@article{aef29640fb9d4ac3a62e09cc9cf19f83,
title = "Testing Hadronic Interaction Models with Cosmic Ray Measurements at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory",
abstract = "The IceCube Neutrino Observatory provides the opportunity to perform unique measurements of cosmic-ray air showers with its combination of a surface array and a deep detector. Electromagnetic particles and low-energy muons (∼GeV) are detected by IceTop, while a bundle of high-energy muons (&400 GeV) can be measured in coincidence in IceCube. Predictions of air-shower observables based on simulations show a strong dependence on the choice of the high-energy hadronic interaction model. By reconstructing different composition-dependent observables, one can provide strong tests of hadronic interaction models, as these measurements should be consistent with one another. In this work, we present an analysis of air-shower data between 2.5 and 80 PeV, comparing the composition interpretation of measurements of the surface muon density, the slope of the IceTop lateral distribution function, and the energy loss of the muon bundle, using the models Sibyll 2.1, QGSJet-II.04 and EPOS-LHC. We observe inconsistencies in all models under consideration, suggesting they do not give an adequate description of experimental data. The results furthermore imply a significant uncertainty in the determination of the cosmic-ray mass composition through indirect measurements.",
author = "{The IceCube Collaboration} and Stef Verpoest and Dennis Soldin and {De Ridder}, Sam and R. Abbasi and M. Ackermann and J. Adams and Aguilar, {J. A.} and M. Ahlers and M. Ahrens and C. Alispach and Alves, {A. A.} and Amin, {N. M.} and R. An and K. Andeen and T. Anderson and G. Anton and C. Arg{\"u}elles and Y. Ashida and S. Axani and X. Bai and Balagopal, {A. V.} and A. Barbano and Barwick, {S. W.} and B. Bastian and V. Basu and S. Baur and R. Bay and Beatty, {J. J.} and Becker, {K. H.} and {Becker Tjus}, J. and C. Bellenghi and S. BenZvi and D. Berley and E. Bernardini and Besson, {D. Z.} and G. Binder and D. Bindig and E. Blaufuss and S. Blot and M. Boddenberg and F. Bontempo and J. Borowka and S. B{\"o}ser and O. Botner and J. B{\"o}ttcher and E. Bourbeau and F. Bradascio and J. Braun and Cowen, {D. F.} and D. Fox",
note = "Funding Information: USA – U.S. National Science Foundation-Office of Polar Programs, U.S. National Science Foundation-Physics Division, U.S. National Science Foundation-EPSCoR, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Open Science Grid (OSG), Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), Frontera computing project at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, U.S. Department of Energy-National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Particle astrophysics research computing center at the University of Maryland, Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research at Michigan State University, and Astroparticle physics computational facility at Marquette University; Belgium – Funds for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS and FWO), FWO Odysseus and Big Science programmes, and Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Belspo); Germany – Bundesministerium f{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Helmholtz Alliance for Astroparticle Physics (HAP), Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association, Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), and High Performance Computing cluster of the RWTH Aachen; Sweden – Swedish Research Council, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC), and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Australia – Australian Funding Information: Research Council; Canada – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Calcul Qu{\'e}bec, Compute Ontario, Canada Foundation for Innovation, WestGrid, and Compute Canada; Denmark – Villum Fonden and Carlsberg Foundation; New Zealand – Marsden Fund; Japan – Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) and Institute for Global Prominent Research (IGPR) of Chiba University; Korea – National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); Switzerland – Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); United Kingdom – Department of Physics, University of Oxford. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright owned by the author(s).; 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2021 ; Conference date: 12-07-2021 Through 23-07-2021",
year = "2022",
month = mar,
day = "18",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "395",
journal = "Proceedings of Science",
issn = "1824-8039",
publisher = "Sissa Medialab Srl",
}