Speaker
Description
High-energy cosmic rays interact in the Earth's atmosphere and produce extensive air showers (EAS) which can be measured with large detector arrays at the ground. The interpretation of these measurements relies on sophisticated models of the EAS development which represents a challenge as well as an opportunity to study quantum chromodynamics (QCD) under extreme conditions. The EAS development is driven by hadron-ion collisions at high energies and under low momentum transfer in the non-perturbative regime of QCD. Under these conditions, hadron production cannot be described using first principles and these interactions cannot be probed with existing collider experiments. Thus, accurate measurements of the EAS development provide a unique probe of multi-particle production in hadronic interactions at the highest energies. I will present an overview of current EAS measurements and discuss various results in the context of recent developments of hadronic interaction models. In addition, I will highlight opportunities for unique tests of hadronic interaction models with the next-generation cosmic-ray and collider experiments.
