Photoproduction total cross section and shower development

Abstract

The total photoproduction cross section at ultra-high energies is obtained using a model based on QCD minijets and soft-gluon resummation and the ansatz that infrared gluons limit the rise of total cross sections. This cross section is introduced into the Monte Carlo system AIRES to simulate extended air-showers initiated by cosmic ray photons. The impact of the new photoproduction cross section on common shower observables, especially those related to muon production, is compared with previous results.

Comments: 21 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Physical Review D