Demonstrating Agreement between Radio and Fluorescence Measurements of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory
Adila Abdul Halim, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, I. Allekotte, Kévin Almeida Cheminant, A. Almela, Roberto Aloisio, Jaime Álvarez-Muñiz, Juan Ammerman Yebra, Gioacchino Alex Anastasi, Luis A. Anchordoqui, Belén Andrada, S. Andringa, Anukriti Anukriti, L. Apollonio, C. Aramo, P. R. Araújo Ferreira, Enrico Arnone, Juan Carlos Arteaga Velázquez, P. Assis, Gualberto Avila, Emanuele Avocone, Alena Bakalová, Felicia Barbato, Adriel Bartz Mocellin, Jose A. Bellido, Corinne Bérat, М. Бертаина, Gopal Bhatta, Marta Bianciotto, Peter L. Biermann, Virginia Binet, Kathrin Bismark, Teresa Bister, Jonathan Biteau, Jiří Blažek, C. Bleve, J. Blümer, M. Boháčová, Denise Boncioli, C. Bonifazi, Luan Bonneau Arbeletche, Nataliia Borodai, J. Brack, P. G. Brichetto Orchera, F. L. Briechle, A. Bueno, S. Buitink, Mario Buscemi, Max Büsken, Anthony Bwembya, K. S. Caballero‐Mora, S. Cabana-Freire, Lorenzo Caccianiga, R. Caruso, A. Castellina, Fernando Catalani, G. Cataldi, Lorenzo Cazon, M. Cerda, A. Cermenati, J. A. Chinellato, J. Chudoba, L. Chytka, R. W. Clay, Agustín Cobos Cerutti, Roberta Colalillo, Alan Coleman, M. R. Coluccia, R. Conceição, A. Condorelli, Giovanni Consolati, M. Conte, Fabio Convenga, Diego Correia dos Santos, Pedro J. Costa, C. E. Covault, M. Cristinziani, Carlo Salvattore Cruz Sanchez, S. Dasso, K. Daumiller, B. R. Dawson, Rogério Miranda de Almeida, J. de Jesús, S. J. de Jong, J. R. T. de Mello Neto, I. De Mitri, Jaime de Oliveira, Danelise de Oliveira Franco, F. de Palma, V. de Souza, Beatriz de Errico, Emanuele De Vito, Antonino Del Popolo, Olivier Deligny, N. Denner, L. Deval, Armando di Matteo, M. Dobre, C. Dobrigkeit
Abstract
We show, for the first time, radio measurements of the depth of shower maximum (X_{max}) of air showers induced by cosmic rays that are compared to measurements of the established fluorescence method at the same location. Using measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory we show full compatibility between our radio and the previously published fluorescence dataset, and between a subset of air showers observed simultaneously with both radio and fluorescence techniques, a measurement setup unique to the Pierre Auger Observatory. Furthermore, we show radio X_{max} resolution as a function of energy and demonstrate the ability to make competitive high-resolution X_{max} measurements with even a sparse radio array. With this, we show that the radio technique is capable of cosmic-ray mass composition studies, both at Auger and at other experiments.