Speaker
Description
Anomalous showers are a special class of extensive air showers (EAS) predicted by Monte Carlo simulations. They occur when a high-energy secondary particle(s) travel(s) significantly farther compared to the other high-energy secondary particles, creating a longitudinal profile which deviates from shower universality. Anomalous showers can be subdivided into double-bump showers (longitudinal profiles with two distinct peaks) and stretched showers (elongated longitudinal profiles). So far, no experiment has been able to distinguish these anomalous showers. The unique radio footprint of anomalous showers, characterized by interference patterns in the radio signal, provides a way to reconstruct longitudinal profiles from radio observations. Firstly, we show that using a simple point source emission model allows us to reconstruct some basic parameters of the longitudinal profile. By utilising SMIET, a fast-forward simulation framework that synthesises the electric field pulse for any given longitudinal profile, we can reconstruct the profile of these anomalous showers. With its dense antenna array (60,000 antennas within $1$ km$^2$) and broad frequency range ($50-350$ MHz), the Square Kilometre Array Low (SKA-Low) will be the first experiment capable of detecting these features, offering a new opportunity to probe hadronic interactions and constrain particle cross sections at ultra-high energies.