Photoproduction total cross section and shower development

Abstract

The total photoproduction cross section at ultrahigh energies is obtained using a model based on QCD minijets and soft-gluon resummation and the ansatz that infrared gluons limit the rise of total cross sections. This cross section is introduced into the Monte Carlo system AIRES to simulate extended air showers initiated by cosmic ray photons. The impact of the new photoproduction cross section on common shower observables, especially those related to muon production, is compared with previous results.