Abstract
The geometric distribution of high-energy hadrons in shower cores measured with the KASCADE calorimeter is analyzed. The data are checked for sensitivity to hadronic interaction features and indications of new physics as discussed in the literature. The angular correlation of the most energetic hadrons and, in particular, the fraction of events with hadrons being aligned are quantified by means of the commonly used parameter . The analysis shows that the observed distribution is compatible with that predicted by simulations and is not linked to an angular correlation from hadronic jet production at high energy. Another parameter, , describing distances between hadrons measured in the detector, is found to be sensitive both to the transverse momenta in secondary hadron production and the primary particle type. Transverse momenta in high-energy hadron interactions differing by a factor two or more from what is assumed in the standard simulations are disfavored by the measured distribution.
2 More- Received 8 February 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.71.072002
©2005 American Physical Society