UHECR Composition Measurements Using the HiRes-II Detector

Abstract

While stereo measurements of extensive air showers allow a more precise determination of the depth of shower maximum and hence the composition of UHECR's, monocular measurements allow one to go much lower in energy. Since the composition of UHECR seems to constant throughout the HiRes stereo energy range but changing just below it, this is not a trivial lowering of the energy threshold. We fit the observed Xmax distribution to a combination of expected proton and iron Xmax distributions, using two different interaction models, to determine the relative fraction of light and heavy components throughout the HiRes monocular energy range. Using a two component fit allows both the mean Xmax and the width of the Xmax distribution to contribute composition measurement and allows us to deal with the Xmax acceptance bias caused by limited elevation coverage. An updated analysis from a larger data set will be presented in Pune.