Initial simulation study on high-precision radio measurements of the depth of shower maximum with SKA1-low

Abstract

As LOFAR has shown, using a dense array of radio antennas for detecting extensive air showers initiated by cosmic rays in the Earth's atmosphere makes it possible to measure the depth of shower maximum for individual showers with a statistical uncertainty less than 20g/cm2. This allows detailed studies of the mass composition in the energy region around 1017 eV where the transition from a Galactic to an Extragalactic origin could occur. Since SKA1-low will provide a much denser and very homogeneous antenna array with a large bandwidth of 50 - 350 MHz it is expected to reach an uncertainty on the Xmax reconstruction of less than 10g/cm2. We present first results of a simulation study with focus on the potential to reconstruct the depth of shower maximum for individual showers to be measured with SKA1-low. In addition, possible influences of various parameters such as the numbers of antennas included in the analysis or the considered frequency bandwidth will be discussed.