Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 2: Astrophysics II

EP 2.6: Talk

Monday, March 16, 2026, 17:30–17:45, KH 01.019

Bayesian imaging of cosmic-ray air showers — •Mrinal Jetti — Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

High-energy cosmic rays interacting with Earth's atmosphere generate cascades of secondary particles known as extensive air showers. The electromagnetic component of these showers, consisting primarily of electrons, positrons, and photons, emits coherent, pulsed radio signals. Imaging air showers via their radio emission to infer the shower's structure and its development and, ultimately, the properties of the primary cosmic-ray particle remains a long-standing problem, with several classical reconstruction methods having been developed.

This project aims to image extensive air showers using their radio emission, measured as time-dependent electric field traces recorded by ground-based antenna arrays. The air shower is modeled as a system of relativistically moving current distributions that give rise to the observed radio signal. Using Bayesian inference within the framework of Information Field Theory, implemented within the Python package NIFTy (Numerical Information Field Theory), the inverse problem of reconstructing the underlying current distributions from the measured electric field traces is addressed.

Keywords: High-energy cosmic rays; Extensive air showers; Information theory; Radio emission; High energy astrophysics