observatory: systematic uncertainties are studied in detail. Analyzing the tail of the distribution of the shower maxima, a proton-air cross section of [505±22(stat)(-36)(+28)(syst)] mb is found.
Collapse