Model-independent Evidence for an Increase in the Mean Mass of Cosmic Rays above 3 EeV

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Published online: 28 April 2023

Abstract

Measurements of the Elongation Rate of the depth of shower maximum above 1 EeV are reviewed. There is evidence, from four independent estimates of this rate, made in the two hemispheres using three different techniques, for a decrease in the Elongation Rate above ~3 EeV, as first discovered by the Pierre Auger Collaboration over 15 year ago. Unless there is a dramatic change in the hadronic physics above this energy, the mean mass of the primary cosmic rays must increase as a function of energy, well into the decade beyond 10 EeV. To estimate the mass, the use of hadronic models is required, the accuracy of which remains uncertain. However, the possibility of a dramatic change in the hadronic physics appears unlikely, and would be inconsistent with data from the Auger Collaboration on the mass composition in the range 3 to 10 EeV, and on the anisotropy of arrival directions above 8 EeV. Both of these conclusions are insensitive to uncertainties in the shower models. Some remarks are made about the belief, still firmly held by some, that the highest-energy cosmic rays are dominantly protons.