Hybrid radio and particle detection of air showers: potential for ultra-high-energy photon identification
The autonomous radio-detection of extensive air showers initiated by ultra-high-energy (UHE) particles arriving with very inclined zenith angles has seen significant advancements in recent years, with several large-scale surface arrays planned and prototypes already in operation. In this work, we examine whether these radio detectors, supplemented by scintillators, could serve as competitive UHE photon detectors. Indeed, for inclined showers, radio emissions can be detected by antennas for both cosmic-ray and photon primaries, while the muon-rich signatures of the former would typically trigger the scintillators. Using two key observables -- the total root mean square of the radio signal and the total energy deposit recorded in the scintillators -- we show that effective separation between the two types of showers could be achieved in a hybrid radio antenna and scintillator setup. As a case study, we apply this method to a hypothetical hybrid array of radio antennas, complemented by Telescope Array-like scintillators, with the layout of the prototype of the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND), GRANDProto300. Our estimates show that such a hybrid array could set competitive upper limits on the integral photon flux in the energy range of approximately 0.3 to 3 EeV.