Speaker
Description
One of the current methods to estimate the mass of a cosmic ray is the measurement of the atmospheric depth of the shower maximum ($X_\text{max}$). This depth is strongly correlated to the mass of the primary because it depends on the interaction cross section of the primary with the constituents of the atmosphere. The radio-electric field emitted by the secondary particles of an atmospheric air shower is known to contain information on the depth of the air shower maximum. Measuring the electric field with the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) in the 30-80 MHz band allows the determination of the depth of shower maximum on the basis of the good understanding of the radio emission mechanisms. The duty cycle of radio detectors is close to 100%, making possible the statistical determination of the cosmic ray mass composition through the study of a large number of events above $10^{17}$ eV. In this contribution, $X_\text{max}$ reconstruction methods based on the study of the radio signal with AERA will be detailed.
