From collider to cosmic rays: Pythia 8/Angantyr for air shower simulations in CORSIKA 8
The simulation of extensive air showers is pivotal for advancing our understanding of high-energy cosmic ray interactions in Earth's atmosphere. The CORSIKA 8 framework is being developed as a modern, flexible, and efficient tool for simulating these interactions with a variety of high-energy hadronic models. We present the ongoing implementation and validation of Pythia 8/Angantyr within CORSIKA 8. Pythia 8, successfully used in collider physics, provides a detailed and well-tested treatment of hadronic interactions, while the Angantyr model extends its capabilities to describe heavy-ion collisions in a consistent manner. With the inclusion of Pythia 8, the CORSIKA 8 suite now enables further tuning possibilities, improving the exploration of hadronic interactions in air showers. In this contribution, we compare the capability of Pythia 8/Angantyr to reproduce fundamental observables of high-energy particle collisions -- inelastic cross-sections and multiplicities -- to that of several established high-energy interaction models in air shower simulations. We further compare the predictions for key air shower properties, including longitudinal shower development and muon content, for iron-induced shower.
Authors
- H.-P. Dembinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3337-3850)
- T. Pierog (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7472-8710)
- T. Huege (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2783-4772)
- Alexander Sandrock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6779-1172)
- Alice Faure (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3327-6391)
- L. Nellen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1059-8731)
- Dominik Baack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2311-4460)
- A. A. Alves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0073-3231)
- Jan Soedingrekso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1011-2797)
- Christian Gläser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5998-2553)
- Cosmin Deaconu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4953-6397)
- R. Ulrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2535-402X)
- Juan Ammerman Yebra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2059-6206)
- Luisa Arrabito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4727-7288)
- W. Rhode (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2636-5000)
- Felix Riehn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8434-7500)
- Maximilian Sackel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1037-2871)
- Jean-Marco Alameddine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9534-9189)
- P. J. Windischhofer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5038-1399)
- Pranav Sampathkumar
- J. Albrecht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8636-1621)
- Chloé Gaudu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2803-4873)
- K.‐H. Kampert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2805-0195)
- Ralph Engel
- Dieter Heck
- Alfredo Ferrari
- Marvin Gottowik
- N. Karastathis
- Maximilian Reininghaus
- Dominik Elsässer
- Baobiao Yue
- Remy Prechelt
- Alan Coleman
- David Parello
- Rui Cesista
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-09-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.22323/1.501.0267
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación