Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Scientific paper
2004-10-24
Phys.Rev.D70:121303,2004
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
4 pages, 2 figures, notation clarified
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevD.70.121303
We show that atmospheric electric fields may affect the cosmic ray observations in several ways and may lead to an overestimation of the cosmic ray energies. The electric field in thunderclouds can be as high as a few kV/cm. This field can accelerate the shower electrons and can feed some additional energy into the shower. Therefore, ground array observations in certain weather conditions may overestimate the energy of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays if they don't take this effect into account. In addition, the electric field can bend the muon trajectories and affect the direction and energy reconstruction of inclined showers. Finally, there is a possibility of an avalanche multiplication of the shower electrons due to a runaway breakdown, which may lead to a significant miscalculation of the cosmic ray energy.
Kusenko Alexander
Semikoz Dmitry
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