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Department of Physics

Particle colloquium: New multiparticle production variables: bridging the gap between air-shower observables and accelerator measurements

Start: Location: CP-03-123
Miguel Martins will present the topic "Model-Independent phase correction in D → KS π+ π− decays for the precise measurement of CKM angle γ in B± → D K± transitions" on April 24.

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) interact with atmospheric nuclei at centre-of-mass energies reaching hundreds of TeV, initiating cascades of secondary particles known as Extensive Air Showers (EAS). These interactions offer a unique window into hadronic particle production in regions of phase space beyond the reach of current particle accelerators. This seminar focuses on two key observables of EAS: the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum (Xmax) and the number of muons at ground level (Nμ). For proton-induced EAS, a probabilistic model is developed to connect these observables with production variables built from the energy spectra of secondary hadrons of the initial UHECR-air interaction. Crucially, this connection enables the probing of hadronic interactions using air-shower data, independently of the hadronic interaction model. Since collider experiments can access similar secondary spectra, our framework bridges high-energy particle physics and astroparticle physics in a unified framework.

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