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arXiv · 1508.06211

The Tunka Radio Extension: reconstruction of energy and shower maximum of the first year data (ICRC 2015)

Abstract

Since its commissioning in autumn 2012, Tunka-Rex, the radio extension of the air-Cherenkov detector Tunka-133, performed three years of air shower measurements. Currently the detector consists of 44 antennas connected to air-Cherenkov and scintillator detectors, respectively, placed in the Tunka valley, Siberia. Triggered by these detectors, Tunka-Rex measures the radio signal up to EeV-scale air-showers. This configuration provides a unique possibility for cross-calibration between air-Cherenkov, radio and particle techniques. We present reconstruction methods for the energy and the shower maximum developed with CoREAS simulations, which allow for a precision competitive with the air-Cherenkov technique. We apply these methods to data acquired by Tunka-Rex in the first year which we use for cross-calibration, and we compare the results with the reconstruction of the energy and the shower maximum by Tunka-133, which provides also a reconstruction for the shower core used for the radio reconstruction. Our methods have shown that the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum ($X_\mathrm{max}$) can be reconstructed with a precision of better than 40 g/cm$^2$ for high quality events, in some cases even when only three antenna stations have signal. The energy precision is comparable with the air-Cherenkov precision of 15%. Soon the results will be checked with the independent data of the second year.

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D. Kostunin, P. A. Bezyazeekov, N. M. Budnev, O. A. Gress, A. Haungs, R. Hiller, T. Huege, Y. Kazarina, M. Kleifges, E. N. Konstantinov, E. E. Korosteleva, O. Krömer, L. A. Kuzmichev, N. Lubsandorzhiev, R. R. Mirgazov, R. Monkhoev, A. Pakhorukov, L. Pankov, V. V. Prosin, G. I. Rubtsov, F. G. Schröder, R. Wischnewski, A. Zagorodnikov. 2015-08-25. The Tunka Radio Extension: reconstruction of energy and shower maximum of the first year data (ICRC 2015). https://arxiv.org/abs/1508.06211

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